Beth O’Malley on the uncomfortable truth about email marketing in 2026

If your email strategy still lives and dies by opens and clicks, this interview may feel uncomfortable, and that’s exactly the point. In a year when inboxes are more crowded, mailbox providers are more aggressive, and audiences are more disengaged than ever, simply “sending better emails” is no longer enough. Email has become a utility, not an entertainment channel, and treating it otherwise is why so many programs quietly fail.

In this interview, Beth O’Malley, HubSpot Solutions Partner and founder of Astral Digital, explains to Stripo why most email strategies hit a glass ceiling.

Meet the expert

Beth O’Malley, widely known as the Queen of CRM & Email, is a UK-based email marketing and CRM consultant with over 12 years of hands-on experience helping businesses untangle complex systems and turn email into a revenue-driving channel. She is the founder of Astral Digital, a HubSpot and email consultancy and training provider launched in 2023 and based in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

Beth is a HubSpot Solutions Partner, email strategist, and trusted advisor for both B2B and B2C teams. Her work focuses on fixing what’s holding companies back: disconnected sales, marketing, and service teams; outdated or chaotic CRM setups; and email programs that simply don’t perform. As she puts it, she’s seen CRMs “built like Frankenstein’s monster” and knows exactly how to rebuild them into scalable, efficient systems.

Her expertise and impact have been widely recognized. In 2024, Beth won the Great Companies International Women Entrepreneur Award, was named one of the Top 24 Marketers to Follow, and was featured as an Award-Winning Marketer of the Year. Today, she works with scaling businesses, membership organizations, and service-led companies, helping them get better results faster through smarter CRM strategies, stronger email foundations, and practical, no-fluff execution.

From “this can’t be that easy” to mastering the foundations of email and deliverability

Stripo: You’ve called yourself “your gal for email, CRM, and HubSpot-related chaos.” What originally pulled you into email marketing, and what still excites you about the channel after years of consulting and training?

Beth: I started about 12 years ago. I was given access to an email tool and told to write an email, add some design, pull a list, and send it. I remember thinking, “This can’t be right, marketing can’t be that easy.”

I’ve always been very curious (and probably quite annoying) with my questions: Why are we sending the same thing to everyone? Why is this so basic? There had to be more to it. So I made it my mission to understand the underlying foundations of email, and at the same time, I started working on a lot of CRM projects.

I see myself as a behind-the-scenes marketer. I’m not a visual designer; I’m very problem-solving-focused. That came naturally to me, and I realized I could make a real impact in this space. Early on, through a lot of experimentation, I became obsessed with what happens behind the scenes: data, behavior, the psychology of email, and how people actually use their inboxes.

I worked extensively with HubSpot in-house and discovered that I genuinely enjoyed building and structuring CRMs. Email always came into it in some way because there’s always communication that needs to go out. Eventually, I decided to work for myself so I could do this for as many businesses as possible.

Most businesses still focus on chasing opens and clicks. When I come in, I try to shift that mindset, and they usually leave with a much stronger, more strategic approach. There’s always work to be done, always a market, and I love being able to change how people think about email.

Stripo: You work deeply with B2C and D2C brands on deliverability. What are the biggest misconceptions teams still have about inbox placement, especially in 2026, when mailbox providers are more aggressive than ever?

Beth: I will name three serious misconceptions that I encounter when communicating with different businesses:

1. The biggest misconception is that deliverability lives inside the email platform. I speak to hundreds, if not thousands, of marketers who still believe their ESP dashboards (delivery rates, opens, and internal reports) tell them whether they have a deliverability problem. Deliverability can only be properly measured outside your email platform. There’s no platform that both sends emails and accurately measures your deliverability.
2. Open rates are another big one. People often say, “We can’t have a deliverability issue because people open our emails.” But emails that land in spam can still be opened, and sometimes those opens aren’t even human. There’s a lot happening behind the scenes with metrics, and relying on them alone gives a false sense of security.
3. Another dangerous assumption is that unsubscribes harm deliverability. They don’t. Even if 1,000 people unsubscribe from one email, it will not result in your email being sent to spam. Unsubscribing is the correct behavior; it’s why the button exists. You’re not punished for people choosing the right way to stop receiving emails. These kinds of assumptions are particularly risky right now.

Stripo: B2C and D2C brands rely heavily on automation. What deliverability risks do you see coming specifically from automated journeys like abandoned carts, replenishment flows, or reactivation sequences, and how should teams adapt?

Beth: I don’t think automation itself causes deliverability problems. The real issue is misaligned journeys that ignore what the data are telling us about someone’s intent.

For example, someone might have entered your ecosystem through a competition. They may not trust your brand yet or have no intention of buying immediately. You can build the most sophisticated journeys in the world, but disengagement usually signals uncertainty, not always disinterest. And no amount of automation can fix a lack of trust.

Deliverability issues come from disengagement, and disengagement comes from the wrong message at the wrong time. Automation isn’t magic. The problem is expecting that once a flow is set up, results will automatically follow.

Moving beyond vanity metrics, seasonal inbox chaos, and overhyped interactivity

Stripo: You’re a strong advocate for data-driven decision-making. What email marketing metrics or frameworks do you think email teams overvalue, and which ones should replace them if marketers want to measure true “return on impact”?

Beth: Opens are massively overvalued. Opens and clicks create a mindset of chasing engagement for the sake of it. When I ask marketers what they want to improve in email, they usually say, “We need more engagement.” When I ask why, the answer is often, “Because then we know it’s working.”

But what does working actually mean? Even if someone opens and clicks, what’s the real goal? Most teams can’t answer that. There’s no clear outcome they’re working toward.

For me, return on impact is about what I call ecosystem metrics. These metrics exist not only for the inbox. It’s about what happens before the email, what happens after, and what email assists elsewhere in the journey. For example, I measure impact through the number of conversations started, the time to the first meaningful action, and the time to the second meaningful action after someone subscribes.

But there’s so much more you can measure once you move beyond that mindset:

• long-term engagement; 
• payback period; 
• list growth quality; 
• time to value; 
• email-assisted conversions. 

Stripo: Every year, teams aim to maximize the impact of Black Friday and Christmas campaigns. What are the most damaging strategic and technical mistakes you see marketers repeat during these large seasonal pushes?

Beth: The biggest issue is that brands put blinkers on. They focus on their own campaigns and completely ignore the broader inbox environment. Email performance is affected by every other email landing in that inbox at the same time.

Last Black Friday, I saw many consumers on TikTok discussing how overwhelmed they felt by the emails they received. Many said they unsubscribed even from brands they liked because the volume was just too much. If someone doesn’t open your email, it might not be because of your message. It could be the five emails they received before yours that all looked and felt the same.

Another major issue is push culture and clickbait. Email is a utility environment, not a browsing one. People use their inboxes to complete tasks. Especially during Black Friday, consumers open their inboxes with the intention of finding something specific. They expect to be over-communicated with. If they want your offer, they’ll come and find it. You don’t need to send 30-plus emails to stay visible.

And finally, deliverability. If you don’t get this right before Black Friday, you can end up in a very bad position for months afterward. January through April is when my calendar fills up with brands saying, “We don’t know what happened.” When I ask if they doubled the volume or emailed more people, the answer is usually yes. They had existing deliverability issues they were unaware of, and Black Friday simply exposed them.

Stripo: Have you incorporated interactivity or gamification into email campaigns? How effective have you found these elements to be, and when do they actually make sense to use?

Beth: Personally, I think interactivity and gamification are overhyped. We’ve tried to create things in the inbox that aren’t really needed. They tend to drive short-term click spikes rather than a long-term meaningful impact.

There’s also a technical reality: Outlook doesn’t support most interactive elements because it uses Word to render emails. That means you’re automatically excluding part of your audience. If you do use interactivity, it shouldn’t be about clever tricks or forcing clicks; it has to be part of your wider strategy.

For me, interactivity isn’t about movement or complex code. Email is a task-based, utility-driven environment. People aren’t in a browsing dopamine-fueled mindset. If you’re using interactivity just to chase clicks, you’re missing the point. You must first understand the channel and inbox environment and then decide whether interactivity truly adds value.

You might also like

Smart fallbacks for interactive emails: How we handled partial HTML5 support

Breaking the email glass ceiling with connected systems, smarter CRM strategy, and true RevOps alignment

Stripo: You help companies turn email into a wider ecosystem that supports business growth. What’s the most common structural issue you encounter when auditing a brand’s email and CRM setup, and how does it limit long-term scalability?

Beth: The biggest issue is disconnected technology. Email often sits in its own little bubble. It might track the website (we know who has visited and who has placed an order), but that’s not the full picture. There’s customer support, a sales team, and many other touchpoints where people interact with the brand.

What really breaks email is the lack of proper exclusion strategies. For example, if I place an order, return the entire thing, explain why, and I’m still getting promotional emails, that creates friction. From a human perspective, especially as a new customer, the thought is: I can’t buy from you again; you haven’t even refunded me yet. The data exist, but they aren’t connected properly, so brands can’t act on them.

If you want long-term scalability and genuine engagement, consider the broader experience people have with your brand, not just what happens within the inbox.

Another major issue is siloed teams. Customer service communications often feel completely different from marketing emails in tone, timing, and experience. But from the customer’s point of view, there’s only one brand experience. It doesn’t matter who sent the message or who picked up the phone; both influence whether they engage with your emails.

I call this the email glass ceiling. If your systems aren’t integrated, you lack the necessary in-house capabilities, or you’re not collecting the right data, you’ll always hit a limit on what email can achieve. You can’t expect the results of a highly connected mature strategy if the foundations aren’t there; you’ll simply cap your own growth.

Stripo: HubSpot implementations are a core part of your work. Where do brands typically go wrong when integrating CRM and email strategy, and what separates a “checklist implementation” from one that actually drives revenue?

Beth: The first mistake is assuming more functionality will automatically solve problems. More functionality usually means more complexity. The more complex your setup, the harder it is to manage, the more risk you introduce, and the more friction customers experience.

I always tell teams to get email to a really strong, simple place first. Even if nothing is automated yet, if the strategy is solid and execution is good, that’s far more powerful. Then, you can level up into more advanced platforms that support your next stage of growth.

Another common mistake is treating email and CRM as the same thing. Email is a channel; it’s the execution layer. CRM is a business function. Customer relationship management is everyone’s responsibility across the company, and it requires a completely different way of thinking.

When brands blur those lines and assume email will fix CRM problems, they end up with a confused strategy. A CRM strategy goes far beyond email, and using email as a band-aid for deeper structural issues simply doesn’t work.

I’d also caution brands moving to more advanced platforms like HubSpot: these tools don’t just solve problems; they expose them. With greater visibility comes the need for better processes. Too often, platform migrations are handled as a copy-and-paste exercise. However, if you’re upgrading your system, your processes must also evolve.

Stripo: Your case studies show significant ROI from CRM optimization. What elements of RevOps and marketing alignment do you believe email marketers still underestimate, especially in cross-functional growth teams?

Beth: Data ownership is the biggest gap. No one wants to own it, govern it, or be accountable for how it’s collected, updated, and used. Businesses often say they have a lot of data, but it’s usually the wrong data.

What every company lacks isn’t data volume, but the right data. No one steps into the role of data collection strategist, and that becomes a major blocker for marketing and cross-functional teams.

There’s also a huge issue with misalignment. Marketing, sales, and customer success teams all interpret and update data differently. ​​I think alignment among teams is really important, but not just like having meetings but really understanding what each data point means.

Email marketers tend to optimize the funnel, while RevOps focuses on optimizing handoffs. True ROI comes from aligning both at those transition points. Influence is another overlooked area: everyone has their own reporting, but very few teams bring it all together.

Ideally, there should be a single-shared dashboard that the entire business can view and align around. A unified view of this kind is crucial for sustainable growth.

Why leads go cold and how experimentation, purpose-driven email, and data maturity will define email in 2026

Stripo: You’ve revived “dead leads” and turned underperforming email systems into high-ROI engines. What patterns do you consistently see across organizations that allow leads to go cold in the first place?

Beth: There are a few recurring patterns. One of the biggest is that teams confuse lead status with lead warmth. Everyone who fills out a form is treated as if they’re at the same stage, when in reality, they’re not.

A simple fix is to ask a single qualifying question at the point of capture, for example, “What best describes you right now?” with options like actively looking, researching, or just learning. Without that context, every lead is treated the same. Someone who isn’t ready now quickly becomes labeled as “uninterested forever,” which is a huge mistake.

I see many businesses obsess over generating new leads while completely ignoring the people who are actually their future audience. There’s also often a disconnect between intent and experience, especially with paid ads. Someone clicks an ad, signs up, or submits an inquiry, but the email experience that follows doesn’t match the promise or perception set by the ad. That inconsistency creates friction and disengagement.

Follow-ups are another major issue. Even in B2C and DTC, follow-ups are everything.

For me, abandoned carts should be treated like unfinished customer service tickets. If you understand what people are thinking, feeling, saying, and doing at those moments, your emails become far more effective. That understanding is what prevents leads from going cold in the first place.

Stripo: You often talk about innovation in email. What experiments or emerging tactics do you think forward-thinking teams should be testing in 2026?

Beth: I’m not a big fan of chasing trends or tactics. One brand does something, and it gets shared everywhere; suddenly, everyone copies it. Information isn’t scarce anymore; people share emails constantly on LinkedIn, TikTok, and everywhere. Because of that, I don’t believe trends really exist in email.

What does matter is experimentation focused on understanding, not tactics. When you create a campaign, you’re making assumptions about your audience. That’s what you should be testing. For example, if someone abandons a checkout, you might assume they are uncertain. Instead of saying “You left something behind,” test messaging that answers their questions, highlights reviews, or explains how the product helps.

Another powerful area to experiment with is progressive profiling. Many brands rely on pop-ups that only collect an email address. They end up with huge lists, but 40–50% of those people will never convert. Progressive profiling helps you understand where someone is in their journey, why they signed up, and what they actually need next.

What I don’t recommend experimenting with is superficial tactics, such as moving a button up or down. That’s not meaningful experimentation. Every experiment should have a clear goal and be rooted in a better understanding of your audience.

Stripo: What’s the main long-term trend in email marketing you’d highlight for 2026? The one you believe will continue to gain strength, and why?

Beth: I don’t really believe in trends in the traditional sense. Email trends tend to turn into clickbait very quickly and often erode trust—things like fake order confirmations or “internal email leaks.” Email isn’t the right environment for that.

That said, if we’re talking about long-term shifts, I think email marketers are becoming far more data-focused and deliverability-aware. Deliverability can’t be ignored, and marketers are actively upskilling, questioning so-called “best practices,” and conducting their own experiments. I always say that email best practices are rubbish; what matters is what works for your audience.

I also think we’re continuing into what I’d call the loss of permission—not unsubscribes but mental disengagement. People stay subscribed but stop paying attention. We saw a lot of that in 2025, and I think it will double down in 2026.

I think email will be increasingly treated as a purpose channel. I think people are starting to realize it's not an entertainment channel. It's not a dopamine channel. It's not a browsing channel. So I think the strategies will change, which is really amazing because that's all I want.

And I do think email will start to be recognized as a RevOps function as well. I believe that as marketers, we need to stop focusing solely on email marketing and start considering external communications as a whole. Who owns that?

I'm excited for 2026. I think it will be a good one for email, hopefully.

Wrapping up

We thank Beth so much for an honest and thought-provoking conversation. Throughout this interview, you made one thing clear: email marketing doesn’t fail because of tools, trends, or lack of tactics. It fails when teams chase the wrong signals and overlook the broader ecosystem surrounding the inbox. From deliverability and data ownership to CRM alignment and purpose-driven communication, your insights reinforce a simple but powerful idea: email works best when it’s treated as a strategic business function, not a volume game.