Email clicks feel great, don’t they?

I used to get such a sweet dopamine hit every time I saw them.

If an email got a 6% click rate, I was a genius. On track to be the top email copywriter in the history of the world.

And of course, I had a minor identity crisis if it dipped to 2%. Probably meant I was doomed to fail, go broke, live in a box, and die.

So I rewrote subject lines, tweaked buttons, moved links higher and lower, added more urgency, eased up on it, and tested emojis like my career and my lifespan depended on it.

And it worked — as far as clicks were concerned.

But in the midst of my obsession, I missed a big factor: None of this was impacting actual revenue.

Instead of fixating on clicks, my goal SHOULD have been to move people closer to the next right action.

To be fair, sometimes that IS a click.

But other times, it’s:

• Understanding your product better
• Trusting you more
• Seeing themselves in the problem you solve
• Feeling ready instead of skeptical
• Simply remembering you exist

If your emails are getting clicks but not conversions, you’re likely in the same boat I was.

Here’s what to do about it.

Why clicks don't matter as much as we think

It’s easy to treat every email like it needs to “perform” — whether it’s with a big CTA, urgency, fancy countdown timers, etc.

But email works best when it behaves like a relationship, rather than a series of isolated sales attempts.

If someone just joined your list, they’re not ready for a hard pitch. They just want helpful insight.

If someone just started a free trial, they don’t need another feature rundown. They just need a quick win.

And if someone hasn’t engaged in 60 days, they probably don’t care about your new blog post. They just need a reason to care again.

When you judge every email by clicks alone, you miss out on these nuances and end up:

• Rushing the sale
• Skipping necessary context
• Training your audience to ignore you

Then you find yourself sending tons of emails that all sound great… but don’t give you consistent growth.

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Here's a better way to think about email

1. Choose goals around emotion, not action.

Before you open a blank doc, ask yourself: After someone reads this, what should feel different?

• More confident?
• More aware?
• More motivated?
• More clear?

THIS answer should inform the action you want your reader to take — whether that’s a click, a sale, or simply a primed response to your next interaction.

2. Focus on milestones that build relationships, not sales.

Instead of asking: “How do I get them to buy?”

Ask: “What needs to happen before they’re ready to buy?”

For most offers, that includes:

• Becoming aware of their pain points
• Understanding their problems clearly
• Believing your solution works
• Trusting you to deliver on your promises
• Seeing why NOW is the right time

You don’t need to make it all happen at once. But every email you send should move one of those forward.

Once you have this part nailed down, the sales WILL come. Just give it time.

3. Track progression, not just performance.

I’m not saying open rates and clicks don’t matter. Of course they do.

But you should ALSO look at things like:

• Trial-to-paid conversion time
• Time-to-activation
• Reply quality
• Demo bookings after educational sequences

You know your emails are doing their job if people are replying with better questions, they’re converting faster, or sales calls feel easier… even if your click rates aren’t very flashy.

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If you treat email like a slot machine that spits out sales, you’re going to be disappointed in your results.

But if you design it intentionally as a system, you’ll get to watch it compound quietly in the background (while everyone else is griping about their click rates).

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Not sure which email campaign to fix up first?

Here’s a quick list of the most important email sequences for your reader relationships AND your bottom line.

Read the article

P.S. Need a second pair of eyes on your email copy? Check out my Copy Roasts for unbiased, transparent feedback about what’s working and what could work harder.

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Cool stuff to check out

A roundup of things I found online that made me think of you.

👀 Get seen on social: Check out these 4 discovery trends for social media to keep your brand visible in 2026.

🐴 Year of the Fire Horse: See how brands like Lush and Stanley embraced the Lunar New Year with authenticity.

🤔 Authority vs. visibility: Which is better for marketing in 2026 — being popular or being credible? Find out here.

👏 TikTok gets this: There’s one big thing TikTok requires from marketers — and email needs to learn from it.

📩 How much email is too much? Short answer: It depends. Here’s how often you should email your customers as a SaaS company.