Almost every email marketer agrees that relevance matters. Far fewer can say what makes a specific email relevant. It often gets reduced to personalisation: a first name in the subject line, a product recommendation, a merge tag. Those can help, but a perfectly personalised email about something the reader doesn't care about is still irrelevant.

Relevance is simpler and harder than that. It's whether this email, to this person, right now, is worth their attention.

What makes an email relevant?

An email is relevant when it matches what the reader cares about, arrives at a moment when it's useful, and gives them a clear reason to read or act. Relevance comes from who receives the email, when they receive it and what it says, not from personalisation tokens alone.

Five questions to ask before you send

1. Who is this email actually for?

If the honest answer is "everyone on the list", stop and think again. Most emails are really for a group: customers who bought a certain product, subscribers in a certain region, people who clicked on a topic last month. Send to that group and the email gets more relevant without changing a word.

2. Why would they want it today?

Timing is part of relevance. A reminder before a renewal date, a shipping update, a guide that arrives the week someone starts using a product. Emails triggered by what subscribers do, or by dates that matter to them, are relevant by design. Our guide to date-based automation triggers has some to start with.

3. What do they get from reading it?

Every email should leave the reader with something: information, an idea, a decision made easier, an offer that fits. If the main beneficiary of an email is the sender, readers can tell.

4. Would you be glad to receive it?

This is the inbox test. Picture this email arriving in your own crowded inbox between everything else. Would you open it, delete it or wonder why you're getting it? Be as honest as you'd be with someone else's email.

5. Is there one clear thing to do next?

Relevance falls apart when an email tries to say everything. One main message and one clear next step make it easy for the reader to act on what matters to them.

Personalisation is a tool, not the goal

Personalisation works when it serves relevance: showing someone the category they actually shop in, or referencing the event they registered for. It backfires when it's decoration. A first name on an email that has nothing to do with the reader can feel more mechanical, not less.

Start with who, when and why. Add personalisation where it makes the email more useful, not just more familiar.

What relevance does over time

Relevant emails get clicks and replies, and that engagement tells mailbox providers your email is wanted. Over time, that helps more of your emails reach the inbox, where they're more likely to be read. Irrelevant emails do the opposite: they train subscribers to ignore you, which shows up as email fatigue long before it shows up as a problem you can't ignore.

Relevance also changes the frequency question. When every email earns its place, the right email frequency is often higher than you'd expect.

The relevance check, in one place

1. Who exactly is this for?
2. Why would they want it today?
3. What do they get from reading it?
4. Would you be glad to receive it?
5. Is there one clear next step?

One newsletter, three emails

Picture a garden centre about to send its monthly newsletter to the whole list: a lawn care guide, a new range of pots and an invitation to a weekend workshop.

Run the five questions and the email splits in three. In Mail Blaze, the workshop invitation goes to a segment of subscribers within driving distance, built on the location you collect at sign-up. The pots go to customers who've bought planters before. The lawn care guide goes to everyone, because it's genuinely useful to all of them.

Three smaller emails, each with one clear next step, instead of one email trying to do everything. Before the next newsletter, a one-question survey asks subscribers which topics they'd like more of, and your campaign reports show which of the three emails landed best. The next send starts from what your audience told you.

Run the five questions on your next campaign before you schedule it.

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P.S. If you'd like a second opinion on a campaign before it goes out, our team is here seven days a week on call, chat and email.

Frequently asked questions

What is email relevance?

Email relevance is how well an email matches what the reader cares about at the moment they receive it. It depends on who receives the email, when and what it offers them.

Is personalisation the same as relevance?

No. Personalisation can support relevance, but an email personalised with a name can still be irrelevant if the content doesn't matter to the reader.

How do I make my emails more relevant?

Send to specific segments instead of your whole list, trigger emails from subscriber actions and dates, and make sure each email gives the reader something useful.