Neil Patel at FWD 2025 in Sydney last week perfectly captured the paradox of modern marketing: As we collectively chase the next shiny digital tool, the humble email continues to quietly outperform nearly every other channel in terms of ROI and relationship-building potential.
Whilst the event dazzled with spectacular staging and cutting-edge technology demonstrations, this grounded reminder about email's enduring power had me filling page after page in my notebook. For industrial b2b marketers specifically, the session reinforced what the data has been telling us all along: we've been sitting on a relationship-building goldmine, but most of us have been using it all wrong.
The email paradox
"Every year, I constantly hear more and more people saying email is dying down. Yet it's a channel that consistently produces amazing results," Patel explained to a packed audience. This contradiction forms what I'm calling the email paradox – the channel marketing professionals love to dismiss in strategy meetings is the same one that reliably delivers the highest ROI.
What makes this disconnect even more striking is that, according to research, 69% of consumers worldwide say email is their preferred communication channel with brands. For industrial b2b marketers facing pressure to demonstrate bottom-line impact, this presents a significant opportunity that's hiding in plain sight.
From transaction to relationship: The 90/10 email approach
Patel argued passionately against the traditional promotional email mindset, introducing what he calls the "90/10 rule" – 90% of your email content should provide value, and only 10% should focus on sales.
"Sending educational content is super important. It helps build that goodwill which causes your conversion rates to go up over time," he explained.
For b2b organisations, this approach aligns perfectly with your strengths. Your subject matter experts and technical teams have valuable insights that your audience genuinely wants. The key is delivering this expertise in a way that builds relationships rather than just pushing for immediate transactions.
Five strategies to create email magnetism in industrial marketing
Drawing on Patel's insights and our experience working in b2b, here are five practical strategies to transform your email approach:
1. The value-first welcome sequence
The typical industrial welcome email focuses on company credentials and product offerings. Instead, implement a three-part welcome sequence:
- Insight delivery: Share an immediate, valuable insight that addresses a common pain point
- Resource introduction: Introduce your knowledge resources (guides, calculators, technical libraries)
- Dialogue opening: Ask a specific, relevant question that invites a response
2. The technical expertise showcase
Rather than broadcasting generic company news, create a monthly "insights briefing" that features:
- Quick technical insights from your engineering team
- Practical application tips that customers can implement immediately
- Answers to actual customer questions (anonymised)
Make it easy for recipients to request specific technical topics for future emails – creating an ongoing dialogue rather than a one-way broadcast.
3. The segment-and-solve approach
Patel emphasised that email list scrubbing is critical – "if someone hasn't engaged for a while, they just get deleted from my list" – but before removing contacts, try a re-engagement campaign with hyper-relevant content.
For b2b, try segmenting by:
- Job function (technical vs. commercial)
- Industry vertical
- Application challenge
- Region/market
Then, deliver highly specific content addressing each segment's unique challenges.
4. The simplicity principle
To quote Leonardo da Vinci, "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”. Simple, straightforward emails are more likely to outperform long-winded and jargon-filled alternatives.
For b2b companies, this means:
- Clear, concise subject lines
- Direct, value-focused messaging
- Minimal design elements
- Explicit call-to-action
Patel notes that emails with 100-249 words perform the best, contradicting the tendency of many organisations to create lengthy, comprehensive email content. The key is to provide enough value to be useful while saving deeper technical content for those who express interest.
5. The permission-based relationship builder
Leveraging email to build relationships rather than just drive transactions is critical. If you help people solve their problems with value, they're much more likely to purchase from you.
For b2b marketers, this means:
- Creating educational automated sequences based on specific customer interests
- Using behavioural triggers to deliver timely, relevant content
- Providing unexpected value (technical guides, calculators, templates)
- Making it exceptionally easy to engage further with your expertise
6. Automating without losing authenticity
As marketing automation becomes increasingly sophisticated, Patel cautioned against losing the human element. While personalisation technologies can increase click-through rates by up to 139%, authentic personalisation goes beyond just inserting someone's name in the subject line.
For b2b marketers, this means:
- Using automation to deliver the right content to the right person
- Maintaining technical accuracy and authenticity in all automated sequences
- Ensuring a seamless handoff between automated systems and human experts when customers engage
- Testing everything, rather than assuming what will work
Moving from batch-and-blast to strategic dialogue
Patel's session also provided an all-important reminder to stop viewing email as a promotional channel and use it as a strategic relationship-building tool. For organisations with complex sales cycles and technical value propositions, this approach aligns perfectly with how your customers actually make purchasing decisions.
"Don't use your inbox as a billboard," Patel advised. "All attention is earned – you need to delight people."
This means crafting email programmes that reflect how your customers actually want to engage with technical information – providing value, building trust and establishing your organisation as a genuine partner in solving their challenges.
The path forward: From email marketing to relationship engineering
Technical depth, genuine expertise and problem-solving capabilities are precisely what make for valuable email content – if delivered in the right way.
The old approach of "spray and pray" batch email campaigns is being replaced by something more akin to relationship engineering – systematically building value-based connections that naturally progress toward commercial outcomes.
Want to transform your email approach from transactional broadcasts to strategic relationship building? Let's book a strategy call to discuss how your technical expertise can become the foundation of powerful email campaigns that drive measurable business results.
Brand chemistry is a b2b content marketing agency that turns your brand’s narrative into an irresistible lead magnet. Our strategic alchemy transforms content into a powerful growth engine.