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The System We Use To Make Effective Email Marketing Calendars Without Discounts

Author

Max Sturtevant
March 23, 2026

The Inbox Newsletter

Hey it's Max from The Inbox Newsletter.

After reading this, you'll never run out of banger emails to send.

One of the biggest pain points I hear from brands is "we don't know what to send."

They have products to sell and a list to sell to...

But when it comes time to actually writing the email, they're stuck.

So they send another discount. And another one the week after that.

Or even worse… they don’t send enough 🫠

Discounts can work in the short term…

But long term you're training your customers to only buy when there's a deal.

Here are two systems we use to make non-discount email marketing easy:

1. Use Micro Topics

The customer is easy to get overwhelmed.

When they are opening their emails they are in a zombie state.

Give them an email with a million things and they will get scared and not remember any of it.

Give them just one thing, and they’re much more likely to engage and respond.

So… rather than writing an email about all the benefits of your product, pick one small benefit and make the whole email about that.

If you sell protein powder, don't write "10 reasons our protein is the best."

Write one email about how whey is different than other proteins.

Write another about what makes a protein powder organic.

Write another about the optimal amount of protein after a workout.

Here's an example from Bite:

Micro Topic Example: Plastic In Your Toothpaste

This email has one micro-topic: your toothpaste is shedding plastic

They're not trying to sell you on everything… they don’t talk about all the awesome ingredients in their toothpaste, or how the brand was started, or about how thir formula is all naturaly…

They choose one micro-topic.

By doubling down on one thing, they’ve made it easy for the customer to actually take something away from this email.

2. Recurring Themes

Create a series your audience expects.

  • Brez does "Slow Sip Sundays” every other Sunday

  • Forest Ink does "Staff Member Picks" once a month

  • Joymode does "Ask a Urologist" every 2 weeks.

This is Issue 18. That means they've sent 18 emails from this one idea.

They bring in an actual urologist to answer real questions from customers.

Educational emails like these build trust.

And because they’re recurring, customers can start to look forward to having their questions answered.

The key for sending successful recurring theme emails is to pick one theme and stick with it, consistently.

Once you have micro-topics and recurring themes in place, your content calendar fills itself.

Most ecom brands overcomplicate email.

This system makes it easy enough that you follow through consistently.

Email Inspiration Of The Day

Brand:
Casely

Email Design:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YVTkPb97tX69mPfJIlJqa21jIidK8DES/view?usp=sharing

Notes:
The 20% off hero section is bold and impossible to miss. The discount code "REFRESH" ties directly to the spring theme, making the promotion feel intentional instead of random. The collection grid below gives shoppers three distinct entry points based on style preference, which means more paths to a purchase instead of one generic "shop now."

Reply to this email if you have any questions or further content you want covered.

Cheers,

Max Sturtevant

P.S
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