Most email copy advice assumes a level of familiarity that doesn’t exist yet. Humor, casual tone, and clever phrasing only work once trust is already there.
Imagine a stranger walks up to you and starts joking as if they know you. Your instinctive reaction is distrust. The same dynamic applies in the inbox.
Email is a personal channel. Treat it accordingly.
Use this filter when writing emails:
Cold Audiences (cold outreach or recently acquired leads):
Prioritize clarity over cleverness. Address the reader the way you would talk to someone you’ve just met. Lead with clear analysis, concrete insights and unambiguous statements.
Readers are still deciding whether you’re worth their attention at all. Earn trust first, and personality will come later on.
Warm Audiences (subscribers who already know about you):
Familiarity changes the rules. Once trust exists, personality stops feeling intrusive and starts feeling human. This is where tone, opinions, and lightness can work, because the reader already knows why you’re allowed in their inbox.
Clever copy doesn’t build trust. It spends it.
Make sure you’ve earned it first.