Email marketing is a powerful tool for businesses to engage with their audience. To stay ahead, learning from industry experts is essential. These 10 professionals shape the future of email marketing through strategy, innovation, and deep industry knowledge.
1. Scott Cohen
CEO, InboxArmy | Co-Chair, ANA Email Excellence Center
Scott Cohen leads InboxArmy with over two decades of expertise in digital marketing and Martech. Before becoming CEO, he served as VP of Marketing, focusing on automation and high-performance email campaigns. He co-hosts That InboxArmy Podcast, where he shares insights on industry trends. In 2025, he was named Co-Chair of the ANA Email Excellence Center.
Scott recently emphasized the shift from big data to actionable small data, arguing that precise, customer-specific insights outperform mass-scale analytics. His agency, InboxArmy, continues to work with diverse industries, leveraging his expertise in automation and personalization.
📌 Follow him for: Advanced email marketing automation and strategic growth.
2. Chad S. White
Author of Email Marketing Rules | Research Director at Oracle Digital Experience
Chad S. White is an expert in email marketing best practices and deliverability. His book Email Marketing Rules is considered a must-read. As Research Director at Oracle, he analyzes industry trends and helps businesses refine their email strategies.
Chad has highlighted how email budgets are often reallocated to lower-ROI channels, a trend he warns against. His latest edition of Email Marketing Rules provides updates on best practices, privacy changes, and engagement strategies in a cookieless digital world.
📌 Follow him for: Email deliverability and compliance insights.
3. Kath Pay
Founder, Holistic Email Marketing
Kath Pay champions a behavioral approach to email marketing, ensuring brands create personalized, relevant content. She specializes in customer engagement, automation, and conversion optimization.
Recently, she has been advocating for accessibility-first email design, emphasizing images-off rendering and live-text strategies. She integrates AI-powered testing while maintaining a strong focus on human-driven engagement strategies.
📌 Follow her for: Email personalization and behavior-driven marketing strategies.
4. Joanna Wiebe
Founder, Copyhackers
Joanna Wiebe has revolutionized email copywriting. Through Copyhackers, she teaches brands how to craft compelling messages that convert.
She has incorporated AI-driven copy techniques into her teachings, focusing on how AI can support, rather than replace, human copywriters. She continues to provide training on voice-of-customer messaging and persuasive email structures.
📌 Follow her for: High-converting email campaigns.
5. Jeanne Jennings
Founder, Email Optimization Shop
Jeanne specializes in email strategy, list growth, and boosting conversion rates. She works with enterprise-level brands to refine their email marketing efforts.
She recently focused on the psychology behind email conversions, teaching marketers how to use audience intent and engagement data to fine-tune email performance. Her analysis of A/B testing techniques has helped businesses optimize email design.
📌 Follow her for: Data-driven strategy and A/B testing insights.
6. Ann Handley
Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs
Ann Handley is an advocate for high-quality, engaging email content. She helps marketers create meaningful connections through storytelling.
Her latest work highlights the importance of empathy and long-form storytelling over short, sales-focused messaging. She also advocates for text-based, minimalist email formats for better readability.
📌 Follow her for: Content-driven email marketing.
7. Garin Hobbs
VP, Customer Success & Strategy at InboxArmy
Garin Hobbs is an expert in lifecycle and retention marketing. At InboxArmy, he helps businesses build high-performing email and SMS marketing strategies.
He has been focusing on segmentation to deliver hyper-personalized experiences at scale. He believes lifecycle marketing should be dynamic, evolving alongside customer behaviors.
📌 Follow him for: Retention marketing and personalization strategies.
8. Dela Quist
Founder, Alchemy Worx
Dela Quist is a strong advocate for email frequency optimization and engagement. His data-driven approach focuses on maximizing ROI through intelligent segmentation.
He challenges the fear around unsubscribes, arguing that removing disengaged users boosts engagement and conversions. His research supports increasing email frequency strategically rather than reducing sends out of fear.
📌 Follow him for: Analytics and audience engagement techniques.
9. Matthew Vernhout
VP, Netcore Solutions | Email Compliance Specialist
Matthew is a resource for email deliverability and privacy laws. He helps businesses navigate email regulations while improving inbox placement rates.
Recently, he has been educating brands on the impact of Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection and how businesses can track engagement without relying on open rates.
📌 Follow him for: Compliance, spam filtering, and list management.
10. Lisa S. Jones
Founder, EyeMail Inc.
Lisa Jones is innovating email engagement by integrating video content. Her company, EyeMail Inc., makes email more dynamic and interactive.
She has pushed for email marketers to embrace multimedia strategies, demonstrating how embedded video snippets can significantly improve open and click-through rates.
📌 Follow her for: Video-based email marketing strategies.
Some Final Thoughts
Refining your email strategy, improving deliverability, or mastering copywriting starts with learning from these experts. Their insights, tools, and expertise can help you craft more effective, engaging email campaigns.
Who’s your favorite email marketing expert? Let us know!
