I’ve always been bothered by the belief that emails should be short to cater to humans’ dwindling attention spans.

So if a client wants short emails, of course I’m going to tell them they’re wrong and that it’s my way or the highway.

What?

You think I’ll just give in, put my ego aside, and do what I’m told to make the client happy and still create results for them?

Actually… yeah, that’s exactly what I’d do.

When the majority of an industry believes something, it’s hard to go against them.

Sometimes, in marketing and in life, you give the market what it’s asking for—even if you don’t like it.

But just like in any roguelike game, you’ve got to make do with what you have and try to make the best out of it.

So if I need to write tweemails (or should it be Xmail?), here’s how I’d do it:

First, keep the offer exciting.

Don’t run the same promo week after week. Change it up, not just for variety, but to build urgency. Urgency moves people. So does surprise. Together, they give you reasons to write emails and give readers a reason to act.

Second, centre your emails around a theme or an extreme.

You need a strong reason for the email to exist. Something time-sensitive, unusual, or emotionally sharp. Like a flash sale for the founder’s birthday. Or a mid-year special that ends 30 July.

Third, skip the build-up.

There isn’t room in a short email to tell a winding story or unpack a big insight. That space needs to go straight into the offer or the angle. So say why you're emailing them today, what they are getting, and when to do it. A simple three-part structure of an email that will sacrifice some trust building and depth that longer emails allow. That’s just the trade-off.

Fourth, be brutal in your edits.

Cut anything that doesn’t drive action or reinforce your core message. The shorter the email, the sharper each sentence needs to be.

Fifth, use images to pull their weight.

Sometimes the right visual says what 50 words can’t, and earns its keep with a glance.

If your business runs on short, punchy emails and you need fresh angles to keep them coming, I can help.

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