Every Memorial Day weekend, I tune in to the Indianapolis 500. It’s more than just a race to me, it’s a ritual. I’ve been watching it (or listening to it) every year for decades, ever since I was a kid. In fact, as a kid, I was actually at the 1973 race, the one that’s gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. It was marked by crashes, delays, even a fatality. But that tragedy became a turning point: new safety measures were implemented that changed racing forever.
As I watched this year’s race, what struck me wasn’t just the roar of the engines or the thrill of the finish line. It was the pit stops. Those blink-and-you-miss-it moments that can make or break a team’s position.
There’s a lesson there for us as email marketers.
The Pit Stop = Your Email Optimization Process
In racing, pit stops aren’t just about refueling and changing tires; they’re about precision, efficiency, and teamwork under pressure. The best pit crews don’t just work fast. They work smart. They’ve planned every move, trained for every scenario, and communicate without hesitation.
In email marketing, your version of a pit stop is the optimization cycle: evaluating your campaign performance, identifying what’s working (or not), and making data-informed adjustments. Just like a mistimed pit stop can drop a driver from first to fifth, a poorly timed subject line test or misaligned CTA can derail your engagement and conversion rates.
Quick tip: Build a before and after launch checklist for each campaign. Subject line preview? Rendering on mobile? CTA position tested? These “pit stop procedures” can keep you ahead of the competition.
Safety First: What 1973 Taught Us About Failing Fast and Learning
That 1973 Indy 500 wasn’t just tragic, it was transformational. The safety improvements that followed — including redesigned fuel tanks, better barriers, stricter weather protocols — were born from hard lessons. But they saved lives.
In email marketing, we’re lucky. Our mistakes don’t come with such serious consequences. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t treat failure as an opportunity for growth.
If a campaign tanks, don’t just move on. Investigate. Diagnose. Fix. Then share the learnings with your team so everyone can benefit.
Additional Resource: Check out ‘Case Study: 61% Decrease in Revenue-per-email (RPE), but We Still Learned a Few Things’ by Jeanne Jennings for the Email Optimization Shop blog to learn more about learning from losing campaigns.
Precision Wins: Small Tweaks, Big Impact
In racing, the difference between first and second place is often a fraction of a second. Email marketing works the same way. A single-word tweak in your subject line can lift open rates by 10% or more. Moving your CTA above the fold might spike click-throughs.
The key is continuous, intentional testing.
While multi-variable testing is good, the majority of the time you should test one variable at a time (subject line, header, or CTA button color). This will allow you to understand what caused the lift or loss. Just like a pit crew doesn’t overhaul the whole car during a stop, you don’t always want to test changing everything in your campaign at once. That’s not optimization, it’s chaos.
Additional Resource: Check out ‘Four Ideas to Inspire Your Next Email Marketing Test’ by Jeanne Jennings for the Email Optimization Shop blog to learn more about finding inspiration for testing.
Know the Track: Your Audience Is the Road
Every Indy driver knows you can’t drive every lap the same way. The track heats up. Tires wear down. Competitors change tactics. You adapt.
Same goes for your email audience. Their needs, behaviors, and expectations shift constantly. What worked in Q1 might fall flat in Q3.
Use your data. Segment by engagement level and other factors where you can target content, frequency, or something else. Personalize and customize based on behavior (yes, not just first name). Map out your prospect journey—from awareness to consideration to decision—and tailor your content to each stage.
Additional Resource: Check out ‘A Simple Segmentation Strategy to Boost Revenue [Case Study with Data]’ by Jeanne Jennings for the Email Optimization Shop blog to learn more about segmentation strategy.
And Then… There’s the Milk
One of my favorite traditions at Indy? The bottle of milk the winner drinks in Victory Lane. It’s quirky. It’s nostalgic. And it’s rooted in history—dating back to 1936 when Louis Meyer requested buttermilk after a win because his mom always told him it was refreshing on a hot day.
Ever since, the milk has become a symbol: of endurance, of excellence, of earning it.
In email marketing, your “milk moment” is when the campaign performs just right—your open rates surge, conversions click, and unsubscribes dip. That’s your victory lap. But you don’t get there without careful prep, testing, and those crucial optimization pit stops.
Additional Resource: Check out ‘Case Study: Less Copy Generates a 918% Lift in Email Revenue’ by Jeanne Jennings for the Email Optimization Shop blog to learn more about a winning A/B split test.
Final Lap
Whether you’re racing around the Brickyard or racing to meet your next campaign deadline, the key is the same: Plan. Test. Learn. Repeat.
Because in both racing and email marketing, you don’t win by being the flashiest. You win by being the most prepared.
Now go check your email pit stop checklist—your next victory lap might be just one optimization away.
Until next time,
jj
Jeanne Jennings is a recognized industry expert, consultant, trainer, speaker, and author on email marketing strategy and tactics. In 2001 she founded Email Optimization Shop, a boutique email marketing consultancy; she is their lead strategist. Email Optimization Shop helps organizations make their email marketing more effective and more profitable. Learn more at www.EmailOpShop.com.
