Email marketing has been declared dead every time a new digital technology appears in all its shiny newness. Yet, it remains one of the most effective, profitable and controllable digital channels available to marketers. But so much of the email advices surface around "optimising for mobile". At the same time, TikTok and Instagram reels are optimising for human behaviours. And that's what we are up against. We aren't just competing only with other email senders now. In Reels, contents are engineered especially for engaging a reader in seconds. I recently read an article from MarTech on “What TikTok gets right about attention and what email overlooks”. Successful TikTok content rarely relies on a single hook. Creators stack multiple hooks to earn attention and keep it. Most TikToks have three hooks: 1. A visual hook — movement, contrast or disruption that catches the eye. 2. A verbal hook introduces curiosity, tension or a pattern interrupt. 3. A text hook reinforces or reframes what’s happening. Now, here’s where email crosses paths with TikTok. Technically, email has all three hooks, too. 1. Subject lines are verbal hooks, while preheaders should be re-hooks. 2. Design and layout provide visual signals. (Make it look easy-to-digest.) 3. The opening line or copy block should be used to hook the reader. (Yes, hook them again after they have opened your email) ^~^ Another structural difference between TikTok and email is how each handles call-to-action. On TikTok, creators don’t wait until the end to ask for engagement. They introduce micro-CTAs early and often — low-effort actions that build momentum, such as: “Keep watching.” “Watch until the end.” “Comment if this sounds familiar.” Email tends to save the CTA for the bottom of the message. A typical message has one primary action placed after all the explanations. This format assumes readers still stick around long enough to find it. The traditional model no longer reflects how people consume content. Humans don’t wait until they reach the end of the message to make decisions. They make them along the way.