Email marketing is still powerful—but only when done right.

In this powerful clip, I share a cautionary tale about a marketer who spent $240K building a list, only to watch it become almost useless and wasting $180K after ignoring one crucial rule.

👇 Watch the video below to learn what went wrong—and how SMS marketing can save your engagement as the simple solution that turns everything around:

Why You Should Stop Emailing Your Whole List (And What To Do Instead)

Hey there, Jason Buckner here from Automation Made Easy.

One of my customers has 40,000 people on his database, and it costs him about $6 per lead to get those people onto his list. Do the math—that’s about $240,000 spent just to build that database. 😳

The problem? He’s an old-school internet marketer. Back in the day, you could just email and email and email, and it worked. People opened the emails, clicked through, bought stuff, registered for webinars, booked sessions... happy days!

But that’s not how it works anymore.

Thanks to Google’s algorithms (and the flood of emails landing in inboxes every day), open rates have plummeted. They used to be up around 40%. Now? It’s more like 17% to 28%—and for some, it’s even lower.

Here’s Where Things Went Wrong

Despite advice to stop, this particular marketer kept emailing his entire list over and over again.

What happened next?

• Open rates dropped even more
• Emails started landing in spam folders
• Google and Yahoo flagged him as a “naughty sender”
• His domain eventually got completely blocked

All that money spent on building the list? Pretty much wasted.

In fact, if you follow best practices, you should only be emailing people who’ve engaged with you in the last four months. That means, in his case, 75% of the database (or $180,000 worth of leads) couldn’t be contacted.

😱 Ouch.

The Solution? SMS to the Rescue

There’s one channel that cuts through the noise: SMS.

SMS gives you instant engagement, and when used strategically, it can help you:

• Re-engage cold leads
• Boost your email open rates
• Drive people straight to your call-to-action
• Increase registrations and responses across your funnel

You don’t need to be a tech wizard. Even if you just pick up your phone and manually send a few messages, you’ll see the difference.

(Although... yes, there are much smarter automated ways to do this too! 😉)

So here’s what I want you to do:
👉 Pick up your phone and say, “This is the solution.”
👉 Then start messaging your leads where they actually are—on their phones.

Join the FREE Live Training

Want to know how to integrate AI-powered SMS into your marketing strategy?

Join me for a FREE live training, where I’ll show you:

• How to improve your email strategy
• The power of AI-powered SMS for higher engagement 
• How businesses are doubling (or tripling!) their sales

Simply click the button below to register now and let's get SMS marketing working in your business:

Want to know why SMS is so important in your business?

Email marketing is still alive—but it’s not the only (or best) tool in your toolbox anymore.

In today’s fast-paced, instant world, your leads don’t want to wait around for emails to land (and let’s be honest—many don’t even open them). That’s where SMS comes in.

In this quick video, Jason Buckner breaks down the key stats that prove why SMS is outperforming email, how it can help your show-up rates, and the exact steps you need to take right now to start using it in your business.

👇 Watch the video below and get ready to reach your leads faster—and more effectively:

Why SMS Is Blowing Email Out Of The Water (And What You Need To Do About It)

Hey there, Jason Buckner here from Automation Made Easy.

So, an important thing to note is your open rate.

As I mentioned in the previous video, email open rates today are sitting between 17% and 28%. And then click through rates on email is between 1% and 3%. Then of the people that open those emails, the engagement rate is between 8% to 10%.

So, let’s break that down:

• 17–28% open your emails
• 1–3% click on your links
• 8–10% of openers actually engage and reply or respond

That’s… not great.

Enter SMS: Faster, Stronger, Way More Engaging

Now SMS is something that's quite different. I've been working with SMS in business for about the last 10 years now.

And SMS is different. We've got a 98% open rate. So instead of, you know, say, 30 maximum on the average, we've got 98% on average, and then 90% of those are actually open in the first 30 seconds.

✅ 98% open rate (yes, you read that right)
✅ 90% of messages are opened within the first 30 seconds

Whereas emails can take people weeks to open, SMS is a much quicker and so we can engage much quicker, straight off. Number one.

Number two thing though, is is it's not just that engagement. What we get. Well, it is the engagement, but I haven't given you those stats yet - 45% response rate and a 19% click through rate.

✅ 45% response rate
✅ 19% click-through rate

So that's about 4x or more what we get out of email, and it's a much quicker experience.

People are in this instant world, and we need to get instant with some of our communications as well. And unfortunately, while email goes through instantly, it's absolutely because of the competition there. It's not necessarily the path forwards if we want to get engagement, if we want to connect with our audience and then continue to connect with them until they become leads. 

Why You Should Start Using SMS Immediately

Now, I’m not saying email’s dead. It still has a place. But if you want real-time engagement and connection, SMS is the way forward.

Now I want you to be getting out your mobile phone when someone opts in for something.

I want you to start collecting their telephone number, and I want you to be SMSing them, having a conversation with them as soon as they opt in. And keep it low level, okay, keep it at conversational level, not up here on super professional number one, that's what you've got to be doing right now.

Or if you've got a CRM, a very least, automate the trigger going out for the first message after someone opts in.

You've got to be doing that right now in your business. If you're not, you're doing yourself a disservice.

Quick recap... here’s what I want you to do:
📱 Grab your phone (or your CRM)
📲 Start collecting mobile numbers when people opt in
💬 Send them a low-key, conversational SMS right after they sign up

Bonus Tip: Use SMS for Appointments and Webinars

SMS doesn’t just boost lead engagement—it also gets more people to show up.

Using SMS for appointment bookings can increase the show rate by between 17 and 32% depending on the industry. So it makes sense to use it.

Using SMS for webinars, for example, increases our show rate from the average, which is about 33% for a live webinar, up to about 40 to 50%. 

So it makes sense to be doing that and there are so many other reasons why we should be using SMS, but 61% of businesses aren't doing that.

Now, if you're in that 61% get out your mobile phone, start SMSing and having conversations with people straight away. You've got to start doing that right now.

Join the FREE Live Training

Want to know how to integrate AI-powered SMS into your marketing strategy?

Join me for a FREE live training, where I’ll show you:

• How to improve your email strategy
• The power of AI-powered SMS for higher engagement 
• How businesses are doubling (or tripling!) their sales

Simply click the button below to register now and let's get SMS marketing working in your business:

Are your emails getting ignored? You're not alone.

It's harder than ever to get your emails seen—let alone opened. Between inbox overload, tighter spam filters, and new rules from email providers like Google and Yahoo, email marketing has become a full-blown obstacle course.

In this short and sharp video, Jason Buckner breaks down exactly what’s going wrong with email open rates—and what you can do to fix it.

From essential compliance steps to smart engagement tips, he covers everything you need to know to keep your emails alive and well.

👇 Watch the video below to discover how to make your emails stand out—and what to do if they’re not being opened.

Why Email Is Dying

Let’s Talk Open Rates and Inbox Survival. Jason Buckner here from Automation Made Easy—just reaching out to see how your 2024 went.

Was it good for you, as far as email and follow-up is concerned?

Or was it a bit of a problem?

See, most of the businesses I'm working with are finding it more and more of a struggle to get into inboxes—to get  past the spam filters, and actually get people opening their emails. Once upon a time, we could easily get 30–40% open rates for our emails, but those numbers are very quickly dwindling. 

The Inbox is Getting More Crowded Every Year

Here’s the thing: the number of emails going into people's inboxes has literally doubled in the last 12 months.

And the 12 months before that it doubled and the year before that it doubled too. Yep, this has been happening year after year. So it’s no wonder your email is fighting for attention—and often losing.

As email recipients, we’re all doing the delete, delete, delete dance. But as business owners, we've got to figure out how to stand out and actually get seen.

And that’s just the start.

Say Hello to the Email Police: Google, Yahoo and Friends

Google and Yahoo were the first to get strict, but now every email provider is adopting this as well. They’ve become the email police, setting up new hoops to jump through and rules to comply with that make it harder for spammy emails to reach inboxes.

That sounds great—until your business emails get flagged too.

Here’s what you need to have in place:

• SPF
• DKIM
• DMARC

These need to be set up correctly in your CRM—hopefully, you've done that already.

Then, you need to write compelling content and if people aren't opening then we need to make sure they ARE compelling. Because if people don’t open your emails, the algorithms notice—and that’s bad news. The rule is simple: If people aren’t opening, stop emailing them.

And there's a whole process to make sure we get all of that in place and and even if you use other methods, email is still very, very important in your business, and yet it's dying. 

So, What Should Your Open Rates Look Like?

So we've got to make sure we're jumping through all of those hoops, complying with all of those rules first before we even think about other marketing strategies that will go through, of course. But right now, I want you to make sure that your open rates are sitting somewhere between 17 to 28% Well, actually, that's the average, okay. 

But what I want you to be doing is making sure your open rates are sitting somewhere between 50 to 60% okay?

Every time you email someone and your open rates are between 17 to 28% there's about 70% of people or more that the Googles, the Yahoos and everyone are saying these people are doing the wrong thing. Okay?

So we need to make sure we're not emailing those 70% of people that aren't opening our emails because we're getting we're getting crosses against our domain name every time we do that.

Okay, so it's super important to make sure we're being compelling. We've jumped through all the hoops. We're getting people to open our emails, and those that aren't, we stop emailing, and there's a sweet spot, if they haven't opened for four months, that's when we stop emailing.

Because email still matters. It's not dead, but it's evolving—and fast.

Join the FREE Live Training

Want to know how to integrate AI-powered SMS into your marketing strategy?

Join me for a FREE live training, where I’ll show you:

• How to improve your email strategy
• The power of AI-powered SMS for higher engagement 
• How businesses are doubling (or tripling!) their sales

Simply click the button below to register now and let's get SMS marketing working in your business:

Are you still manually sending SMS messages in your business?

If so, you might be spending way too much time on back-and-forth conversations. But what if you could automate those interactions without losing your personal touch?

In today’s video, I’ll show you how AI-powered SMS can speak in your voice, engage every lead instantly, and save you hours every single day... without the overwhelm.

Watch the quick, to-the-point video below now and see how this game-changing automation can help you scale your business faster:

Why AI With SMS Is A Game-Changer For Your Business

Hey there, Jason Buckner here from Automation Made Easy.

So, you're sending SMS messages manually, right? And if you’re doing it well—getting engagement, having great conversations—it's probably starting to take up a lot of time. Time that’s incredibly valuable.

Chances are, you’re the best person to be handling SMS conversations in your business—unless you have a full-time customer service team.

But here’s what I want you to think about: AI and SMS.

Until recently, we didn’t have the power of AI in SMS systems, but now we do. And that changes everything.

AI Can Speak In Your Voice

With AI SMS, we can actually train a bot to sound just like you. It’s not just generic automation—it’s personalized, dynamic, and trained in your unique voice, tone, and conversation style.

Think of it like this: in traditional lead generation campaigns, we’ve always used email for follow-up, guiding leads through an attraction, trust, and conversion phase. Now, we can do the same with AI SMS.

By training AI to have natural conversations, it can guide your leads toward your desired call-to-action—just like you would, but without you having to do it manually.

The Big Advantage: Time-Saving Automation

The most obvious advantage of AI-powered SMS? The sheer amount of time it saves.

Imagine this:

• 45% of people respond to SMS messages.
• If you have 100 leads, that’s 45 conversations to manage.
• If you have 1,000 leads, that’s an entire week of full-time work just responding to messages.

Do you have that kind of time? Probably not. But with AI-powered SMS, every single one of those conversations can happen instantly, automatically, and at scale—without you lifting a finger.

But Is SMS Expensive?

Let’s talk cost. SMS is more expensive than email, yes. But when you’re getting engagement and converting leads into customers, it’s a smart marketing expense.

Each SMS is relatively cheap, and in my business, all the messages I send only cost about $50 per month. Depending on your business, it could be even less.

Is AI SMS Difficult To Set Up?

AI can feel overwhelming, I get it. But that’s where I come in—I’m a tech nerd, and I can guide you through it.

If you’re curious about how AI-powered SMS can take your business to the next level, I’d love for you to join my live training. No sales pitch—just solid strategies on how to implement AI SMS in a way that actually works.

Register for the free webinar below. I look forward to seeing you there!

Join the FREE Live Training

Want to know how to integrate AI-powered SMS into your marketing strategy?

Join me for a FREE live training, where I’ll show you:

• How to improve your email strategy
• The power of AI-powered SMS for higher engagement 
• How businesses are doubling (or tripling!) their sales

Simply click the button below to register now and let's get SMS marketing working in your business:

Are you using AI powered SMS yet?

Let’s be real—email marketing isn’t what it used to be.

A few years ago, open rates were sky-high, but today? You’re lucky to get 17-28% of people even opening your emails. And when it comes to click-through rates, we’re talking a measly 1-3%. 

That means 72% of your marketing budget is going to waste if you’re only relying on email.

But here’s the thing—AI-powered SMS marketing is changing the game. 

With 98% open rates and click-through rates up to 20%, SMS isn’t just an alternative—it’s the future of marketing.

So, how do you use it to boost engagement and double your sales? That’s exactly what I’m sharing in this video. Watch below to find out:

Is Your Email Marketing Strategy Holding You Back?

Hey there, Jason Buckner here from Automation Made Easy.

For the past 10+ years, I’ve been helping businesses automate their follow-up and improve email marketing.

But over the last three to four years, I’ve noticed something alarming…

Email open rates are dropping... FAST.

Once upon a time, email was the king of marketing.

But now?

Open rates average just 17-28%, which means up to 72% of your marketing budget is being wasted.

And it gets worse…

The Decline of Email Engagement

Even if someone opens your email, the response rate is only 8-10%. And when it comes to click-through rates, you’re looking at a low 1-3%.

So what does that mean?

Your emails aren’t being seen, engaged with, or acted on—and that’s costing you money.

The Future of Marketing: AI-Powered SMS

So what’s the solution?

SMS marketing—and not just any SMS, but AI-powered SMS.

Here’s how it compares:

Email Open Rate: 17-28%
SMS Open Rate: 98% (with 90% opened within 30 seconds!)

Email Click-Through Rate: 1-3%
SMS Click-Through Rate: 19-20%

That’s 6X more engagement!

Join the FREE Live Training

Want to know how to integrate AI-powered SMS into your marketing strategy?

Join me for a FREE live training, where I’ll show you:

• How to improve your email strategy
• The power of AI-powered SMS for higher engagement 
• How businesses are doubling (or tripling!) their sales

Simply click the button below to register now and let's get SMS marketing working in your business:

Do you feel like your emails are getting lost in the abyss?

Let me tell you, you’re not alone.

Once upon a time, email open rates were 60-70%—now they’re down to 17-28%. Eek!

That means your emails are fighting for attention in a crowded inbox, and most of your audience isn’t even seeing your message.

But here’s the thing—SMS is changing the game. 98% of texts get opened, and 90% of them are read within 30 seconds.

So, what if you could combine SMS with your email marketing strategy to double (or even triple) your sales?

That’s exactly what we’re breaking down in this video! Watch below to discover how SMS can transform your marketing strategy today:

Struggling to Stand Out in a Crowded Inbox?

Are you a small business owner finding it hard to get noticed in today’s digital world?

I’m Jason Buckner, founder of Automation Made Easy, and for the past 10 years, I’ve been helping businesses automate their follow-up processes. What we’ve found is email engagement is dropping off fast.

Once, we could hit 60-70% open rates.

Now?

The average sits between 17-28%. That means your emails are getting buried under an avalanche of other messages, making it harder than ever to reach your audience.

The Solution? SMS Marketing!

If email open rates are tanking, what’s the fix?

SMS marketing.

With an open rate of 98%—and 90% of those read within 30 seconds—SMS is the fastest, most effective way to reach your audience.

By incorporating SMS into your marketing strategy, you can:

✅ Boost engagement with leads and customers
✅ Increase sales conversions
✅ Cut through the noise and get your message seen

Join The FREE Live Training

Want to learn how to combine SMS and email for maximum impact?

Join me for a FREE live training, where I’ll show you:

✅ Why email marketing alone isn’t enough
✅ How to leverage SMS for better engagement
✅ The exact system I use to double (even triple) sales

Simply click the button below to register today: