Your emails don’t arrive in an empty inbox. They land alongside retail promotions, work messages, newsletters, account notifications, and, in the weeks before the US election, a lot of political email.
That matters when you’re trying to figure out why a campaign performed differently than expected because sometimes your message needs work, other times the offer isn’t connecting and sometimes something outside your business is affecting how your emails reach people.
As we head into November, here are the developments I’d pay attention to if you sell courses, coaching, or education through email.
1. The US election could affect your emails, even if you never mention politics
You may have seen warnings about running promotions between October 27 and the days following the November 3 US election.
There is research behind the concern.
Validity analyzed US email deliverability around the 2024 presidential election and found that average inbox placement across Microsoft, Apple, Gmail, and Yahoo dropped by more than 5% during the week before Election Day. The impact extended beyond political senders.
But there’s an important distinction here: those are findings from 2024, not measured results from the upcoming 2026 election. They give us a reason to prepare but it doesn't tell us that every launch, webinar, or promotion will perform poorly on specific dates this year.
If a meaningful part of your audience is in the US, I would review your calendar and keep a closer eye on performance during that window. That doesn’t automatically mean moving your launch but it does mean you should be looking at the whole picture before deciding your offer or copy has stopped working.
- Check whether fewer people are clicking.
- Whether registrations or purchases have changed.
- Whether you’re seeing more bounces or delivery delays.
- And whether the change is concentrated among subscribers using a particular mailbox provider.
The takeaway: build some flexibility into your plan, and investigate before reacting.
2. You’re competing with Black Friday emails even if you aren’t running a sale
Skipping Black Friday doesn’t remove your emails from the holiday inbox. Your weekly newsletter, webinar invitation, or course announcement still lands among everyone else’s promotions.
In its October 15 Holiday 2026 Marketer Survey announcement, Validity reported that 58% of primarily B2B organizations delay or reschedule non-holiday campaigns to avoid competing with increased retail email volume.
That tells us how those marketers are responding but it doesn’t prove that postponing is the best decision for your business.
For course creators, the more useful question is: Why would someone make time for this email now?
A newsletter that answers a pressing question can still be useful in November, so can an invitation to something your subscribers already want help with.
Before scheduling an email, check whether its value is obvious in the subject line, preview text, and opening paragraphs. Give readers a clear reason to keep going.
3. Trust deserves a place in your Black Friday strategy
Discounts matter, so does the relationship you’ve built before you announce one.
In Validity’s September 2026 consumer survey, 47% of respondents said existing trust in a brand influences whether they open its holiday emails, compared with 39% who cited discounts or promotions.
The same research found that 22% would welcome a temporary opt-down or snooze option to manage holiday email volume.
These are reported preferences, not proof that adding a snooze link will increase sales, but they raise a useful question:
Are you giving subscribers any choice between receiving the entire promotion and leaving your list?
For example, you could let someone skip your Black Friday campaign while continuing to receive your regular newsletter.
If you offer that option, make sure it actually excludes them from the promotional sequence, including reminders and resends and look at the emails themselves. Does each one help subscribers make a decision? Does it answer a different question, address a concern, or show a relevant use case?
Repeating the discount gives people the same information again. A well-planned sequence gives them additional reasons to consider the offer.
4. Your Comcast subscribers may be receiving your emails through Yahoo
Some changes happen behind an email address your subscribers have used for years.
Xfinity is inviting Comcast email users to move to Yahoo Mail, with invitations rolling out in phases through 2026. Users who move keep their @comcast.net addresses so the address on your list can stay the same while the platform receiving your messages changes.
That doesn’t mean every Comcast mailbox has already moved, but it does mean this segment deserves attention if it represents a meaningful share of your audience.
Review Comcast performance separately and ask your email platform how migrated mailboxes appear in its reporting.
The takeaway: an unchanged email address doesn’t always mean an unchanged receiving platform.
5. Sending permission and tracking permission need separate attention
Email compliance involves more than including an unsubscribe link.
On April 14, 2026, France’s CNIL published final recommendations on tracking pixels in emails. The guidance distinguishes between uses requiring consent and uses that qualify for exemptions. Its follow-up FAQ also explains that calling a pixel a deliverability tool doesn’t automatically make it exempt.
This is French regulatory guidance, with its own scope and conditions but it is a good reason to understand what your email platform is doing.
What does it track? What do you use that information for? How are subscribers informed? Can tracking be disabled or managed where necessary?
Those questions are particularly relevant if you use open activity to trigger follow-ups, segment subscribers, or decide who stays on your list.
The takeaway: review your tracking practices against the rules that apply to your business and audience.
6. A lower open rate needs investigation before it needs a new subject line
It’s tempting to see declining opens and immediately change your copy but recorded opens are affected by how mailbox providers handle tracking images.
In an April 2026 report, Mailgun described lower recorded Gmail opens among senders whose clicks, conversions, complaints, and bounces remained stable.
Mailgun identified changes in image handling as the likely explanation. That is its interpretation of the pattern, rather than a confirmed Google announcement.
The practical lesson is useful regardless: an open-rate drop alone doesn’t establish what went wrong.
Compare it with clicks, registrations, purchases, replies, and delivery signals. Review performance by mailbox provider where possible. I’d also be careful with the broad claim that “open rates always go down in November.”
The research reviewed for this update doesn’t establish that as a universal rule so don’t automatically dismiss a decline as seasonal and don’t automatically assume your emails have stopped working, either.
7. Check how often subscribers hear from you across all your campaigns
Google’s Manage subscriptions feature lets Gmail users review subscription emails in one place, with senders sorted by frequency and recent message counts.
It was announced in 2025, so this is an existing feature worth remembering as promotional volume increases.
You may plan a newsletter, a webinar sequence, and a Black Friday campaign separately. Someone subscribed to all three receives the combined experience, so before November gets busy, check for overlaps.
Could a subscriber receive a newsletter, a sales email, and an automated reminder on the same day? Are buyers being removed from promotions for something they just purchased? Does someone who skips a campaign still receive its resend?
You don’t need a universal rule for the perfect number of emails. You do need to understand what you’re asking each subscriber to receive.
What I would review before November
If you’re preparing a course promotion, start with these five things:
- Your calendar: Identify campaigns reaching US subscribers around the election.
- Your baseline: Record current clicks, conversions, bounces, and complaints so you have something useful to compare.
- Your sequence: Give each email a clear purpose and a distinct contribution to the buying decision.
- Your subscriber experience: Check campaign overlaps, buyer exclusions, and any option to skip a promotion.
- Your tracking: Understand what your platform collects and how that fits your consent practices.
You can’t control everything happening in the inbox.
You can make your emails useful, respect subscriber choices, and use several signals to understand performance before deciding what to change.
Sources and further reading
Research and official guidance
- Validity — $42 Million a Day: The Real Cost of Election Season on Email
Analysis of deliverability around the 2024 US presidential election, used to explain potential election-season pressure in 2026. - Validity — Most Marketers Are Adapting Email Strategies for AI-Powered Inboxes, But Just 29% Feel Well Prepared Ahead of Holidays
Published October 15, 2026. Findings from a survey of more than 250 B2B and B2C marketing professionals, including holiday campaign scheduling and inbox competition. - Validity — Nearly Half of Younger Buyers Will Trust a Brand Less by the Time the Holidays End
Published September 30, 2026. Consumer survey findings on trust, promotional volume, and interest in temporary opt-down options. - Xfinity — Comcast.net Email Transition to Yahoo Mail
Official information about the phased transition through 2026, including confirmation that users retain their Comcast email addresses. - CNIL — Tracking Pixels in Emails: Recommendations to Better Protect Privacy
Published April 14, 2026. French regulatory recommendations explaining consent requirements and exemptions for email tracking pixels. Page in French; an English recommendation is available to download. - CNIL — Questions and Answers About Email Tracking Pixels
Clarifications about the recommendations, including conditions for deliverability-related exemptions and responsibilities of senders and providers. In French. - Mailgun — Gmail Open Rates Suddenly Look Lower: Here’s What’s Actually Changing
Published April 10, 2026. Mailgun’s observations and interpretation of declining recorded Gmail opens alongside stable downstream performance. - Google — Gmail Launches New “Manage Subscriptions” View
Announced in 2025. Official explanation of Gmail’s subscription management feature, including sender frequency visibility and unsubscribe controls.
Expert commentary
- Jay Schwedelson — “WARNING: November 3rd could wreck your marketing results!”
LinkedIn commentary highlighting election-related campaign risks and pointing to Validity’s research. - Beth O’Malley, astral — “Please learn how to manage your email deliverability”
LinkedIn commentary explaining the relationship between technical setup, subscriber behavior, reputation, measurement, and email strategy.
Additional sources cited in the original report
- UK Information Commissioner’s Office — Guidance on the Use of Storage and Access Technologies
Finalized April 29, 2026. UK guidance relevant to tracking technologies and PECR compliance. - Texas Secretary of State — November 3, 2026 Election Law Calendar
Official confirmation of the US election date and the November 1 daylight saving time change.
Sources reviewed on October 20, 2026. Expert commentary is identified separately from original research and official guidance.