Top Five Myths About Email Marketing

We read a lot around here. Seriously. A. LOT. Blogs, twitter feeds, online articles and published works (gasp - the paper kind!). It’s an occupational hazard, but we also read every single marketing email that hits our inbox, though usually through a very critical lens. We confess to making mental edits and rewrites, but every now and again we cheer the piece that made us stop and click. So, as email marketing fans, we do wonder why some companies hesitate going that route because we think it’s an affordable, simple, and direct way to engage with customers, increase sales and boost lead generation.

But maybe there are still people confused about what email marketing can and can’t do. Well, here’s our list for the Top Five

1. Customers get too many emails.

Surprise, but people aren’t actually flooded with emails from “trusted” companies. In fact, on average, 40% of consumers who receive brand emails are receiving no more than three per day, while 63% receive no more than six, according to figures from the Email Tracking Report by the UK-based Direct Marketing Association.

2. Trigger words and the dreaded spam folder.

Yes, it’s true that we were warned not to use trigger words such as “Free,” “Cash,” and “Save” worried that our emails would land in the spam folder. But with today’s sophisticated spam filters, however, that rule no longer applies. Instead, we would encourage clients to use trigger words like “Money,” “Revenue,” and “Profit” in their subject lines, as these types of words perform the best according to research.

3. You should never repurpose content.

Yes, yes, we love fresh content, but hear us now. It’s quite OK to repurpose content that you know will be a hit. It’s quite OK to take a look at your best performing emails, blogs, whitepapers, or webinars from four to six months back (but rework them to make sure they are relevant and send them out). It’s a great way to reuse successful marketing copy.

4. Short emails are more effective than long ones.

Don’t get us wrong, there is a time and a place for both short and long email copy. The trick is knowing when each method is appropriate. One of the key things to remember when writing your email is that you only need to write as much as you need to make a persuasive presentation, but not a single word more. Sometimes, it takes more copy to fully persuade your readers and answer all of their objections.

5. Responsive design is not a necessity in email.

Now this is a BIG one. If you aren't taking advantage of responsive email design (designed for ANY device) right now, you are flushing money down the drain. According to Adobe, 79% of smartphone owners use their smartphone for reading email, a higher percentage than those who used it for making calls (Adobe – “2013 Digital Publishing Report: Retail Apps & Buying Habits”). On top of that, Optyn reported that 75% of smartphone users delete emails they can't read (e.g.: non-responsive emails that look awful on a mobile device). Bottom line: responsive design is no longer a luxury for email marketers, but instead, a necessity.