Debunking Email Marketing Myths
Hi everyone,
In email marketing that is constantly evolving, it is important to stay on top of the most up-to-date marketing research and practices. I want to uncover some email marketing myths circulating around the web and prove why they're totally unfounded.
Myth #1. Whitelisting improves deliverability and increases Inbox placement.
In fact, whitelisting will not help at all if you have list hygiene issues: spam traps, invalid addresses, unsubscribed, bounced and spam complaints. The cause of 95% of deliverability problems is in the bad email list.
You should address list hygiene issues through the confirmed opt-in process and regular database cleaning and the deliverability and Inbox placement issues will be forgotten soon, thereby enabling you to maximize your email marketing revenues.
Myth #2. Unsubscribes are bad.
In fact, unsubscribes are natural attrition of the recipients who don't want to hear from you anymore. As long as you don't have a sudden boost of unsubscribes, consider them as natural list cleaners.
Myth #3. Short Subject lines work better.
Not always. Sometimes long subject lines outperform short ones. It's all about testing. For one company, the length can make a big difference, for the other one - no difference at all. If you don't test your audience, you won't know what works for you.
Myth #4. An email with the "free" word is spam.
The truth is that it's all about engagement. If people are engaged and respond, you can send any content to them.
Myth #5. Friday is a dead day.
In fact, it depends on the industry you are in. Newsletters talking about weekend activities, leisure, or recreation work great on Friday, for example, party, concert, event reminders or restaurant special updates for the weekend. Tourist newsletters can also be sent before the weekend.
So, the best sending day and time have not been defined yet. You have to test what works best for you and put it into practice.
Myth #6. Email is CAN-SPAM compliant, so it must go to Inbox.
Not necessary. Despite the CAN-SPAM compliance, the email may not reach the Inbox if your sender reputation is bad. And the sender reputation is determined by bounce rate, complaint rate, spam trap hits, authentication, and blacklisting.
Thus, CAN-SPAM compliance does not assure Inbox placement. You should test every email before sending it to the list. Spam testing tools, for example, G-Lock Apps, will show the real Inbox placement of your email and you will see what deliverability issues you have to address to get your email delivered to Inbox.
Well, I hope I've shown you that not all email marketing postulates can be taken on trust. We should not believe everything we hear or read in email marketing books.
Marketing = science + testing, so don't be afraid to try and test to find out what you should do to maximize your Inbox delivery and your revenue from email marketing.
Did I miss anything? Share other email marketing myths you've found and we'll debunk it together!
In email marketing that is constantly evolving, it is important to stay on top of the most up-to-date marketing research and practices. I want to uncover some email marketing myths circulating around the web and prove why they're totally unfounded.
Myth #1. Whitelisting improves deliverability and increases Inbox placement.
In fact, whitelisting will not help at all if you have list hygiene issues: spam traps, invalid addresses, unsubscribed, bounced and spam complaints. The cause of 95% of deliverability problems is in the bad email list.
You should address list hygiene issues through the confirmed opt-in process and regular database cleaning and the deliverability and Inbox placement issues will be forgotten soon, thereby enabling you to maximize your email marketing revenues.
Myth #2. Unsubscribes are bad.
In fact, unsubscribes are natural attrition of the recipients who don't want to hear from you anymore. As long as you don't have a sudden boost of unsubscribes, consider them as natural list cleaners.
Myth #3. Short Subject lines work better.
Not always. Sometimes long subject lines outperform short ones. It's all about testing. For one company, the length can make a big difference, for the other one - no difference at all. If you don't test your audience, you won't know what works for you.
Myth #4. An email with the "free" word is spam.
The truth is that it's all about engagement. If people are engaged and respond, you can send any content to them.
Myth #5. Friday is a dead day.
In fact, it depends on the industry you are in. Newsletters talking about weekend activities, leisure, or recreation work great on Friday, for example, party, concert, event reminders or restaurant special updates for the weekend. Tourist newsletters can also be sent before the weekend.
So, the best sending day and time have not been defined yet. You have to test what works best for you and put it into practice.
Myth #6. Email is CAN-SPAM compliant, so it must go to Inbox.
Not necessary. Despite the CAN-SPAM compliance, the email may not reach the Inbox if your sender reputation is bad. And the sender reputation is determined by bounce rate, complaint rate, spam trap hits, authentication, and blacklisting.
Thus, CAN-SPAM compliance does not assure Inbox placement. You should test every email before sending it to the list. Spam testing tools, for example, G-Lock Apps, will show the real Inbox placement of your email and you will see what deliverability issues you have to address to get your email delivered to Inbox.
Well, I hope I've shown you that not all email marketing postulates can be taken on trust. We should not believe everything we hear or read in email marketing books.
Marketing = science + testing, so don't be afraid to try and test to find out what you should do to maximize your Inbox delivery and your revenue from email marketing.
Did I miss anything? Share other email marketing myths you've found and we'll debunk it together!
CLICK HERE
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