Email marketing has been around for a long time, so opinions on what works and what doesn’t have developed. But, as the digital marketing landscape has evolved, some old truths about email marketing are no longer valid. Some things have always been myths, but they still exist.
Let’s see five common email marketing myths.
1. Unsubscriptions Are Bad
Nobody likes rejection, and unsubscribes can sting. But unsubscribes aren’t always a bad thing. A clean email list keeps ISPs happy and keeps your emails from being blocked.
While you can do things like scan for typos and allow people to re-opt-in if they haven’t responded to your recent email marketing efforts, unsubscribes allow your customers to do some of the heavy lifting for you. Unsubscribe means someone no longer wants your content for whatever reason.
A large number of unsubscribes at once may indicate a problem with your content, but occasional unsubscribes simply make room for a higher overall open rate and a better relationship with ISPs.
2. Email marketing is dead
With so many new digital channels to reach clients, some say email marketing is dead.
In reality, this is far from the case. Marketers still see great value in email marketing and invest heavily in it. HubSpot research shows that 93% of B2B marketers use email to distribute content. In B2C, 59 percent of consumers say an email’s content influenced their purchase decisions. Everyone uses email. Every day, 91% of consumers check their email (and most report doing so multiple times a day).
3. Long Subject Lines Cause Issues
Marketers were once advised to avoid subject lines that were too long to be displayed in an inbox. A recent Marketing Sherpa study debunked this long-held belief.
While email subject lines between 41-50 characters performed well, longer subject lines between 61-70 characters performed best. Also, don’t worry about fitting all emails into those narrow parameters. Instead, work on creating an intriguing subject line that explains what the email contains.
4. The Best Time to Send Emails
For some, timing is everything. They won’t email unless it’s Tuesday at 10am!
Marketers have spent years trying to find the magic time when open rates are high and conversions are plentiful. The results of these studies aren’t conclusive, so there’s no universal way to time emails.
It’s true that some audiences respond better to emails at certain times of day, but that varies from business to business, so sticking to a rigid schedule won’t help.
Instead, test different days and times of the week to see which emails get the most engagement. Then try again to beat that time. Be willing to experiment and send emails more than once a week
5. Avoid Repetition
The average email open rate in 2020 was just under 25%. That means 3 out of 4 people on your list will never see your email. The subject line may turn some people off from reading an email, but it may also turn others off for other reasons. They may have been busy or deleted the message by mistake.
For your most important content, it’s okay to send the same email copy twice to maximize engagement. Though not recommended for every email, it can be beneficial when used sparingly.
There are some caveats. Never send the same email twice in one day. Wait a few days before resending it. You should also change the subject line so that people who didn’t open the email the first time don’t get annoyed by receiving the same email twice.