Email-Marketing-Myths-Debunked

Email Marketing Myths Debunked

Today’s article is no different.

We’ve taken some of the most common misconceptions we’ve heard about along the years and debunked them. Take that Ghost Busters!

Throw some emoji email marketing

Throw some emojis in there

By far, my favorite myth out there. We keep getting requests to add one emoji here, one emoji there, so as to spice things up and give readers the impression that we put effort into that subject line.

Turns out, after countless A/B testing in various industries, emojis don’t drive open and click rates, au contraire. We’ve noticed that subject lines with emojis tend to have a 10-15% lower open rate than their emojiless counterparts.

One reason could be their extensive use in the last few years, or maybe their childlike appearance, but one thing is certain: emoji + subject line ≠ ♥.

Saturday 6 pm email marketing

Send emails Saturdays at 6 PM

It might seem like common sense to send a promotional newsletter to people in their downtime, when they chill on the couch and get shopper FOMO. Been there.

But what we’ve realized after plummeting open rates, hours of A/B testing and reading literature on the subject is that the best sending times are, by far, weekdays, especially Tuesdays and Thursdays. Plus, they can differ from one industry to another.

Some of the best hours to get high open and click rates are during people’s commute time: 8:00 am, 13:00 or 18:00.

Product recommendations email marketing

Add tons of product recommendations

Personalizing emails with product recommendations tailored to your customer buying habits is one of the winning strategies to drive conversions. Adding loads of random suggestions that lengthen your email and tire your reader is another story.

These types of emails usually record low click rates and conversions and subscribers rarely buy something you  recommended if it’s not in their area of interest.

On top of that, there are email service providers like Gmail that clip (shorten) your email if it exceeds 102 KB on desktop and between 20 KB and 75 KB on mobile devices, affecting your email deliverability and your tracking pixel (used to calculate open rate).

Best practice is to keep your list of products low and personalize to your audience.

spam email marketing

Spam the hell out of them

Another common practice in email marketing is sending daily newsletters to subscribers, misthinking that communicating often to customers will improve KPIs. In fact, frequent emailing triggers an increase in unsubscribe and spam rates and an overall disengagement from your readers.

The ideal course of action is to set up a communication calendar of up to three emails per week, but only if you have regular promotions, limited offers or tailored discounts for subscribers. If not, stick to one email per week.

In the end it’s a question of relevance and strategy.

Email marketing is dead

Email marketing is dead

I wrote about this in an older article which I invite you to check out, as well.

The death of email marketing has been claimed by many naysayers out there, for quite some time now, and it’s been my pleasure to prove them wrong.

72% of people prefer to receive promotional email in their inbox, 58% of users check their email first thing in the morning while only 14% browse social media pages before they brush their teeth, and 74% of Baby Boomers think email is the most personal channel to receive communications from brands.

It’s clear that email marketing is not only not dead, but more alive than ever.

Final thoughts

I realized one thing after rereading this article. The topics I brought out plus many more like, the length of the subject line, subscribers list cleaning, or spam triggers have been and will be subject to debate.

That’s why I think the best nugget I can share with you is this: don’t take anything for granted, start testing your campaigns, build a marketing strategy with clear objectives and track your progress. The results might surprise you and contradict everything you’ve read.