When it comes to marketing, it seems that while we were sleeping everyone became an expert in marketing. Whether it’s Chris in accounting declaring that Tuesday is definitely the best day to send emails or Janet from HR insisting on the perfect newsletter design you need to send next – while also balancing on one foot and reciting the national anthem. It’s a daily occurrence with these undercover marketers and an uphill battle every marketer knows a little too well.
While the real you – you know, the non-filtered version – wants to say something brutally honest yet witty then drop your mic and walk out the door, your sensible side knows better. But out of curiosity when did holding one’s tongue become a critical marketing talent? Was this a class you missed somewhere? Sadly, no it’s not. It’s just the cruel world we live in.
So rather than getting yourself in hot water, why not arm yourself with some ammunition? After all, we all know that knowledge is power when applied correctly. So, we’re happy to help! Here are the 4 most common email marketing myths to put an end to these funny conversations once and for all.
1. Open Rates are the Most Important Metric
If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, did it really fall? Who knows, but there’s a lot more to the story. While 90% of marketers rely on their statistics for open rates to evaluate the success of an email campaign, they don’t tell the whole story. Getting opened is great, but the most important metrics are always click-through-rates and even better, number of leads generated. As long as you’re falling within the benchmarks for email open rates for your industry, which are between 22% and 30%, you can divert your attention to how you’re changing people’s behaviour. And then maybe you might even want to ask your boss for raise.
2. Tuesday is Always the Best Day to Send Emails
One thing is for certain, Tuesdays are made for tacos. Definitely. But when it comes to email, the truth is there’s no universal perfect day to send emails. And if there was, we’d all have jumped on board and flooded the inbox on this one day. Traction is industry and audience specific. So, if you’re in retail you might find weekends are best. Or if you’re a restaurant, Wednesdays might be the winner as people prep for the weekend. Test your sends and track email open rates to learn when your customers prefer to hear from you and then lock it in!
3. Bigger is Better When It Comes to Email Lists
A bigger list means more sales, right? Well, not exactly. Let’s say you have two boxes, one contains 100 $1 coins and the second box is much bigger and heavier, but contains an assortment of loose change, rocks, and other goodies. Sure box two is physically more impressive and clearly holds more stuff, but exactly what stuff? Let’s face it. It’s a major gamble. When it comes to hedging your bets, the guaranteed money in box one is a safe bet. Plus you’ll be $100 richer! When it comes to email lists, quality always trumps quantity. Plus purchased lists will bring your email metrics down and risk a lifetime sentence in the spam folder.
4. Don’t Duplicate and Never Send the Same Email Twice
On average, 75% of people won’t read your email. All that brilliance wasted. Not only is it super devastating, but it might encourage you to start brainstorming your next clever marketing campaign. But not so fast tiger! Before giving your campaign the official kiss of death, try breathing new life into it and sending it again in a different way. It’s a risky move, but if done correctly it can pay in dividends. Before you get too excited though, give some thought to how you can segment your list to remove those that already opened it. And give your original email some space to breathe and a fresh subject line. After 72 hours have passed, you can dare to try it again and see if today might be your lucky day after all. Check out the success these companies achieved with this repurposing technique.
