6 email marketing myths

Email marketing is one of the most effective ways drive traffic and increase sales. But there are many misconceptions about how to make a great email pitch. Many companies don't send enough marketing emails--and the ones they do send rarely get opened. Here are some of the myths that could be getting in your way of becoming an amazing email marketer.

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6 Email Marketing Myths

ON SITE | Michael Mothner

Jan 30, 2013

Everyone knows you shouldn't send the same email twice, right? Wrong

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Email marketing is one of the most ef f ective ways drive traf f ic and

increase sales But there are many misconceptions about how to make a

great email pitch Many companies don't send enough marketing emails and the ones they do send rarely get opened Here are some of the myths that could be getting in your way of becoming an

amazing email marketer

Myth 1: If you send a lot of emails, you'll annoy your customers.

In our extensive testing, we have f ound that as long as your e-mails and subject lines f eel f resh, varied, and not spammy-f eeling, it is nearly impossible to send too many emails to your clients Yes, some people may unsubscribe But the impact you get f rom sending more emails f ar outweighs the loss of a

f ew subscribers

Besides, you can reduce the number of unsubscribes by giving customers an option to reduce the

number of emails they receive rather than unsubscribing completely For example, our unsubscribe page

helps us retain more than 10 percent of people who wanted to unsubscribe

Myth 2: You shouldn't send the same email twice.

We always send the same email twice, but with a twist Every email that we send is f ollowed 48 hours later by what we call a "remail." Basically, it's the same content, but with a dif f erent subject line We send remails only to those customers who didn't open the f irst email

We've f ound that remails can of ten double our results (we see a 60 percent lif t, on average) And all without the ef f ort of writing more copy or designing a second email

Myth 3: Emails should be short and sweet.

Sure, all of your emails should have a primary call to action, which is above the f old and very obvious However, don't have the email end there Some customers want to scroll to learn more or see other content So give them what they want Add a row of “best sellers," new products, client testimonials, or other usef ul inf ormation

Myth 4: You should always create fresh copy.

Some of the best perf orming emails are emails that you have already sent No point in reinventing the wheel! Routinely go back and look at the best perf orming emails f rom 4 to 6 months back Retool them and send them out Clients won’t remember, and this is a great way to complement the new copy and creative, with f ar less ef f ort or creative juice

Myth 5: You need descriptive subject lines.

Actually, unless you are having some sort of outrageous sale that people just can’t resist, descriptive, transaction oriented subject lines don't usually perf orm very well What does perf orm well? Creative, catchy, eye-catching subject lines So f eel f ree to be creative, witty, and f unny If you make people smile, they won't reach f or the unsubscribe button

Myth 6: Companies should send email newsletters.

It's not so much that the classic monthly newsletter is completely inef f ective, but rather that the

substantial time generally spent on newsletters is time better spent sending a greater f requency of emails The f act is, people like tiny nuggets of digestible inf ormation, which means your caref ully craf ted newsletters are getting read f ar less than you’d like If you spend that ef f ort on creating more emails with lighter content, you'll almost always get a higher return

Michael Mothner is the f ounder and CEO of Wpromote, an online marketing f irm and six-time

Inc 500|5000 Company that runs SEO, PPC, and social media campaigns f or companies

worldwide @mothner