6 email marketing myths

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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 newslet ters.
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