Every industry has myths that are easy to believe, but that doesn't make them any truer. They may be rumours that are perpetuated because they are not disproved or perhaps excuses because you don't want to change the way you work. There are many false myths in email marketing that we recommend you avoid because they influence the success of your campaigns.
- Email marketing no longer works
- GDPR has killed email marketing
- Email marketing is for other sectors
- New generations prefer other channels over email marketing
- Social media is more effective than email marketing
- Email marketing requires more resources to be invested
- It's possible to send anything once you have an email
- Without a big list, you can't do email marketing
- Buying lists does not harm anyone
- The sender must always be the company
- All subject lines should have emojis
- Keep the subject line short
- The preheader doesn't matter in email marketing
- A newsletter is just HTML
- Design is the only thing that matters
- It is better to use a lot of images
- The more links you include, the better
- Professional tone is best
- No one reads the footer of messages
- There is a perfect day to send emails
Email marketing no longer works
Believing that email marketing is dead is a myth because every mailing demonstrates its contribution to such important objectives for a business as lead acquisition, conversion to sales or customer loyalty.
GDPR has killed email marketing
Spam kills email marketing, not the legislation that cares about the good use of users' information. The GDPR has changed the way campaigns are run, especially among those who do not take care of their contact list data.
Email marketing is for other sectors
It is totally false that email marketing is only for products or that only companies with B2C business can take advantage of it. It works for all sectors, as long as you have a clear strategy and specific objectives.
New generations prefer other channels over email marketing
This myth is based on the difference between young and old, but email is a channel that does not understand ages because all of them need it and use it to a greater or lesser extent in their daily lives.
Social media is more effective than email marketing
The fact that social media is in the news for its constant news and statistics does not confirm the false belief that it has made other channels disappear. Marketing effectiveness is measured in data and email wins in many comparisons.
Email marketing requires more resources to be invested
Email marketing offers many possibilities to save time and money, such as templates, automations or integrations. Training your team and choosing a reliable platform is the way to avoid wasting resources.
It's possible to send anything once you have an email
If you believe in this myth, you may be making a mistake in your communications because it is illegal to send commercial messages without the express consent of the people on your contact list. Be careful!
Without a big list, you can't do email marketing
Don't fall into this excuse to get started in email marketing: a list with few subscribers can get very good results. No need to wait, it is better to take advantage of this channel as soon as possible.
Buying lists does not harm anyone
Think about it the other way around: who gets benefits? Only those who sell them because the recipients are not of high quality and it can affect your deliverability and reputation. There are legal and more profitable alternatives, such as permission marketing.
The sender must always be the company
If the whole company uses email marketing, each department will need a different account, as will each member of the team that interacts with the user. Even if they are from the same domain, they can have different names.
All subject lines should have emojis
As with any element designed to stand out, emojis should be used sparingly. Not all messages need them and there are other ways to improve your open rate, such as personalisation or other persuasive techniques.
Keep the subject line short
The recommended maximum characters for a subject line are 50 characters, although this drops to 30 for mobile devices. They are enough to build an attractive, direct and clear sentence. This generates curiosity and is easy to read.
The preheader doesn't matter in email marketing
What a mistake you are making if you fall into this myth because the preheader has a very important function: it supports the subject line by expanding the information. It's like having two opportunities to impact the user: don't waste them!
A newsletter is just HTML
Block design makes it easy to create a newsletter and there are many pre-designed templates that can be used to ensure that accessibility is taken care of and the code is displayed correctly in different email managers.
Design is the only thing that matters
We won't deny that the template is an important factor, but it is not the only one that makes email marketing work. Content, segmentation, personalisation, sending frequency and deliverability also play a role.
It is better to use a lot of images
Relying on the user to have the images unlocked to see the campaigns as we have thought is an unnecessary risk. A balanced design does not overuse them either, so as not to negatively affect the user experience.
The more links you include, the better
Believing in this myth can send your campaigns to the spam folder, so check how many links you include and make sure they are not shortened. Inserting a lot of links does not guarantee you more CTR: the key is to place them well.
Professional tone is best
Every company has a style and there are many tones to choose from when it comes to finding the right tone for email marketing. Professional is perhaps the most commonly used, but it can also be humorous, optimistic, informative, etc.
No one reads the footer of messages
It is a myth that nobody pays attention to it because the footer is where subscribers find essential legal information and can unsubscribe whenever they want. So, it may not be the most read part, but it is worth taking good care of it.
There is a perfect day to send emails
Every day is a good day for email marketing! Every day of the week it is possible to send emails and get results, depending on the type of messages and their objective because transactional emails work well even on Sundays.
