Emarketing Myths - The Real Deal

Emarketing Myths: The Real Deal

There are still a number of email myths that are floating around marketing departments and next to the proverbial office water cooler. Let's take a closer look at some of them. 

Myth #1: The CAN-SPAM Act doesn't require permission

Reality: Many companies use the CAN-SPAM act as a license to send out email and avoid getting explicit permission before emailing. Permission is the foundation of customer relevance and trust.

CAN-SPAM does not require opt-in. However, if you don't have opted-in customers, the act requires a statement in your emails such as "This is an advertisement." Would you open emails with that in the subject line? Plus, the vast majority of email service providers will not let you send email through their system if the addresses are not opted-in.

Remember customer define spam as "Unwanted" mail - even if they have subscribed before in the past.

Myth #2: Open rates the best measure of email successReality: Today, the preview pane and image blocking have turned the open metric into an inaccurate metric that no longer measures what it was originally intended to. Build a "call to action" in your email and measure your click thru rates instead.

More and more people are now viewing their emails on mobile devices today, most of which do not render images. Recent email studies estimate that both consumers and business email users view from a quarter to a half of their emails in a preview pane, and 50-60 percent block images by default.

Myth #3: Email is cheap.

Reality: Your customers and the ISPs affect email results by access. Increased frequency can often deliver short-term results, but it also increases list churn through higher spam complaints and unsubscribes. Once a customer globallly unsubscribes you cannot resent to them unless they request to be added to your list again. Your customer list and subsequent lifetime value is an asset - treat it wisely.

Use email to drive more sales or conversions doing more personalized, segmented, and targeted messaging rather than just sending the same messages over and over.

 

Myth #4: "I cannot improve my delivery rates"

Reality: Your sender reputation with your ISP really affects your delivery rate. Concentrate on it and you can improve your delivery.

• Obtain subscriber permission
• Authenticate your emails
• Perform regular list hygiene
• Minimize spam complaints through relevancy and frequency monitoring
• Monitor your sender reputation
• Remove hard bounces, unsubscribe requests and spam complaints immediately
• Eliminate coding errors
• Checking for and remove questionable content and design approaches (e.g., single large images) that may get your messages blocked or filtered.

 

Myth #5: Larger lists are better

Reality:   A smaller list of highly engaged subscribers will outperform a larger mostly inactive list everytime. These days marketing is about ROI. Segment your list by subscriber engagment and RFM. Then send and manage those groups individually - You might be surprised at the results!  

Email is the perfect channel for engaging subscribers through a highly personalized and targeted approach.

Myth #6: "Batch and blast" still works fine

Reality: Not all customers are the same! Advances in email marketing software now make sophisticated techniques such as segmenting,  lifecycle, and trigger-based email programs possible for all marketers.

Research also supports moving an email program from simple broadcasting to a more targeted approach. Conversions in clickstream-based emails outpaced untargeted broadcast emails 4 to 1, according to a 2006 JupiterResearch study.

And, while targeted or trigger-based campaigns can cost more to produce (according to salary requirements), they also generate far more revenue, the study said.

Triggered campaigns on average bring in 171 percent more revenue than broadcast campaigns; lifecycle campaigns perform 389 percent better and clickstream campaigns perform 781 better than broadcast, according to the JupiterResearch report.

How to get started:

• Reallocate resources: Instead of sending two weekly "blast" messages, turn one into a trigger-based message. Once you do that, it can run virtually on autopilot thereafter.
• Analyze: Compare a broadcast campaign to a targeted one -- even one as simple as emailing the entire list versus previous buyers. Results do not lie. 
• Learn:  You can avail yourself to a multitude of email conferences - they are happening all the time - including the mention of ET Connections 08 below.  Explore webinars, whitepapers and blog posts online. 
• Do one thing different with every message: Consider targeting recipients who clicked on a specific link in your last broadcast email, and test the results. That's all it takes to get started

Comments

[Julia - Email Marketing Software]

Very nice article. I agree with the misconceptions described in the article. I read about some myths in the email marketing before. There is also a myth that emails should be sent during business days (on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) only. I think it's not always true and depends on the business.