You may be wondering whether email marketing is still relevant in today’s digital landscape. Marketers wonder whether the platform is dead, and yet it still provides the highest ROI of all online marketing channels. Various analytics reveal that businesses earn around $30 to $40 back for every dollar spent.

On top of that, over half of consumers surveyed by Hubspot still credit emails they’ve received for influencing a purchase made. Compared with less than a fourth who buy from social media ads, which are often considered king, this makes it clear that email marketing is still a key asset in the best marketing campaigns.

If you’re going to take the plunge, then make sure you know about these common misconceptions about email marketing.

You Have To Use a Formal Tone in Your Content

Though this sometimes rings true, it’s not something you should follow for every single email. What you should really be doing is catering your tone to your brand voice and messaging. You also need to consider your target demographic and what you’re trying to sell, as this will inform the best approach.

In general, consumers seek out authenticity from brands. Sincerity and a tone that really matches your branding will be what matters, whether this is more casual or more technical.

Your Emails Need to Have More Imagery and Graphics

There’s an idea that emails sent in the plain text simply don’t perform as well as those packed with heavy design features. It makes sense because pictures and graphics draw attention and are supposed to stand out from the pack. 

However, 60% of email clients actually block images by default as a security measure. If your recipient is reading on mobile or they’re using data, this makes your graphics-heavy email even less optimized for viewing. Putting crucial information in an image may end up being counterproductive, so just keep that in mind when designing your emails.

Inactive Users Shouldn’t Be Sent Emails 

Although it’s best to clean up your email list roughly twice a year, you shouldn’t be so quick to purge inactive subscribers. Focus instead on sending these users more personalized emails that provide or ask them for an update. Around a quarter of inactive users end up opening their emails eventually.

It’s Better to Send Emails On “This Day”

You’ll find different sources claiming one perfect day to send your emails out because it gets the most click-through. In essence, this is a load of nonsense. Because different individuals have their own routines, this is completely subjective.

A more useful way to pinpoint the best time and date to send your emails is by simply sending them out already and analyzing user results. From there, these insights should tell you common habits and the best times for actual subscribers to check on your emails. You can optimize your strategy better since it’s actually based on relevant audience information.

Conclusion

As with any other content marketing strategy, you can’t pin yourself down to rigid rules that don’t always apply to every brand or business. These myths have become commonplace, and yet they don’t actually work for every user and audience. The important thing to do is to use your specific brand analytics and performance data to craft a strategy that is tailored for your business.

For brands in need of effective email marketing services, The Strategy Channel offers strategic campaigns and tools for any industry. Contact us now to learn more about our full-service digital marketing services.