Don't Be Fooled: 3 Common Email Marketing Misconceptions

"Don't believe everything you hear." This wise old saying certainly applies to many things, and email marketing is no exception. From spam legislation, filters, email client rendering issues to response rates - there is frequently a lot of conflicting and confusing information floating around the industry. So in this month's article we are going to try and straighten out a couple of common misconceptions in email marketing.

Misconception: "An incorrect interpretation or understanding." So with that definition in mind, I've whittled a number of misconceptions down to the three I hear propagated most often.

• Never Use the Word Free
• Don't Send Emails on Weekends
• Improve Results by Growing Your List

Never Use the Word "Free" - Perhaps the most common misconception in email marketing is that you should "never use the word free." By itself, the word free will not cause any of the major spam or content filters to reject your email. (Though it is possible that some corporations or user-driven spam filters might be set to delete emails containing the word "free") So why then would you risk using free when there is a chance, albeit small, your email might be filtered? Quite simply, better results. In our experience across various clients, when used correctly, the word free can provide a powerful boost to your results.

Not convinced? Ok, let's look at two popular spam content filters to see how they actually work and treat your free-laden emails.

Spam Assassin - Spam Assassin is one of the leading "test-based" spam filters and many of the large ISPs model their own filters after Spam Assassin's test algorithm. The Spam Assassin filter assigns points - positive and negative - to the content and coding of an email. An email is run through the filter and is assigned positive points (in this case positive means potential spam) and negative points (content and coding believed not generally used by spammers). (A legitimate email that is filtered as a result of these positive scores is referred to as a "false-positive.") The score is totaled and if it exceeds a certain level it is filtered. Users of Spam Assassin can change the test score values and determine the level at which emails are filtered. It is generally believed that most companies/ISPs use a total score of around 10, but that some may go as low as 4.

So, what does this mean when using free? Review the Spam Assassin list and you will see that a number of phrases that use free do receive fairly high scores of 1 and higher. But phrases commonly used by legitimate marketers such as "free shipping," "free e-book" and "free white paper" are not affected.

Microsoft Outlook 2000 Junk E-mail Filter - Outlook 2000 contains a default Junk filter that looks for certain "junk and adult" content - that when triggered automatically routes the email to your Outlook's Deleted Items folder. (Read more about Outlook 2003's spam filter technology here.) This filter must be turned on and as a result it is unclear how many Outlook users have activated this function. But unlike the test score-based filters, Outlook uses a pass/fail method. (View the content filtered by Outlook.) This filter addresses a few uses of free, but the most common usage that triggers the filter is the use of an exclamation point and free in your subject line.

Your Take Away - Yes, you should be careful when using free in your email communications - but when used correctly and strategically, you will generally see greater results than by not using this powerful word. The bottom line - test, test, test. Additionally, to help you navigate the complex world of spam filters, EmailLabs has added a spam content checker in the latest version of our application. This feature enables you to test your message for potential problems prior to distribution. If you'd like to see this and other new features or our application, click here to request a personal demonstration.

Don't Send Emails on Weekends. - In general, distributing your emails on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday is a good rule of thumb. In fact, in a recent analysis of EmailLabs clients' mailings, roughly 73 percent of all emails were distributed on those three days. Additionally, about 64 percent of all messages were opened Tuesday to Thursday. Further, while I don't have statistics to support this, I believe that most people (consumers) receive a greater volume of spam email on weekend days than they do on weekdays.

So why would you ever send an email on the weekend, or even Monday or Friday? Putting aside breaking news, announcements, daily newsletters and the like, weekends can be the best time to motivate readers or customers to take a specific action.

Consider sports fans, music buyers, movie buffs, weekend sport warriors and others that may be more likely to take an action on the weekend - when they are engaged in, or actively thinking about, your product, service or content topic. For example, a sports-related client of EmailLabs tested sending its emails on Sunday mornings versus weekdays. While open and click-through rates we sometimes higher for emails sent during the week, the emails sent on Sunday always resulted in a higher number of transactions. The conclusion with this client was that their customers were in a "purchasing mood" on the weekend, or early in the week after receiving the email and by ordering early they could receive their merchandise in time to use them on the ensuing weekend.

Additionally, depending on the frequency and content of your emails, distributing consistently on a Monday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday will generally lead to strong results. If subscribers come to know and trust that your newsletter will arrive every Monday at 5 p.m.; or Sunday at 7 a.m., - your open rates are likely to be higher than if you distribute inconsistently on Tuesday through Thursday.

Your Take Away - In general, Tuesday through Thursday are optimal days to send emails. However, if your company's offering is relevant to your subscribers' or customers' weekend lives, consider testing different distribution times on Saturday and Sunday. And try to establish consistency so that you readers come to expect and anticipate the arrival of your email.

Improve Results by Growing Your List - Because of its lower distribution costs relative to other forms of marketing, many email marketers mistakenly place too much emphasis on growing the size of their email list. Obviously, increasing the size of your email list is a good thing, but a quality list of active, interested and motivated subscribers/customers is really the end game on which you should focus.

Let's take a look at some sample math.

In the simple example above, an online retailer selling products at an average order size of $100 could see an increase of 28 percent in revenue by taking steps to improve relevance and conversion. Consider taking steps to clean out the dead wood in your list, but at minimum, reduce the energy you spend on your inactive members.

So how do you get more out of your golden subscribers/customers? Relevance! Here are a few tips:

• Switch to double opt in.
• Never pre-check the sign-up boxes.
• Deliver on whatever promises you make in the sign-up process.
• Collect as much information on subscribers as you can that will enable you to deliver segmented and personalize messages, without driving too many away from the sign-up process.
• Segment your subscribers into a modest number of groups for which you are then able to deliver relevant, targeted and personalized messages.
• Test, test, test. Try different offers, formats, types of subject lines, distribution days/times and other variables.
• Don't stop at open and click-through tracking; use Web-site action tracking to accurately understand what variables are driving the most desired actions.
• Consider follow-up campaigns and trigger-based emails that are sent to subscribers when they do or do not take a specific action such as not opening an email or clicking on a specific link.

Have I convinced you of these misconceptions, or are you going to stay true to these common industry beliefs? Drop me a line and let me know what you think, or suggest your own email marketing misconceptions. Regardless of your beliefs, you should continue to test these and other variables to determine what works best for you and your specific subscribers and customers.