Every once in a while, we hear rumors circulating from the email rumor mill. Some are true, and some aren’t. We’re here to set the record straight!
Over the next few months, we’re busting email myths. We’ve compiled a list of email myths and investigated whether they’re fact or fiction. Did social media really kill email? Is there a best time of day to send email? And what about smartphone usage; are my subscribers really using them?
Read on to find out if we’ve busted or confirmed some of the most talked about email myths. (Note: No one was harmed in the investigation of these myths!)
Myth: Social Media has killed the need for email.
Results: Busted
If anything, social media has only increased the need for email. Just think, how do you know of activity on your social sites? How will you inform your audience that you even have a social media presence? That’s right, from email.
In the end, social media and email really do complement each other nicely. Email is a great tool to drive people to your social media sites and to reinforce the value they will find there. Try using social media as a way to make your email content interactive. Use email as a vehicle to deliver topics and news - then ask your readers to post comments or videos on your social sites in response. The key to success is to create unique content on each channel so that subscribers have a reason to both read your email and visit your social sites. Don’t duplicate articles on Facebook; find a new twist, such as a video or a quiz. The possibilities are endless!
Myth: There is no one best time to send to everyone.
Results: Confirmed
We hear all the time, “What is the best day of the week to send email?” In our recent benchmark report, we found there was almost no impact on the results of open or click-thru rates among the days of the week or the time of day an email is sent. Instead, targeting had the biggest impact on results. So if you want to improve your results, revisit your content and how you segment your audience. This does not mean that you can’t still customize the timing of your emails to your members. Try testing out three different times in a day and then compare the results. Or, take the guesswork out and use the Informz Send Time Optimization tool, a feature in which you set the email to be sent over a 24-hour period based on past behaviors for each individual subscriber. You can’t customize it any more than that!
Myth: My readers are too old to have a smartphone.
Results: Busted
One of the best parts of email marketing, is all of the great tracking and reporting that is available to you. Use this tracking for insight into what your audience is using to read your emails. For example, the Informz Email Client will report will show details down to the specific mobile device an individual uses. It doesn’t get much easier!
And if your mobile audience isn’t growing yet – it will be soon. The number of smartphone users is expected to more than double by 2013. In a study of Informz Association clients, we found that mobile readership of email has more than doubled in the past year alone! So, before you start thinking your subscribers don’t fit the “tech savvy” group, think again.
One thing that we know is definitely true: don’t believe all those rumors out there. Email reports, marketing studies, and testing prove that blanket statements almost never turn out to be true. While it might be easy to believe such statements, take a look at all the evidence – such as your own email marketing reports – to determine what is true for your subscribers.
We’ll be back next month with more email myths! Is there a myth you’ve heard and don’t know what to believe?
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