Email Myths and Misconceptions - Part One
Why did the ghost’s marketing campaign fail?
You could see right through it.
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When I was younger, I was convinced we were all going to die in quicksand. And if that didn’t get us, we were going to disappear in the Bermuda Triangle. I did not live near a quicksand pit, and at that point in my life, I had never flown anywhere near the “Devil’s Triangle”, but they were going to end my life for sure. I was not alone. My friends also bought into these death traps, and we still chuckle about these grand fears.
The trouble with myths is they keep us from taking action to do great things. As with the silly beliefs of our youth, we can be led in wrong directions in business.
In a three-part series, I will run through several misconceptions about email campaigns that can lead to ineffective strategies or missed opportunities. Today in Part One, we focus on using email campaigns, Part Two looks at deliverability, and Part Three is about maintaining good email campaign health.
Myth One: Emails Are Dead
Misconception:
Email is no longer relevant with the rise of social media and other communication channels.
Reality:
Email remains a highly effective and widely used communication tool. It provides a direct and personal connection with your audience. I wrote recently that I had hesitated on email marketing for too long, but the sales and relationship-building results have been remarkable once I started.
Tip:
Blogs and emails complement social media. They are easy to use for content, often pushing automatically to your channels, but they also reinforce your voice, authority and brand.
Myth Two: Emails Are Only for Sales
Misconception:
The primary goal of email campaigns is to drive immediate sales.
Reality:
While sales can be a goal, emails are also crucial for building relationships, brand awareness, and customer loyalty. Not every email needs to be a direct sales pitch.
Tip:
Email campaigns are great for onboarding clients and team members. You can drip out the notes with CTAs, such as forms and contracts so that as someone completes one action, another is sent to them. It’s a fantastic way to get them to complete tasks and actions without overwhelming them with too many things at once. This is my approach to onboarding. My tech automates mine, but it's still super effective even if you simply template the notes and send them in order. Email campaigns are also great for creating engagement, using ideas such as short, concise courses.
Myth Three: Quantity over Quality
Misconception:
Sending more emails will result in better campaign performance.
Reality:
Quality is more important than quantity. Sending too many irrelevant emails can lead to higher unsubscribe rates and damage your sender reputation.
Tip:
A regular schedule is important; consistency of everything related to branding is key. But also take note of who else in your space is sending emails and when. Jason Staats sends his Thursdays, mid-day Eastern. This was my former preferred time, but I’m not going to compete with his juggernaut, so I moved mine to Wednesday.
Myth Four: Paying For Backups is a Waste of Money
Misconception:
I need a big budget for backup tools.
Reality:
Reliable backups can be cost-effective and accessible. The cost of losing data can be considerably more expensive in terms of both time and money. Rewind Backups for Mailchimp is FREE during Rewind’s extended early access period!
I’ve talked about data location redundancy many, many times. I never get blue in the face about it; I’ve learned the hard way how disruptive it can be, I don’t want you to experience it firsthand.
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Myth Five: Focusing Solely on Design
Misconception:
A visually appealing design is the most important aspect of an email.
Reality:
While design is important, the content and messaging are equally crucial. A well-crafted message and a clear call to action contribute significantly to the success of an email campaign.
Tip:
For crying out loud, garmmaring bad and spelling mitakes are egregious in this day and age. It’s not like I’ve never had any slip-through, but I see some articles and emails where the composition and attention to detail are so shoddy that they make me twitch. Get Grammarly or something similar to clean up your message; it’s the glorious age of AI, and there are so many options for putting out well-formatted messages you’d be koo koo not to use one.
Myth Six: You Need To Go This Alone
There’s no misconception or reality note here.
I just want to say - loudly - what a great collaborative community we have in the accounting world.
I have some great folks running terrific noise in the background for me.
An APIA and friendie, Heather Smith, has given me some useful tips over the last few years, and I couldn’t be more grateful. I lean heavily on Brian Clare and Sherri-Lee Mathers for feedback, and so many more people I don’t where to begin naming and thanking!
Tip:
It is never bad ROI to pay for help! I have consulted with a few deep marketing folks, Ryan Lazanis and Madeline Reeves in particular, more on my new website, but same idea as above - gather feedback for iterating and act on it.
May I boldly suggest you do the same for getting your firm's books done for you?
Bonus Myth
You will not actually die from an email malfunction, just like we didn’t all die in a quicksand pit. Although it may feel like a quicksand pit… Somedays, shit happens, and when it does, it feels awful. I’ve had more than a few link fails, the occasional grammatical/spelling mishap, a total placeholder debacle and a few posts I wasn’t that proud enough of. But I recovered, you are still here with me, and my dogs didn’t lose faith in me one little bit.
Stay tuned; coming soon to an inbox near you will be ten more email myths and misconceptions.
I am on a bandwagon, one I wasn’t sure I would be hopping on. I want you to experience the same success with email marketing that I have, so I’m going to keep dropping notes on what thoughts to ditch and what to embrace. Once we are through Myths and Tips - Part Two, deliverability, and Part Three, maintaining good email campaign health - I will give actionable tips on getting started with resources to take the burden off you for content creation.
In the meantime, stay warm, friends, because as I write this, it’s minus 16C where I am - “Baby, it’s cold outside”!
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