Key takeaways
- Bigger lists aren’t inherently better. List quality and engagement matter more than raw size.
- Use images sparingly. Excess visuals slow load times and harm the mobile experience.
- Most subscribers don’t flag messages as spam. Only about 1 in 2,000 do.
- Follow lawful, non‑shady practices to avoid spam complaints and regulatory action.
- Regulators can penalize quickly and severely for non‑compliance.
Introduction
Like virtually any other portion of the digital world, the email marketing industry is home to its fair share of misconceptions and incorrect assumptions. For most established members of the community, it’s easy to see through these misguided lines of thought and understand the underlying truth and facts that lurk below.
However, this process isn’t so simple if you’re inexperienced or new to the email marketing scene. With this in mind, we’ve set out to dispel the biggest misconceptions facing the email marketing world. After reading over this insight, you’ll have all the tools you need to move forward with an educated – and accurate – view of how to properly leverage the inherent power held within the inbox.
Size Is the Most Important Piece of the Puzzle
As Entrepreneur magazine’s Paul Ford explains, the best way to kick this discussion off right is by tackling the issue of contact list size. Yes, growing your email marketing list is important, but it’s vital that your brand doesn’t subscribe exclusively to the “size matters” mindset.
The truth of the matter is that quality is far more desired than quantity. Having a 100,000 people signed up for your contact list is definitely a nice number to toss around, but this figure doesn’t mean much if only a handful of these customers respond to your offerings. Instead, you’re better off keeping this list refined to a smaller, more active audience. Over time, you can continue to add even more of these quality viewers to your list – thus reaching the gaudy numbers touted by other organizations – all while actually boosting the return generated by this marketing investment.
The More Images the Better
With visual content blowing up social media and the vast majority of web pages relying upon flashy and vibrant design layouts, it makes plenty of sense to assume that dumping a bunch of images into your content is a great way to wow your audience. However, taking this approach is an easy way to alienate these viewers in a hurry.
Too many images and visuals can slow load times to a crawl, as well as make the mobile viewing experience unwieldy and frustrating. If you really want to give your audience what they want, avoid including graphics arbitrarily and only use these offerings when it actually elevates the quality of your content and the potency of your message.
Customers Are “Trigger Happy” Thanks to the Rise of Spam Buttons
As Gmail and other leading members of the email service provider world continue to give customers more and more power via inbox tools and controls, it comes as no big surprise that brands and marketers alike fear the rise of the “trigger happy” viewer. Even though this viewpoint definitely comes across as logical, there’s really no reason to fear your audience and the collective finger they hold over the spam reporting button – so long as you play by the rules.
In his look at this misconception, Sam Kusinitz of The HubSpot Blog points out most users actually don’t want to want to flag your content as spam. In fact, only one in every 2,000 customers ends up notifying Google and the other major players of a spam issue. The primary cause of these incidents arises from brands that actually do engage in shady tactics, so staying on the straight and narrow with your content and campaign practices pretty much eliminates the menace presented by this phantom issue.
CASL and Other Regulatory Bodies Are Slow to Punish Spam Offenders
When you think of government agencies and authoritative groups, chances are thoughts of inactivity and being bogged down in bureaucratic red tape are the first things that pop up. Unfortunately for offenders of Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) and other marketing laws, this outlook couldn’t be farther from the reality of the situation.
A quick review of the $1.1 million fine for non-compliance levied by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) shows that not only are these regulators more than willing to drop the hammer in an expedient manner, they also have no problem issuing severe penalties to those who step out of line. If this isn’t a situation you want to find your brand in, then learning as much as you can about compliance via our CASL Survival Guide is a good way to right the ship before things get too out of hand.
The moral of the story here is that there’s no shortage of misconceptions floating around in today’s email marketing landscape. Thankfully, with your new insight into these myths cutting through the misinformation that surrounds these inaccurate claims, you can move forward with confidence as your brand lays out a powerful plan to take the inbox by storm.
FAQ
No. List quality beats quantity. A large list means little if few recipients respond. Maintain a smaller, more active list and add engaged subscribers over time to improve returns.
Keep the list refined to active subscribers and focus on adding more quality viewers gradually. Growing numbers is fine, but prioritize engagement so the list actually boosts return on investment.
Use images only when they genuinely elevate your message. Too many visuals can slow load times and make the mobile experience unwieldy, so avoid arbitrary or excessive graphics.
No. Only about one in 2,000 customers report spam. Most users don’t want to flag legitimate content and spam reports mainly come from brands using shady tactics.
Play by the rules and avoid shady tactics. Legitimate practices and compliance substantially reduce the risk of spam complaints.
No. Regulators can act quickly and hand down severe penalties. For example, a $1.1 million fine by the CRTC for non‑compliance. Focus on learning compliance via the CASL Survival Guide.
Higher list quality, meaning a smaller list of more active recipients, improves the return generated by the marketing investment. Big lists with low engagement do not deliver the same ROI.
