First it was use the word “free” because it’s a trigger word.

Then it was don’t use the word “free” because it will set off spam filters and your message won’t get through.

And the verdict now is that “free” is once again, ok to use.

These and 4 other seeming truths about emails can only lead us to believe one thing…

… the email marketing environment is a mix of truths and half-truths.

Here are 4 “truths” that actually have no weight.

1) Money words are bad. Using the words “money” or “cash” used to be indicators of spam, but not anymore. The truth is that if you are a legitimate sender and you send an email to your own opt-in subscribers, offering them a “way to save money” email won’t trigger a spam flag.

2) Emails need to be pretty. Emails used to be all text-based. When nice HTML editors came onto the scene, all of a sudden everyone thought that the better an email looks, the more effective it is. Not true. Some of the best email responses have come from 100% plain text emails.

3) Open rate is an important number to gauge responsiveness. Open rate is quite deceiving actually. A better indicator, and really the only metric that matters, is clickthrough rate. Image blocking, using the email client Outlook and opening on a mobile device can all throw the open metric off.

4) Emails need to be short. In all actuality, emails can be as long or as short as they need to be. But the trick is knowing what is “just right”. The style of email you send will determine the length of the email and its effectiveness. For example, a sales pitch may need to be 300+ words, whereas an invitation to a webinar may be effectively communicated in 100 words.

Key Takeaways

  • Write your emails the way that you would communicate to your audience if they were sitting right in front of you.
  • Don’t try to disguise words by adding an unnecessary period – fre.e – it serves no purpose.
  • Style determines the length. Don’t be afraid of long emails.

For more email marketing tips, join the newsletter group – they know how to write awesome emails.