• by Kara Trivunovic , Op-Ed Contributor, June 24, 2014

Email marketing is arguably one of the most effective digital marketing channels, largely due to its ability to be highly targeted, customizable and trackable. Don’t forget about its ability to drive site traffic and increase revenue, either.

There are many common myths about email marketing preventing companies from truly gaining the most from this marketing medium. Here for you, I have highlighted the three myths I hear most often.

Myth 1: Less is more. The idea here is that sending frequent emails to your customers or subscribers is the wrong thing to do, leading subscribers to likely tune out your messages, delete them – or, worse yet, unsubscribing.

While you need to be mindful of your volume, less is not always more. Each business needs to find the right email frequency, which may be tough and a little nerve-racking to do. But there have been studies that show the majority of consumers receive, on average, less than six branded email messages per day. When crafting your emails, ensure the body content and subject lines are fresh, varied and personalized to the recipient. Also closely monitor your engagement rates. If you see a steep decline, you may be mailing too often.

Myth 2: Testing a small percentage of a list will show the effectiveness of a message. When testing an email message, the statistical sampling must be large enough to be an accurate representation of how the whole list might react. Unfortunately, I can’t just say that testing a set percentage of a list will always produce accurate results -- because it won’t. There are simply too many variables unique to each email marketing campaign.

But here is a simple rule to keep in mind: The larger the test group, the more accurate your results will be. Don’t have a marketing analyst to give you a deep dive on the numbers? Don’t worry! There are some great online tools to help you determine how to best size your test sample.

Myth 3: Following email marketing best practices will yield the best results for your program. Best practices are great… for breeding mediocrity. If all you strive to do is what everyone else is doing, then follow the best practices put out there. But if you really want to get the most out of your program, take the time to figure out what is going to resonate best with your customers -- everything from creative and timing to subject lines and offers. Optimize against that, not what the rest of the industry is doing.

There isn’t a standard template that will ensure every email marketing program is successful. Many of the common “no-no’s” don’t apply to everyone. That’s why it’s crucial to the success of your email marketing campaign to take the time to learn what your subscribers want and how you can reach them most effectively.

There are many myths about email marketing -- these are just a few of the most common. What are your favorite myths?