This is especially true of those who are prescriptive and, whilst I find it hard to say this, it includes me if I say you must do it my way.

This is not to suggest you should not go on reading this post, in fact, just the opposite. This is a warning against assuming that what is good for some other company, provable by a plethora of statistics, will of necessity be just the thing for you.

Let us take, for example, the truism that you should have fresh copy for every email. I was unaware this had reached general acceptance until researching for this article, but it seems everyone knows that every marketing email requires new copy as otherwise your subscribers will reject the second and subsequent appearances as just a rehash.

I make my living, such as it is, from writing such copy and even so, I think this is wrong as a blanket requirement. There are just too many variables, a significant one of which is the quality of the copy.

It is probable, no more, that if someone opens an email and then deletes it there is little point in sending the identical email again. However, copy is just one small part of the marketing email. The offer could change, as could the images, the title and the design.

You do not know why the subscriber refused to read further. The copy is just one option. You must discover what needs improving.

Another well known piece of advice is that the best time to send an email is on a Thursday afternoon. This was once probably backed up by statistics but it has been doing the rounds for so long that its source is lost in the mists. If inboxes are now full at this time, the stats are wrong.

I was told that ‘experts don’t know everything’. Whilst this is a generalisation too far – I wouldn’t want an amateur to fit my gas boiler – there is a grain of truth in it. You need to work out what is good for you. If you don’t experiment with send times then you will lose any edge over the opposition. Believe me.