HubSpot Called Email Blasts a Relic — Here’s Why it’s So Wrong!

HubSpot is the company that almost singlehandedly heralded the art and science of inbound marketing in the mid-2000s. Naturally, the company has a bias for inbound marketing and shares some of the most compelling inbound marketing guidelines out there. 

But we at Acceler8now have a slight bone to pick with HubSpot. Namely, we object to one particular blog post published in 2019 and revised in Summer 2021. In it, HubSpot denigrates the power of email blasts. As you may know, email marketing is one of the cornerstones of Acceler8now, so this topic understandably ruffled our feathers a bit (okay, a lot!). So, we wanted to publish our response. 

If you agree with HubSpot’s stance on sending email blasts, well, buckle up, because we might just change your mind.

HubSpot’s Take on Email Blasts

Titled “Why Email Blasts Should be a Relic of the Past,” the post outlined several reasons why email blasts are no longer a viable marketing avenue for companies. 

The author frames his opinion by equating sending an email blast with sending old-school direct mailings, dominant before email became our primary “mail system.” According to the writer, email marketing is “direct mail’s digital twin” and it “skulks around in email inboxes everywhere.” 

OK, shots fired!

The post goes on to tell readers why they should not send email blasts and, what’s more, should “send emails blasts back to the past.” The reasons cited include:

1. Nearly 85% of email is considered spam, so most people’s inboxes are overflowing with it. 
2. Spam complaints not only diminish your brand’s reputation, but they also erode your sender reputation. 
3. Consistent spam complaints will prompt ISPs to put your IP address on an email blacklist, which bans all your emails from ever entering any of the ISP’s users’ inboxes.

Ouch!

In all seriousness, though, the truth is that we generally agree with HubSpot’s take! No one is saying any or all of these points are good things. 

Our contention is with the notion that all email blasts amount to little more than spam. There are two sides to this issue — and here’s ours.

Acceler8now’s Rebuttal: Email blasts are still effective--if done properly

In the second half of this particular post, the writer inadvertently speaks to the benefits of email blasts — when they’re done the right way! In fact, their commentary underscores our point.

1. According to the author, “sending warranted, relevant emails not only benefits your audience,
   but also improves your deliverability.” In fact, they called these kinds of emails “a breath of fresh air.” Thank you, because that’s exactly what we do at Acceler8now!
   
   
2. An email blast does not need to be untargeted or irrelevant to be an email blast. Some may be, but not all are; Here, we specialize in professional-grade, curated, relevant outbound messaging and our open and click rates prove it. Further, in addition to following best practices for email, every message is tested to avoid the appearance of spam. In most cases, a 20% open rate is considered successful. Acceler8now emails routinely see 35-60% open rates, and in some instances, even higher.
   
   
3. HubSpot said that we’re living in an age when people “immediately flag any irrelevant or unwarranted messages they consider spam.” Of course they do. We all do. That’s why at Acceler8now we make sure the messages we send in our clients’ email marketing campaigns are definitely not spam. We follow and uphold strong emailing best practices to ensure that messages not only get through to recipients, but get read by them. (And, all things being equal, HubSpot does this with their mailing platforms as well.)
   
   
4. The piece appearing at HubSpot asserts that segmentation is a critical aspect of non-spammy email campaigns. Here again, we agree wholeheartedly! That’s why a critical step in our email marketing programs is finding the best list for each campaign , ensuring all recipients are highly targeted for the messages we send.
   
   
5. Finally, it is said that sending personalized, relevant emails “will delight your audience.” Here again, that’s what we do at Acceler8now. We spend as much time on crafting compelling and meaningful email messages as we do on anything else. In fact, our well-crafted emails are one of the secrets of our special sauce!

What is an Email Blast, Anyway?

To be fair, part of HubSpot’s (and others’) negative opinion about sending email blasts likely comes from a misunderstanding about what email blasts can be. If you ask those with a negative opinion, they might frame their position like this: Email blasts are a form of marketing where a single email message is sent to a large, untargeted list and is typically viewed by recipients as spam. 

Maybe instead of “sending email blasts to the past,” the better idea is sending negative, perhaps inaccurate perspectives about email blasts to the past. Because at Acceler8now, we create and send email blasts for our clients that get incredible, industry benchmark-surpassing results. 

We’re proud to report that our clients are experiencing excellent results in generating impressions, clicks, leads and sales opportunities. In fact, they are experiencing real-time success from what is considered an old-school digital marketing channel. 

Interested in learning more? Read a few of our blog posts about the success our clients have achieved through email blasts — here, here and here.