Imposter Syndrome in Email Marketing

I was listening to an interview recently that discussed how common imposter syndrome is among many professionals today. It got me thinking about how this very common issue might relate to email marketing in general.

Defining Imposter Syndrome

Imposter Syndrome is described as the psychological experience of having self-doubt in one’s accomplishments or abilities, especially compared to others, despite evidence that would suggest the contrary. It is a feeling of intellectual or professional fraudulence, even when outward evidence demonstrates the opposite.

In simple terms, it’s when a successful individual feels as if their achievements are somehow accidental and that this fact will become apparent to everyone around them at some point, likely soon. It’s an extension of the ‘fake it until you make it’ concept, where someone ‘makes it’ and still feels fake.

Interestingly, high achievers are more likely to encounter imposter syndrome than the average person. Perhaps this is because you have to have success in order to feel as if it’s all accidental. But it also just may be that high achievers are wired to be more self-critical than the average person. Either way, there’s a common thread between achieving success and feeling like an imposter.

Hopefully, you’re reading this and thinking a bit about when you’ve felt this way yourself. But what does this all have to do with email marketing?

By just about any measure, email marketing stands as the longest-running and arguably most successful digital marketing channel there is. No other digital channel can come close to email’s 46 years of proven performance and when ROI numbers of 42-1 or 36-1 are used as the industry standard, it’s hard to find another channel that stacks up.

So, seasoned email marketers must be a pretty confident bunch, with numbers like that to back them up. And yet… when you talk to email marketers about those ROI stats or really about industry performance benchmarks, the typical answer you’ll get will start with “Well, it depends…” So, what gives?

There’s a strong argument that not only do email marketers deal with imposter syndrome as individuals, but the entire channel deals with it. How do we know?

Is email a high performer? You better believe it. Even if those benchmark ROI numbers do not apply to every campaign, the channel still delivers outstanding results.

How does the channel respond when that high performance is called out? With a bit of deflection. ‘Yes, but…’ ‘It depends…’ etc. 

If email marketing was a person, I get the feeling it would be looking at the other digital marketing channels and thinking, “I’m getting pretty long in the tooth. Back in the day, I didn’t even have all this competition for consumer’s attention. So, of course, I was successful. But check out social media or video. They are so much cooler than I am. It’s just a matter of time before everyone figures it out and then email really is dead!”

But here’s the thing we all know as email marketers. This channel isn’t going anywhere soon. Even the pundits don’t really argue that email is dying anymore, even if they still write articles with that headline as clickbait. They always end by recognizing the staying power of the channel and how the email address has become the universal identifier that consumers use for just about every service they sign up for or company they buy from. It all ties back to an email at some point, making the email address the crux of consumers’ online existence.

Even with that knowledge, the channel seems to always question its place in the marketing mix. Companies have a habit of playing into it by taking email marketing for granted, getting excited about the latest technology or marketing channel rather than email just continuing to drive results year after year.

Well great. Most of us experience imposter syndrome, and maybe the whole channel does too. So, what exactly do we do with that knowledge? Here are a few ways to address the issue for yourself, your team, and the email channel within your organization.

4 Tips to Combat Imposter Syndrome as an Email Marketer

1.    Realize you are not alone and connect with other folks

If nothing else resonates in this article, the fact that over 80% of people (let alone email marketers) experience imposter syndrome should make a lasting impression. This means that any number of people you look up to and admire in the industry feel just like you do sometimes. We can’t all be imposters. Too much great work, successful campaigns, and serious performance are being driven by the email marketing industry every day.

Knowing that your co-workers, friends, and others in the industry all experience the same thought process means that you can also reach out to them and talk about it. It’s amazing how helpful it is to just hear someone else validate the same feelings you have, especially if it’s someone you know and respect. You’re definitely not the only one. Remember that.

2. Recognize that perfection isn’t attainable

Being something of a perfectionist is typically part of being a high achiever. In email, we’re always optimizing creatives, offers, list segmentation strategies, and every other aspect in a race for the optimal (or perfect) campaign. However, none of us has ever achieved it and I’m pretty confident none of us ever will. I suppose perfection in an email campaign would mean a 100% open rate (actual, not just boosted by Apple’s MPP), a 100% click-through rate (no bots involved), and a 100% conversion rate, where every single recipient buys what you’re selling. Is that even possible? Probably not. Yet, that’s essentially what we’re all shooting for.

So, take a step back and accept that perfection isn’t a realistic objective. Optimizing is still the goal but be realistic about how far optimization can take you, and don’t look at every campaign’s performance as not quite good enough. 

3. Measure and analyze performance without judgment

All that said about being realistic with perfection doesn’t mean we don’t measure our performance. In fact, it should continue to be an absolute focus. But, when looking at those performance numbers, don’t constantly add caveats to them about how they could have been better if only the CTA was stronger or the reason that the most recent campaign outperformed expectations is because of some economic factor that you were lucky enough to take advantage of.

Instead, measure the performance without adding outside judgment (good or bad) about why it occurred. Be analytical and logical about it, accepting the high performance and also the lower performance, and look at how you can learn from both to improve future campaigns.

4. Embrace the high expectations

Last up may be the hardest tip, but also the most important to blow imposter syndrome away. Does your company have high expectations of what the email channel and your email team can deliver? Good! Embrace those expectations. You’ve earned them. You and the email channel are high achievers and there’s no reason not to believe it.

Your company expects a lot from you because you have proven your value over time. Maybe it’s time to realize that you were never faking it til you made it. You were putting in the work, believing in yourself and your potential the whole time, and growing into being a high achiever. You really aren’t that great an actor. You’re just good at what you do, and others can see it. It’s time to not only accept it but embrace it and take on the challenge of those high expectations. Taking on challenges is how you’ve succeeded and it’s the best way to keep driving forward.