The dangerous comfort of best practices
Why unlearning often gets you further than following the rules
Best practices. They sound so comforting, don’t they? A nice tidy list of things we can all supposedly rely on. A little safety blanket for when things feel messy.
And let’s be honest…email marketing is messy.
It’s one of the most challenging channels to run. We’re expected to be strategists, analysts, creatives, psychologists, designers, copywriters, project managers, deliverability specialists, and therapists to the rest of the organisation… often all in the same afternoon.
Most teams are underfunded, understaffed, and overworked. You’re juggling a thousand plates with a tech stack that was onboarded 5 years ago, and isn’t designed for the way your business now operates.
So yes, of course best practices feel tempting. And it’s understandable that we latch onto them.
They give us structure when everything feels chaotic. They save us from thinking deeply when we simply don’t have the time. They’re easy to defend in meetings. They give us something to point to when resources are thin. They make us feel like we’re doing the responsible thing.
But here’s what I’ve learned after… well, far too many years in this industry.
Most “best practices” aren’t actually best. In fact, many aren’t even good practices. And far too many are just old habits pretending to be wisdom.
And when you’re already stretched thin, following the wrong guidance doesn’t just slow you down, it sends you in entirely the wrong direction.
Let’s dig in.
Best practices freeze innovation
As soon as something gets labelled a best practice, everyone stops poking at it. Suddenly it becomes a rule. Something that no one wants to challenge, simply because it is labelled a ‘Best Practice’.
But the moment you hear “we always do it this way”, that’s usually your sign that performance has quietly plateaued.
Innovation thrives on discomfort, and best practices remove innovation. They cause us to settle, to be comfortable. But without discomfort, curiosity dries up.
And curiosity is where all the good stuff happens.
Best practices ignore context
This is the part that drives me absolutely up the wall.
We behave as if best practices apply to every brand, every industry, every lifecycle, every audience.
But they really don’t.
A B2B consultancy can’t follow the same “rules” as a fast-moving retail brand. A high-end product behaves differently in the inbox than a £12 impulse buy. Someone who’s been with your brand for three years doesn’t behave like someone who joined this morning.
Context is everything.
But best practices pretend context doesn’t exist. And that’s where email programmes quietly start losing money.
Not all best practices are created equal
Here’s something I talk about a lot, because it clears up so much confusion. Not all best practices are the same. And only one category actually deserves the title.
Let’s break them down.
1. True best practices
These are the ones that are genuinely universal.
Things like authentication, removing hard bounces after they bounce once, and being customer-centric.
Solid. Sensible. Necessary. This is the only category I’ll happily defend.
2. Archaic best practices
Once upon a time, they made sense. But now they’re basically antiques.
Archaic practices belonged to inboxes and audiences that simply don’t exist anymore. Just because we’ve always done it, doesn’t mean we should continue to do it.
3. Trends dressed up as best practices
Something works for a moment, and suddenly it’s gospel.
A pretty case study appears. A brand has a lucky test result. A platform needs something to talk about.
And just like that, a trend becomes a rule. Fun to play with, but not something to build strategy on.
4. Self-serving best practices
This category is the most dangerous. These are the “best practices” that conveniently benefit the vendor, the platform, the tool, or someone’s quarterly KPIs…more than they benefit the brand or the customer.
You’ve seen these. I mean, we all have. They’re not malicious. Just don’t follow them blindly. Be sure to test them and ensure they benefit both you and your customer.
A few “rules” that collapse the moment you test them
You’ll recognise these:
Keep emails short. Not if you sell something that needs explaining.
CTA must be above the fold. Not if your audience prefers storytelling and scroll depth.
Don’t send too frequently. Behaviour-led brands often need frequency.
Tuesdays at 10am. I mean… please, no.
Don’t send plain text. Plain text can be incredibly powerful in trust-heavy moments.
Never resend the same email. Sometimes the second send outperforms the first by a mile.
The reality is, email doesn’t come with a big book of universal rules. Outside of a few essentials, the only things that really tell you what works are your tests, your data, and how your audience responds.
A/B Test practices. Don’t blindly trust practices
Best practices aren’t the enemy. They just need to stop being your compass.
So, treat them as hypotheses, not a commandment.
Before following any practice, ask: Does this make sense for my audience? Does it fit the way people actually behave in my journey? Is it relevant to my product? Do I have data to support it? Or am I just doing this because everyone else does?
Your customers should shape your practices and guidelines.
The unlearning advantage
Marketers with the best results aren’t the ones who follow the most rules. They’re the ones who unlearn them the fastest.
They use critical thinking. They poke at assumptions. They ask better questions. They challenge what doesn’t feel right. And they stay curious.
Curiosity beats best practices every time.
Once you understand the four types, and you stop treating them all as gospel, email becomes infinitely more fun, more strategic, and a lot more profitable.
Because in a channel that moves as quickly as ours, curiosity will take you further than any checklist ever will.
If you’re ready to ditch the dusty rulebook and start building email on your terms, the Holistic Email Academy is your next step.
Every course is designed for marketers who want to think, experiment, unlearn, and lead.
The rebels. The questioners. The pattern-spotters. If that sounds like you, then you’ll fit right in!