Email marketing, as we’ve mentioned before, is an incredibly powerful way to increase your revenue. That is, unless you do it incorrectly.
If you’re not currently running a content marketing campaign that includes a strong email marketing component, chances are it’s because email hasn’t been that effective for you in the past. What makes this tool work for some, but fail for others?
Everyone Makes Mistakes
The mistakes I’m about to cover are common. To assume that you’re making them isn’t an insult, it’s statistics. In nearly every unsuccessful email marketing campaign that we’ve reviewed, these mistakes were made.
That being said, just because you aren’t making them doesn’t guarantee that your email campaigns will work. However, if you are making them, your campaigns are highly likely to fail. Therefore, they’re the best place to start if you’re not seeing the results you want to see.
Everyone makes mistakes. Thankfully, these are easy to fix.
The 5 Most Common Email Marketing Mistakes (And How To Avoid Them)
That’s A Long “Mail To” List! Are you still sending your email marketing through Outlook? This is 2017, and nobody trusts group emails any more. They especially don’t trust marketing emails sent to lists of 100+ people.
Email marketing needs to be sent to each person on the list individually. Thank goodness that doesn’t mean you need to sit down and write 100+ emails. There’s software to help you out.
Get on board with an email service provider – either attached to your website/email software or one that separate (like MailChimp) – and get your emails sent one at a time to each person on your email list. Get that “mail to” line down to including only one email address. Bonus points if you figure out how to use tokens to add the necessary personalization in to your emails.
You Didn’t Test It?! Your email must never go out untested. That’s how you miss things like spelling errors, odd character spacing, poor images, and other simple to correct mistakes that make your email look unprofessional.
Send out a test email – a proof copy of the email sent to the email address of the person responsible for quality control – and verify that the email is 100% correct and laid out properly.
Don’t forget to make sure that your graphics are not only up to par in quality, but are also appropriate for your company and your audience.
Cold And Generic. Just what everyone needs, another lifeless email in their inbox.
People communicate differently. They have different wants and needs. Most importantly, they have dramatically different reading styles. That means the emails you send have to be varied too.
Get to know your audience. Find out what they really want to know, how they talk and think, and what’s important to them. Step up a level by segmenting your email list into sub-groups with more focused similarities. When you send emails out that speak directly to the personality of the reader, you’ll make a much better connection.
Unprepared For Phones. People open their emails on a mobile device more than half the time. If they open an email and it doesn’t download quickly or fit on their screen, they’re going to move on quickly.
Thankfully, this one is easy in the modern web. Most email services (like MailChimp or Contsant Contact) offer pre-made templates that are ready for any device. All you have to do is add in your text and you’re good to go.
However, if you’re one of the ones using your own template, all it takes is a simple test email. Send yourself an email using that template, open it on your phone, and make any required adjustments to make it mobile.
The DoNotReply Blunder. You’ve seen them. You’ve been frustrated by them, and chances are you’re using one. The “donotreply@emailaddress.com” addresses.
If you’re using a donotreply email address, it’s likely because you’ve seen them used before and assume that’s what you’re supposed to do. Let me correct you very quickly.
The donotreply email address is a sign to your target audience that you are completely disconnected from communicating with them. Assure all of your emails are sent from monitored inboxes, and that the departments associated with them have a policy about creating a timely, friendly response to your client.
Email Marketing Can Make Your Business
Good quality email marketing, done correctly, is without peer. It’s value can only be surpassed by it’s simplicity. Make sure you avoid making the mistakes above and watch it take your business to the next level.
