Most companies still rely heavily on email marketing as a part of their digital marketing strategy. 81% of SMBs use email to acquire customers and 80% for customer retention. We have listed the top mistakes in email marketing that you should avoid to be successful.
Email marketing is an integral part of every business. It is important to plan for each email you send to thousands of subscribers if you want to increase your conversion rate.
Even if you adhere to every email marketing tip, there’s always room for error. There are some common mistakes in email marketing that you can avoid.
This article will cover 9 common email marketing errors I see companies making and how they can impact your conversions. Your business can make more money online by addressing small problems.
#1 Your Content is not Focused Enough
Many companies make the error of sending the same email to all their subscribers. However, it is unlikely that all your subscribers are interested in the same content.
Segmenting your email list is a great way to do this.
This is possible by creating multiple opt-in forms for different pages of your website.
Because every lead you’re trying to capture can be different, and requires different help,
You can segment your audience by having different opt-in forms offering different freebies.
How can you segment your audience?
It all comes down to dividing your email list into smaller lists that allow you to send relevant emails to them.
Gathering Dreams is a lifestyle blog that does this with all its emails. You can find the relevant opt-in form and a free meal planning guide in their article on meal preparation recipes.
You can see their article on saving money to travel and you will see that they offer a free travel savings plan to encourage subscribers to sign up for the email list.
When someone signs up for the meal preparation opt-in form they will be added to a categorized group that could be called Food’. This will enable the website owner to send only food-related information rather than bombarding subscribers with irrelevant emails.
Segmenting your email lists can increase conversion rates and decrease unsubscribers over the long term.
#2: Having a one-way conversation
Many companies make the error of sending an email that gives no way for readers to contact them. They don’t engage with the reader and never treat them like friends. This is a problem.
Would it be nice to receive constant emails from someone who doesn’t even allow you to reply?
The first thing you need to keep in mind is that you should never send an email with one of those donotreply@companyname.com type addresses. Be friendly instead.
Emails that contain john@companyname.com are a great way to let your subscribers know that you are always available for a quick chat.
Asking a question at the email’s end and linking to your social media profiles can help you to initiate the conversation. This is a great habit to form.
Your subscribers will know that they can reach you, and you’ll be more than just another company. You can become their friend. This is exactly what you want.
Freya at Collecting Cents is a good example. She sends emails all the time.
#3 Bombarding your Audience with Offers and No Actual Information
This is a common occurrence. Although you subscribe to an opt-in form with great advice and great information, you end up only receiving tons of emails containing discounts and other reduced prices.
While it is fine to promote your products or services in an email, you need to do so with great information.
This infographic can be a great one that you create using graphic design software. It could also be an informative video that your audience might enjoy or a link that takes them to a helpful blog post.
This is an example of what 3d Cart, an eCommerce software does with their email addresses.
Their emails contain either link to great blog posts or information that is useful and actionable. They will also mention any discounts that they may have, but they will always add value to each email they send.
Your subscriber will be annoyed if you keep mentioning your products and discounts, but not giving away any value free of charge.
#4 Does not include a clear call to action
Let’s say you have a great freebie or a very discounted product you want to give away. To let your subscribers know, you send an email. At the end of the email, you provide a link to the product.
If your link is obscured in small pieces of anchor text, some of your subscribers will likely have difficulty finding it. Consider people who don’t feel comfortable with technology. Would they be able to find your link?
Bright buttons and asking people to click on pictures to go to your landing pages are great ways to make your call to action as straightforward as possible.
Before you begin writing your email, make sure you have an end goal. You could get views on a blog post, send readers to your landing page, or ask them to complete a survey.
Then, you can design your email so that your reader will follow your lead to the end.
TheSavvyCouple is a good example of this. They include a CTA in every email they send.
These are just a few of the things you’ll notice:
- You are confusing them by using words such as ‘Head Here’ or ‘Click Here’
- They highlighted the text leading to the landing page.
- They repeatedly mentioned the CTA in their emails.
These are some simple tips to help you add CTAs to your emails.
#5 Trying To Make Your Subject Highly Innovative- Get Straight to the Point
This (bad) piece is often repeated: Make your subject interesting and informative so that your subscribers open your email.
While it is good to have an interesting subject line, it can become annoying if your subscribers don’t know what your email is about.
Your subject line should be as informative and honest as possible. Many of your subscribers will read through the subject lines of your emails before they decide which one to open. Make sure your subscribers are opening your emails.
These are some tips to remember when creating a subject line for
Keep it brief
Your subject line should fit on their screen. If your subscribers can’t read half of your subject line, it is pointless having an amazing one.
chat acronyms can be used if you’re sending casual, friendly emails. This will allow you to reduce the word count and keep the subject line concise.
When possible, use numbers
It is always a good idea to use numbers and data to highlight the importance of your message. Numbers can be used for almost anything: the discount percentage, the statistics from a case study, and so on.
These are just a few:
- Join the 450 others who have taken my online course for free today!
- This is why 81% rely on email to acquire their primary source of acquisition.
- Happy St. Patrick’s Day! All products are 50% off
Make it personal
It would be a smart idea to include the name of your subscribers in the subject line. For example, this is a good subject line.
Hey, (first name). Would you like to access my free course?
This is a great way to better target your reader and increase their likelihood of opening your email.
Tell your readers what’s inside.
The subject line should be clear and concise. Your readers should be able to immediately identify what’s in the email by its subject line.
#6 Sending a welcome email
Newbies make the common error of sending welcome emails to their subscribers. It is not a good idea to send a welcome email to everyone with the generic message “Thanks for subscribing!”
Instead of sending a boring welcome email, make your first email informative and helpful.
If someone signs up for your email list, you can give them a cool, freebie in the very first email that you send. Send them an exclusive link that is only available to subscribers.
It is important to not just say hello in your first email. Make a positive impression.
#7 Paying No Attention to Data
Every time you send an email, you will often find a lot of information. This information includes the open rate, when people opened your email most, what links they clicked, and so on.
These data will allow you to improve the email marketing campaigns you are working on. This data will help you determine what works for you, what your audience likes, and which practices abandoning.
#8 Quality over Quantity
It’s always better to concentrate on building a list with engaged subscribers than a longer list that isn’t even opening your emails.
This means you should focus more on the quality of your subscribers than the quantity.
One good thing to do (and something that many good bloggers and companies have focused on for their lists) is to conduct an email list cleanup now and again.
This will mean that you remove subscribers who aren’t opening your emails. This can be a scary task, especially if you don’t want to lose your subscribers. But in the end, you will need an active list.
ConvertKit, for example, has a Clean Up Inactive feature that allows you to make this process a breeze.
This will reduce your monthly outgoing costs. Based on the number of subscribers you have, you may pay more for higher-tier email services. You can save money by reducing the number of subscribers that you have. Email marketing mistakes include scaring off inactive subscribers.
#9 Sending an email at the wrong time
CoSchedule states that the best time to email someone is during the work day. This time is between 10-11 a.m. This is between 10-11 a.m. Your campaign is likely to fail if you send emails to people who have not checked their email. This is one of the most common mistakes in email marketing.
Wrap it up
A long email list is just half of the battle. A good email marketing strategy is essential to build relationships with subscribers.
