Email marketing has been around for 30 years and is still one of the most powerful ways to market your business. But with new algorithms that prioritize personalization, there’s a lot you need to consider if you wanted email campaigns to be successful in 2021. It doesn’t matter what kind of company you have or what sector you’re in; email campaigns should be part of everyone’s marketing plan. It’s a frequent misperception that email marketing is no longer effective. That is not the case at all. So, if you’re having trouble with your email strategy, there’s a strong probability you’re making some errors. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not trying to put you off. On the contrary, this is a really positive development. All this implies is that you’ll need to make some changes to your strategy if you want to be more successful.
One of the reasons email marketing is so effective is its high return on investment. You can anticipate a $32 return on investment for every $1 you spend on email advertising. Email is the major means of client acquisition for 81 percent of small company owners. Furthermore, email marketing is the major way of client retention for 80 percent of small firms. You may still profit from this tutorial even if you’ve had some success with email marketing campaigns in the past. However, you may be making errors that hold you back without recognizing them.
Common email marketing blunders to avoid:
1. Failing to greet your subscribers
You’ve just received a new email subscriber. That’s fantastic news! This individual was browsing your website, came to a landing page, saw your email value proposition, and signed up by filling out the relevant form fields. They went through several stages, indicating that they’re interested in your website and business. Now what? You’re making a major error if you don’t intend to contact them until you issue your next email or discount. After a sign-up, welcome emails should be sent out right away. This is because they have the greatest open rates of any email genre.
This is really reasonable. Consider that for a moment. Why did this individual join up in the first place? Perhaps you own an online store and offer subscribers to your email list exclusive discounts or incentives. Obviously, this visitor intends to make a purchase. They’re on your site right now, and their browser is probably still open. However, if you delay a day or a week to send that email, that individual will have to take additional steps to return to your site and complete a purchase. By this time, they may have forgotten about their want or need for whatever you’re giving.
Welcome emails produce 320 percent more money per email than other marketing communications. Check out my post on using welcome emails to increase purchases with that in mind. In addition, welcome letters had a 336 percent greater transaction rate and a 196 percent higher click-through rate than any other email. It would be best if you took advantage of this opportunity. Yes, you want this subscriber to respond to all of your emails in the future. You, on the other hand, have no incentive to wait. Immediately after they sign up, send them a welcome message as the first message in a drip campaign.
2. Failing to provide a call-to-action
Every day, you think about your company and website. Whether it’s nights, weekends, or holidays, your business is constantly on your mind. Unfortunately, while it would be wonderful to believe that your consumers share your sentiments, this is not the case. So giving them a random “hi” or “just checking in” the message adds no value to their lives.
All of your emails should have a purpose and feature a clear call to action (CTA) that reinforces your aim. What do you anticipate the receiver to do with the message if you don’t send it? Even whether you’re delivering a newsletter or a breaking news alert, the content should include something that encourages conversions. That isn’t the first time I’ve seen folks make a CTA error. On the other hand, rather than neglecting to add a CTA, some website owners go overboard and include four or five in the same message.
- Shop now
- Please participate in our rewards program.
- Please share this message with a friend.
- Share this on Facebook and Twitter.
- Please register for our future event.
All of these CTAs are good on their own. When you combine all of them in one message, though, the reader will get overwhelmed. Many contradictory CTAs can confuse your subscribers and lower your conversion rates. The message’s content should be focused on priming and setting up the call-to-action. For example, if you’re launching a new product, the CTA should be about purchasing. If you’re holding an event, the call to action should register. If you wish to promote each of them, you’ll need to do so in two separate email campaigns.
3. Sending an excessive number of emails
Just because someone signed up for your email list doesn’t mean you have the right to spam them all day. Daily, the typical office worker gets 121 emails. Every year, that’s about 44,000 emails! It’s no wonder, therefore, that the most common reason for individuals unsubscribing from email lists is that they are receiving too many messages.
Consider this for a minute. Put yourself in the consumer’s shoes. How frequently do you go through your emails and get irritated by the number of messages you have? This irritates me greatly. You don’t want people to associate your website and brand with that. When they communicate with you, they should be delighted, not upset. Remember, people signed up to get communications from your website; therefore, they must be interested in what you have to say.
People aren’t going to purchase or visit your website daily, realistically. This is a reality that you must accept. As a result, I would restrict your email marketing to no more than once each week. You may also give subscribers the option to adjust their preferences when they join up. Please inquire about the frequency of communication they want and the messaging they prefer. Then, depending on their responses, segment your subscribers.
4. Failure to segregate subscribers.
You’re doing it incorrectly if you have one lengthy master email list where every subscriber gets the same material simultaneously. This is a tremendous blunder. I already said in my previous point that some individuals like to get texts more regularly than others. Some subscribers may be interested in discounts and coupons, while others may receive your newsletter. Everyone’s requirements and tastes are different.
Let’s imagine you own and operate an online store. A male subscriber in his twenties is not interested in the same items as a female subscriber in her fifties. So giving the identical message to all of them isn’t a successful technique. Instead, consider how these marketing indicators improve due to email segmentation.
You’ll increase client retention, acquisition, and transaction rates while improving open rates, revenue, and leads. Furthermore, research reveals that 60% of individuals discard emails that are unrelated to them. People unsubscribe from irrelevant emails in 27% of cases and designate them as spam in 23% of cases.
That’s correct. Even if you don’t send emails often, your subscribers may still opt out. However, segmenting your users reduces the chance that your material will be deemed irrelevant.
- Location
- Age
- Cycle of sales
- Language
- Value for money over time
- Interests
- Browsing patterns
- Purchases made previously
These are all good places to start when segmenting your email lists. It is a top concern to learn how to send relevant material to your email subscribers by segmenting them.
5. Campaigns are postponed
I advise a variety of website owners and companies regularly. Unfortunately, many people have an erroneous idea about when email campaigns should be launched when we speak about email marketing. Let me give you an example. To make things easier, I’ll use lovely, round numbers. Assume you presently have 1,000 email subscribers on your list. Last week, you sent a message to all of them. You’re set to launch a new campaign this week, but your last campaign only brought in ten new subscribers.
That isn’t a justification to postpone the election. However, I often see company owners deferring marketing until they have more subscribers. You may still launch a fresh campaign to the same individuals if you don’t send the messages too often, regardless of how many subscribers you acquired or lost between messages.
Your existing subscribers are already acquainted with your company’s image. Selling to an existing client has a 60 to 70% chance of success. However, the possibilities of selling to a new consumer are about 5 to 20%. There’s no need for you to wait based on these figures. As we described previously in this article, a welcome email should also be sent to new subscribers. As a result, you’ll be able to target them with an offer immediately. Pick a timetable and stick to it for everything else. Stop making excuses for postponing new campaigns.
6. Ignoring the needs of mobile users
I guess most of you will write your email marketing messages on a computer. Everything looks fantastic on these smartphones. So isn’t it time to get it out to your subscribers? Not so fast, my friend.
It would be best to verify how your message appears on mobile devices. The majority of email marketing software will offer mobile-friendly functionality. However, the simplest method to achieve this is to write yourself a test email. For example, I have an office and executive categories on my email marketing list. It’s basically just a list of my email addresses. I usually submit stuff to this group to double-check before it gets out to the general public. Next, examine which devices individuals use to check their emails the most.
Smartphones are the most widely used gadgets among individuals of all ages. So, even if your message is theoretically mobile-friendly based on your email software’s test, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, long blocks of text should be avoided. On a 4-inch smartphone screen, anything that I three lines on a desktop computer, maybe ten lines.
Visuals should be included in your communication, but don’t depend on them too much. Here’s what I’m talking about. Some email clients don’t show photos by default. So you could be out of luck if your whole message is predicated on the context of your image. To correct this error, you must understand how to increase revenue by catering to the demands of mobile consumers.
7. Communicating in an unprofessional manner
I have already discussed why campaigns should not be postponed. On the other hand, emails should not be sent in a couple of minutes. Follow the steps you would if you were writing a blog or adding a new landing page to your website. Make a plan. Make a rough outline. Create a copy. Apply some editing software to it. Proofread it twice, then proofread it one more. Slang, misspellings, and poor formatting will reflect poorly on your company.
Consider receiving an email from a high-end retailer attempting to sell you a $2,500 watch. However, the communication is riddled with typos and grammatical errors. Are you planning to purchase that timepiece? Most likely not. It seems to be a negative reflection on the firm as a whole. People believe that if you don’t take the time to do something as easy as writing an email, you must be taking additional shortcuts. The email’s reply-to address should be your company’s address. Not your old @hotmail.com e-mail address. For formatting considerations, you should also A/B test all of your emails. All of these will make your communications seem as professional as feasible.
8. Not making sign-ups a priority
Your subscriber list will determine the success of your email marketing operations. Whether your mobile-optimized message has fantastic content, a strong CTA, and a professional design doesn’t matter. You can’t expect tremendous outcomes if you email it to 30 individuals. I understand that email lists aren’t developed overnight, but it’s something you should be working on all the time. There is never a high enough number. It will not produce subscribers if you just put “sign up for our emails” tucked down in the corner of your page. Keep in mind that the average person receives approximately 1,000 emails every week. They won’t sign up for more unless there’s a compelling cause. Visit the Blenders Eyewear webpage to see his popup.
It’s a unique way of collecting emails.
First and foremost, it is impossible to ignore since it occupies practically the whole screen while a person is surfing. Because they run an ecommerce site, it’s reasonable to presume that visitors are interested in their wares.
They’re effectively killing two birds with one stone by giving a discount in return for an email sign-up.
- Include a buying incentive.
- Subscribers through email
Recall what we spoke about before in terms of a welcome message. When visitors join up in a circumstance like this, they must be instantly greeted with a discount. Even if you don’t have an ecommerce store, you should make sign-ups a priority and provide value to prospective subscribers. For email opt-ins, offer them free downloads, video lessons, or other sorts of unique material.
Conclusion
Email marketing is still very much alive and well. This should be a top priority for everyone. However, some individuals are misusing email marketing. After reading this tutorial, you may have just learned that you fit into that group. Don’t be concerned. These typical blunders are simple to remedy. The most difficult part is figuring out who they are. However, now that you know what has to be done, you can make the necessary modifications and include them in your email marketing plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should email marketing mistakes be avoided?
A: Email marketing mistakes can include using too many email addresses to hit your mailing list, sending emails with subject lines that are not specific enough, and, most importantly, spamming. It is important to note that spamming is illegal in the United States and Canada, so you mustn’t send out any unsolicited emails without asking for permission.
What are the most common mistakes made with email marketing?
A: The most common mistakes with email marketing are spamming and sending too many emails. One of the biggest signs that something is spammy is when it arrives in your inbox as soon as you start checking for new mail, which can often be a sign that someone has hacked into your account to send these messages.
Related Tag
- business email example