Take a Look as We Explore the Top Email Marketing Mistakes
If handled correctly, email marketing can be a very rewarding method for companies to generate leads, convert consumers into clients and boost the bottom line of their business. The correct approach to any email strategy begins with a thoughtful plan. However, businesses also need to avoid making typical email marketing mistakes that can potentially harm the success of their campaigns.
In today’s article, we will be exploring the common email marketing mistakes businesses tend to make and how you can dodge following in the same footpath!
1. Not Growing Your Mailing List
You need to have people to email.
Begin with a list of your current email contacts and build your database from there.
Never miss an opportunity to add a new addition – you could be missing promising leads.
We’ve talked about how to build your database already, catch up! – “How to Get More Email Subscribers”.
2. Going in Clueless
Before sending any email, you need to plan what it is you’re going to be sending and why.
- – What’s the purpose behind the email campaign?
- – What’s your objective?
- – How are you going to meet the objective?
Whilst you need to plan ahead (with topic ideas and content), try to be a bit flexible too. For example, there might be a relevant event that’s worthy for you to email about which you didn’t originally plan to send.
Watch out for events and news within your industry – you could find something worth sharing!
3. Ignoring the Power of Subject Lines
One of the most critical parts of any email campaign is the subject line. No matter the quality of the content inside your email, if the subject line fails to grasp the attention of a recipient they won’t even open it.
There are so many different ways you can design your subject line to boost your open rate, but essentially, you’ll need to do what works for your target audience. Our best advice would be A/B testing – experiment with different subject lines and see what style achieves the best open rate.
Use our guide to help you out:
4. Sending Emails at The Wrong Time
Remember your recipients are probably signed up to other mailing lists, so they could get a few email campaigns a day. It’ll be easy for your emails to get lost in the mix, or be completely ignored, if the timing isn’t right.
Again, try A/B testing to find your peak email times that generate the greatest open rates.
After a bit of experimenting, you’ll be able to uncover what days and times generate the best results for your database. Be prepared that this might change over time, so pay attention to dropping open / click through rates to ensure you’re always reaching your audience.
5. Being Annoying
The line between being helpful and spammy is a thin one.
You need to determine how often your mailing list want to hear from you. It could be monthly, weekly or even daily.
It’s always best to not send too many emails until you’ve sussed out the right email frequency – for example, if you’re hoping to send content everyday then try every few days to begin and gradually increase the rate.
One wrong foot and your mailing reputation may become tarnished. Avoid the one-way ticket to the spam folder – 6 Top Tips to Avoid the Spam Folder
6. Forgetting to Analyse Statistics
It’s one thins to look at open and click-through rates, but it’s anther to pay attention to how well the emails are actually doing.
- – What links are recipients clicking on?
- – Are they clicking at links at the very bottom emails?
- – How many unsubscribes does each email get?
- – Are your emails opened mostly on mobile or desktop?
The list goes on.
You need to look in detail at what your subscribers are interested in. For example, we send newsletters featuring our blog posts – we pay close attention to what styles of blogs are generating the most clicks. Then, we can look at producing more blogs that interest our database.
Your analytics signal where you might need a strategy change. Hence why it’s so important you look at them.
Quick Top Tips
There are a few simple things anyone can do to keep a good email reputation:
- – Proof read your content (and maybe get a colleague to check too) before sending it out.
- – Include clear a clear call-to-action, CTA, so recipients know what you want them to do
- – Reply to recipients if they respond
- – Keep your design consistent with your brand email and professional
Most email marketing mistakes are completely avoidable if you schedule enough time to design, plan and analyse them properly.
Do you have the time, resources and skills to run effective email marketing campaigns? Could we help?
Contact us for a free, no obligation consultation!
E: contact@differentgravydigital.co.uk
Tel: 0161 706 0004
Why not check out our Digital Marketing Terms Glossary?
About the author:
Marie Harwood is a Digital Marketing Assistant at Different Gravy Digital, Hale, Cheshire.
Different Gravy Digital are a full service Digital Marketing Agency operating in the Hospitality & Leisure, Financial Services, Legal & Property sectors. Products and services range from; 3D & 360° Tours, Website Design & Build, Social Media, Video Production, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Content Creation, Email Marketing, Online Feedback / Review Systems and Paid Advertising (Google, Bing and Social Media).
Contact Details:
marie@differentgravydigital.co.uk
0161 706 000
120a Ashley Road, Hale, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 2UN