Come on, we’ve all made them.
Small business owners don’t have the luxury of a design or marketing department, so sometimes things slide.
Sending out copy that could be better won’t bring marketing efforts crashing to the ground. But there are some serious email marketing mistakes you must avoid, regardless of how crunched you are for time.
1. Buying Lists
This is just an all around terrible idea. This is a group of people who may unknowingly or unwilling be a “qualified lead”. They’ll most likely unsubscribe faster than you can say refund.
2. Violating Spam Rules
Most email marketing providers give clear guidelines on what type of emails will get caught in spam filters. Generally, you’ll want to avoid the phrase “free”, copy in all caps, excessive exclamation points, and so on.
3. Irrelevant Emails
There is nothing wrong with mixing light hearted emails into your marketing strategy, but they still have to have a purpose. People are blasted with emails every day, so don’t give your emails a one-way ticket to the trash.
4. No Call To Action
Always have a clear desired course of action. People are skimmers, so make it big and obvious.
5. Strange Subject Lines
There is a line separating catchy, attention grabbing headlines and outright deceitful ones. Tricking people into opening an email and not delivering what you promised isn’t a good idea.
6. Infrequent Emails
Don’t let subscribers forget who you are! By letting 6 months or more go by, you’re allowing people to lose interest and unsubscribe.
7. Not Testing
Not all browsers are created equal. Certain formatting may change regardless of how it looks in a preview. Make sure to test your email before sending the final version.
8. Difficult To Unsubscribe
Don’t take an unsubscribe personally. Think of it as an uninterested prospect doing you a favor. Now you don’t have to waste time marketing to someone who doesn’t want to buy.
9. Not Having Permission
People are protective over email addresses. Popping up on an unknown email list is the fastest way for people to feel unhappy about your brand.
10. Not Segmenting
Are list members prospects? Customers? A niche group? Separate and send them messages that speak to where they are in the sales process.
11. Ignoring Campaign Reports
Campaign reports are to email marketing, what Google Analytics is to websites. You can’t make an educated decision without this data.
12. Bad Timing
Know your list! Knowing, or at least having a hypothesis, of when they view their emails will allow you to figure out the best time to send. Back this up by reviewing campaign data, including open rates.
13. Bad Copy
Don’t put people to sleep, have tons of typos, or write like a robot. Be yourself, be conversational, and be concise.
14. Excessive Emails
“Over mailing” is subjective. But if you’re just starting out and you have no idea the standard for your market, usually more than once a week is too much.
15. Broken Links
When testing emails, make sure to click every single link. It’s a quick process that will save potential conversions.
16. Death By Graphics
Email graphics are like jewelry, add on enough to bring everything together, but avoid looking like Mr. T.
17. Emailing Without A Service Provider
I love Gmail just as much as the next person, but sending brand messages from Google, Yahoo, or Hotmail isn’t professional.
Instead, try MailChimp ($10/month), AWeber ($19/month), or Constant Contact ($15/month). Each offers a free or low cost trial period so you can find that perfect provider.
18. Poor Landing Page Choice
Directing list members to your homepage won’t help a campaign, there are too many choices. Instead lead them to a specific page or blog post.
