6 COMMON EMAIL MARKETING MISTAKES – AND HOW TO AVOID THEM

Email marketing is one of the easiest and most cost-effective forms of marketing you can use. According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing yields an average 4,300% return on investment for businesses in the United States. It also has the unique capability of building a direct relationship with the consumer. But with that relationship comes responsibility – plenty of email campaigns have been derailed by common mistakes that hamper marketing success.

Here are six common email marketing mistakes made by businesses, and how you can avoid them to ensure a successful campaign.

  1. Marketing to the wrong audienceIf your email campaign includes “blasting” to anyone who is in your database (even if they‘re 10 years old), then you need to reassess the importance of segmenting your database list. Just because someone is in your database doesn’t mean that they need to receive an email. Don’t send generic emails to everyone unless you want to go to their junk mail. Differentiate the contacts in your email list and categorize them into smaller target audiences that you can market to with personalized emails. Your click-through rate will thank you for it. For more information on how to segment your customer database, we encourage you to check out the post “How to Create an Effective Database List in 3 Simple Steps.
  2. Using a bad subject lineThe quality of your subject line will determine whether someone reads the message or clicks delete. Successful email subject lines are eye-catching, attention-grabbing and entice the consumer to open the email. The Direct Marketing Association found that emails with a subject line in the rage of 28 to 39 characters have the highest associated click rate (4.0%), while the lowest click rate is assigned to 51+ characters. Some things to avoid when you are creating a subject line: using all CAPS, using one word subject lines like, “hi,” using too many punctuation marks (!!!), and using words such as “urgent.” For more on how to craft the perfect attention-getting subject line, check out the blog post “3 Guidelines for Writing Email Subject Lines.
  3. Sending too many emailsSending emails too frequently is sure to land you in the spam folder, and increase your risk of losing potential customers. According to an Epsilon study, more than half (53%) of consumers believe they receive too many retail emails. Don’t risk losing your potential customers by overestimating how often they want to hear from you. Show that your business cares about individual preferences by letting each consumer choose how often they would like to receive emails from your business when they sign up for your emails. Would they like to receive emails daily, weekly or monthly? This will reduce the unsubscribe rate, and will build a better email rapport between your business and the consumer.
  4. Not getting permission before emailingAccording to Forbes magazine, not getting a consumer’s permission before sending them an email is simply a rookie mistake. The article goes on to list three additional things that you should never do:
    • Don’t collect business cards at an event, then add those email addresses to your mailing list.
    • Don’t go through all your contacts in Outlook/Gmail/etc. and use these email addresses as your starting list.
    • Don’t put your customers on an email list without asking them to confirm that they want to be added.
  5. Not including an unsubscribe link, and/or making someone log-in to unsubscribeBy U.S. law (the CAN-SPAM Act), you have to include an unsubscribe link in every email. But regardless of the law, unsubscribe links are just good business. After all, you don’t want to upset potential customers by making them jump through hoops to opt out of receiving emails from your business.
  6. Failing to integrate with other marketingDirect marketing as a whole is most successful when all channels are intertwined. Failing to integrate your email marketing efforts means that you are missing major opportunities to magnify your reach, and as a marketer you do not want to miss out on an opportunity to connect in as many ways as possible.

“Email marketing is now often integrated with other channels: a website strategy (to drive traffic to a website), a social media strategy (followers receive notifications about new content on social media feeds), or even a direct mail strategy (subscribers to an email newsletter might also receive paper coupons in the mail for local brick-and-mortar stores).”
Direct Marketing Association

If you want to start a successful email campaign, contact our full-service agency today to learn more about Conduit, our direct marketing software tool, and to receive a free demonstration.

Request a Demo