Is your business marketing strategy not as effective as you would like it to be? 🤔
Have you tried all the possible marketing avenues? 🕵
Maybe the simplest one, like email marketing, can have a major impact. 📧
Email marketing is one of the most effective online marketing strategies if properly implemented. That is why we have some mistakes that are more common than you would think, that you should avoid with your campaign. ✅
Table of Contents:
- Introduction
- Top 10 Most Common Email Marketing Mistakes
- Email Marketing Mistake #1: Not Personalizing The Email
- Email Marketing Mistake #2: Spamming Their Inbox
- Email Marketing Mistake #3: Email Isn’t Optimized For Mobiles
- Email Marketing Mistake #4: Writing Unappealing Subject Lines
- Email Marketing Mistake #5: No Or Confusing Call To Action
- Email Marketing Mistake #6: Campaign Is Inconsistent
- Email Marketing Mistake #7: Email Content Is Too Sales Oriented
- Email Marketing Mistake #8: No Focus Or Goal In The Email
- Email Marketing Mistake #9: Not Prioritizing Email Signups
- Email Marketing Mistake #10: Not Properly Utilizing Your Campaigns Statistics
- Conclusion
Introduction
Email marketing continues to be one of the most effective forms of B2B marketing. After all, 59% of B2B marketers feel that it is their go-to channel when it comes to generating revenue. It also yields a much higher ROI than other marketing strategies.
Think about it, how much money do you need to spend on sending out emails? With so much upside, there is no reason why businesses wouldn’t utilize such an effective strategy.
However, for an effective strategy, you need to make sure your approach to email marketing is free of mistakes.
To help you out, we’ve highlighted the 10 most common email marketing mistakes and how you can avoid them.
Top 10 Most Common Email Marketing Mistakes
Email Marketing Mistake #1: Not Personalizing The Email
Nothing is more touching for the client than to see that you care about them. How can you show that you care with an email? By personalizing it for them. Mass emailing is common and they generally start with a “Dear Customer.” Which is followed by a general message that is sent to them.
While this tactic makes it easier to send out emails, it isn’t very effective.
It makes the customer feel like they are just one in many leads whose business isn’t very important to yours.
Now it isn’t easy to send out a separate email to each client. But there is a trick you can use.  You can use segmentation, an effective email marketing practice, to categorize your clients by their industry. This will allow you to design specific emails for each industry and send them out to the list of each.
Be sure to also have a database ready, whether you send the emails through CRM or a software, make sure each email starts with, “Dear (Customer Name).”
This will show the customer that you care about their business and encourage them to read on. This approach is also more engaging for the client as it shows them that they are more than just another lead to your business.
Email Marketing Mistake #2: Spamming Their Inbox
This is a cardinal sin in email marketing and many businesses make the mistake of emailing clients too frequently. Think about it, how would you feel about a business emailing you every other day or 2 to 3 days.
It won’t be long until you either unsubscribe or just mark it as spam. Your clients would probably do the same.
You need to value your client’s time and only send them emails when you have an offer that would prove to be of quality to them. This is where segmentation comes into play again. When you have offers that would appeal to specific industries over others, target only those specific industries.
Email Marketing Mistake #3: Email Isn’t Optimized For Mobiles
How important is making sure your email is mobile optimized? Well, you can lose up to 70% readership if your email isn’t optimized. More and more users prefer to read their emails on the go or as they receive them. This means that they usually access them from their smartphones.
There are numerous different ways you can make sure that the email is optimized. From using responsive templates to making sure that the text and images are easily viewable on smaller screens.
Before you send out an email, be sure to test it on the major mobile email apps.
Make sure it shows up clearly and is easy to view and read.
Don’t have the resources for optimizing emails? There is various software online that help you create optimized emails. So there is no excuse for sending out emails that are not optimized.
Email Marketing Mistake #4: Writing Unappealing Subject Lines
The subject line is important because it will be the first thing the receiver will read. Therefore, you want to make sure that the subject line catches their attention. It should stand out in the clutter of their inbox to grab their attention enough to open the email.
At the same time, you want to remember you are dealing with businesses. So that means you don’t use clickbait subject lines to get them. They would not appreciate them. You want to keep it very professional, to the point, and attractive.
For example, if you have a promotion going on instead of writing a subject line that says, “Special Promotion” it can say, “Special: Up to 70% off The Things You Love.” Make sure to provide a bit of information that will get them wanting to see what is inside.
The open rate of emails highly depends on the subject line so spend some time learning the art of it.
Email Marketing Mistake #5: No Or Confusing Call To Action
A call to action is one of the most important aspects of the email. It guides the client on what to do next if they are interested in proceeding with whatever the email offers. Without one, you just leave your client guessing, which can drive them away.
The call to action basically ties in the whole aim of the email at the end. So you need to think of what it is you want to do with the email and write a call to action accordingly. If you want clients to be directed to your website, then add a link with the call to action.
If you want to make a sale, let them know how they can approach you and so on. An effective call to action will not only guide them but also entice them to proceed. Just make sure it is easy for the client to find and understand.
Email Marketing Mistake #6: Campaign Is Inconsistent
The opposite end of the spamming spectrum is being inconsistent with your email campaign. Inconsistency is almost as big a mistake as spamming. You can’t expect a customer to remember your business if you send them emails once every 2-3 months. Don’t be surprised if they unsubscribe to your emails this way cause they probably won’t even remember when they signed up for it.
You need to be consistent with your campaign. It all starts with a “Welcome” email as soon as they sign up. Then you have an email sent either weekly or bi-weekly to keep the interaction going. It doesn’t always have to be promotions. You can share blogs and information that may interest them.
Just make sure whatever you send is of interest to them. Once again, the segmented data you have comes into play here. You may need to design 4-5 different emails for each market, but the effort will be worth it to keep the interaction going.
With time and consistency, you will condition your customers to hear from you, enough so that they may even look forward to it. Even if they don’t always click on the email they are still accustomed to seeing your companies name in their inbox. Which means that when they do need the services you provide, there is a good chance your business will be the first option that will come to mind.
Email Marketing Mistake #7: Email Content Is Too Sales Oriented
Yes, email marketing is a great tactic to boost sales but the email shouldn’t solely come off as a sales pitch. You need to be subtle with your pitch. The language used should be welcoming so the business doesn’t come off as pushy or desperate for the sale.
Rather than focusing on your business, talk about your clients. So if you are selling a service or product, don’t go on listing all the great features of it. Instead, focus on how the service or product will benefit the client. Let them know how it will add value to their business, which will make it focused on the client.
This takes into consideration how many times you’ve used certain phrases that are common with spam email such as “Buy Now.” If the score is too high then you need to revise the email because chances are it will go directly into the receivers spam box.
Email Marketing Mistake #8: No Focus Or Goal In The Email
Before composing the email, you need to sit and figure out what the goal of the email is going to be. This will help you structure every aspect of it from the written content, images used, call to action, and so on.
What is it you want to accomplish from the email?
Having a goal will allow you to populate the email with specific content. This will also ensure that the email is not cluttered with information from here and there. It will be focused so there will be no confusion on your client’s end of what it is you offer and how they can get it.
Email Marketing Mistake #9: Not Prioritizing Email Signups
It’s obvious your email marketing campaign isn’t going to work if you don’t have many subscribers.
It is important you have a subscribe option on your website, landing page, links to it on social media and so on. The signup should be highlighted and can even come as a small popup when visitors come to your website.
Having a signup will add to your mailing list, increasing your email network. It adds too much value to your business for you to just skip having a signup on your website. You never know when one of your email promotions may appeal to a subscriber.
You also want to start your email campaign as soon as you have subscribers signing up. Many businesses fall into the myth of not sending out emails before they hit a certain number of subscribers. You need to make early and frequent contact with all your subscribers, no matter what the number is.
Waiting around will just allow them to move on to your competitors.
Email Marketing Mistake #10: Not Properly Utilizing Your Campaigns Statistics
Most account providers offer data and analytics on your email marketing campaign. A successful campaign uses this information to further enhance tactics. The data will tell you how you can alter your approach, email structure, and so on to make it more effective. You can find out which particular emails perform well and which don’t.
It doesn’t just stop there, the analytics can even provide you with information such as the customers who opened a certain promotion but didn’t end up purchasing anything.
This will tell you that they were interested but for one reason or another didn’t pull the trigger. You can group all the customers that clicked without purchasing in a segment. Possibly send them another email the week after to offer additional promotion to entice them a little more.
The analytics are provided for a reason and for you to make the campaign a success, it is vital that they are used. With such analytics, the possibilities are limitless.
Conclusion
It’s never too late to start email marketing. Not having a campaign is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. The strategy may seem passive since you aren’t sure whether your clients will actually open the emails you send. However, with little investment required, it is a strategy you should employ without thinking twice. You never know which email may interest them to come calling.
Just because you’ve drafted a well-structured email doesn’t mean it will convert. You need to make sure you avoid these mistakes to make your campaign more successful. Avoiding these mistakes is more important than how creative or catchy your emails are. So be sure to keep them in mind, they will help your email conversion rate soar with time.
