Email Marketing Mistakes – Avoid an Over-hyped Subject Line
An over-hyped subject line causes disbelief and automatic deletion. When you can write an impactful subject line, it is a fine art because you can entice the reader to open the email with a few words. The idea is to encourage the reader to open the email using an impactful statement that has integrity, rather than a spammy headline. The trick is to ensure that, when they open the email, they’re not let down by the content they’re receiving. The subject line must match the content in the email.
Email Marketing Mistakes – Don’t Overlook the Power of a Preview
Many mail clients have a preview display where the text is near the subject line. While this text typically has a limitation of 100 characters, it will pull from the first few lines of your email. For those of you who are using MailChimp, this process is made easy. All you have to do is replace the text they provide to make it unique. You’ll find that other platforms will vary. Using the preview text allows you to move your offer from the subject line to a call-out with more detail. When the pre-header is read before the email’s subject line, it gives the reader more of a reason to open the email and, in turn, will boost the click-through rate in your marketing strategies.
Email Marketing Mistakes – Do Not Use a “Noreply” Email Address
When you use a generic inbox, you’re losing out on the engagement portion of digital marketing. People don’t want to see a “no-reply” or “admin” in the from a section of their inboxes. In this day and age of robocalls or auto-replies through email automation, they want human interaction. When you use this kind of email address, what you’re telling your subscribers is that you don’t want to hear from them.
These are engagement opportunities digital marketers are missing from one of their largest marketing channels. Therefore, all subscriptions should be sent out from a real email address that someone checks. Encourage subscribers to respond to the messages if they have comments, questions, or concerns. When support staff receives the messages, they must respond immediately. These efforts help increase engagement and create satisfied customers.
Email Marketing Mistakes – Make Sure There is Value in the Email
Every follow-up email you send to your readers must contain value. If you create engaging content that excites the reader to the point of wanting to share it and then perform an action, then you’ve accomplished this goal. The best way to ensure your emails have quality is to ask yourself if the email is still valuable even if the reader isn’t spending money. If the answer is yes, then it’s good enough to send. The ultimate goal is to build a relationship over time, preferably than attempting to complete a cold sale in one email.
Email Marketing Mistakes – Focus on the Customer, Not the Product
Your marketing campaign should focus on the customer instead of the product. When you look solely at the marketing aspect, it is common to forget about how substantial growth can come from how a product or service becomes shareable because of its value. Exceed the customer’s expectations by providing quality content in their email, give them simple tasks they can perform to help them solve a problem they may have, or give them time-saving options from which they can choose that also offers them benefits.
Email Marketing Mistakes – Don’t Forget Personality
If your emails are void of personality, subscribers aren’t going to read them or, worse, they’re going to unsubscribe. Your character must shine through in every email. It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to sell a product or service. People are subscribing because they have an interest in your point of view, your unique voice, and how they relate to the way you’re doing things. Therefore, when you’re attempting to make a sale, use your personality. Be one of those companies that can tell their users an interesting and relevant story. Your readers have an interest in hearing about your company, as well as what perspectives you’d like to share and the people behind the products or services you’re selling.
Email Marketing Mistakes – Avoid Making Too Many CTAs (Calls to Action)
If your emails contain too many CTAs and little else, then your subscribers aren’t going to stick around. Your readers want to read and engage in usable content. They want to receive something they can potentially read, print out, save in a folder, or share with others. If that email contains nothing but statements asking the readers to do something, then it holds nothing of value for them to take away with them or share with others. There shouldn’t be too much for readers to do in an email with no clear focus. Instead, emails should contain one clear call to action at the bottom of the email. Think about the action you’d like your reader to take, and then make sure all of the information they need is as clear as possible for them.
Email Marketing Mistakes – Final Thoughts
Before engaging in an email marketing campaign, be sure not to make one of the biggest email marketing mistakes of all—requiring users to log in before they can unsubscribe from your newsletter. You’re going to experience a lot of spam markings as a result.
Hopefully these tips help you to avoid common email marketing mistakes. You may also be interested in these articles to help you learn more about email marketing:
How to Grow Your Email List
Email Marketing Is Still Valuable
Email Marketing Golden Rules
