Have you ever hit the send button on an email marketing campaign only to realize afterward you’d committed a mistake or an error?
At this point, the deed is done; your email is in the inboxes of your recipients. Sometimes, you can make a comeback with future emails, or you may have to deal with the consequences.
We’ve all been there at some point.
Even if you think you always cross your Ts and dot your Is, you may be committing some email marketing errors you’re not aware of.
To ensure you’re doing things right, here are some common email marketing errors to avoid at all costs.
Error/Mistake #1: Irrelevant Subject Line
Your subject line announces what your email is all about. So make it relevant.
Ensure your email content delivers on the promise made by your headline. If a recipient clicks through and reads something different, that takes away from your credibility and could make the subscriber unsubscribe from your mailing list.
In this age, we hope no one is still using the word “newsletter” in their headlines.
That’s irrelevant and another way of saying, “This is a promotional email and please trash it without opening it,” if you get the point.
Error/Mistake #2: Sending Too Many Mails
Sending lots of emails over a short period of time could lead to a subscriber unsubscribing from your list.
Understandably, sending too few emails could lead to subscriber ignorance, a situation where a subscriber doesn’t know enough about your offer or brand to the point where they trust you and buy.
However, just because someone signed up for your email doesn’t mean they want you to bombard them with frequent emails.
While there’s no hard and fast rule to determine if your email sends are too much, pay attention to metrics like open rates and unsubscribe rates to know if to check your email marketing send schedule.
Error/Mistake #3: Too Many Images Or Visuals
Incorporating relevant visuals such as images, GIFs, and emojis can make your email marketing look crisp, clean, and buttoned up.
Too many images, however, can make the email load slower, while unnecessary emojis can distract your reader.
Some email clients would even redirect emails with too many images into the dreaded junk folder.
So, keep the visuals in your email simple, relevant, and tight.
Error/Mistake #4: Not Segmenting
Segmentation lets you deliver personalized, relevant emails to specific sections of your list.
You can customize your message according to the gender, age, location, tastes, preferences, and interests of subscribers.
This often ignored fix will help with more open rates and click-through rates.
Error/Mistake #5: Bad CTA
Your Call To Action (CTA) should be clear to you and your subscribers.
After going through your email, what action would you like your recipient to take? Is it to Shop Now, Buy Now, Download The Free eBook, Read The Blog Post, or Watch The Video?
If your CTA is not clear, or different from the action you expected them to take on a landing page, this could hurt email marketing performance. The subscriber may lose interest in your offer or brand.
One of the common campaign pitfalls to avoid is also a CTA that’s obscured by other design elements. We recommend placing your CTA in prominent spots in your email, with proper font and color scheme.
Final Words
If you’ve been making any of the mentioned email marketing errors, it’s time to put together a solid plan to correct them.
Fixing these common email marketing errors and mistakes would mean improved open rates, subscriber retention rates, click-through rates, and more success in your email marketing campaign.
Which of these mistakes have you been making? Or what other mistakes did we miss? Let’s keep the conversation going in the comments.
Favour Michael