Common Mistakes of Email Marketing

February 8, 2016 1:03 pm

“To err is human, to really foul things up you need a computer.”  Paul R. Ehrlich

This old adage is so true and examples of it can be found daily in the business world.  This is no more true than in the perfect example of messing up an email marketing campaign.  Email marketing itself has become so much more complex since it’s inception. We have come such a long way from the days of AOL’s “You’ve got mail.” Now there are Tweets, Posts, Pins and a whole assortment of information assaulting consumers on a daily basis.  So, let’s look at some fairly common mistakes businesses make when conducting an email marketing campaign.

 

Mistakes with the “Recipient Lists” – There are numerous “rookie” mistakes that can be made when dealing with your receiving list. These include:

  • Make sure you have permission to send email to the people on your list. Did they enroll on your list online or in the office?  How did you get their name?  Make sure you properly acquired the name.  
  • Make a policy of not purchasing a list from a third party.  No one likes to get spammed or have unneeded email in their already crowded inbox.
  • Reconfirm email list.   People change emails quickly once one has been spammed enough.  After six months email is considered stale if the recipient has not heard from you.
Content Mistakes –
  • Proofread all emails being sent to ensure there are no silly typos or glaring grammatical errors.
  • Create content that will be relevant, interesting, and useful to your subscriber base.
  • Be very careful with subject lines and leads.  It only takes a few second for readers to decide if they are going to continue reading or not.
  • Don’t use pushy sales copy or gimmicky catchphrases. Be human and use a voice that is true to your brand.
Analysis Mistakes –
  • Using companies such as Constant Contact or MailChimp give you the benefit of measuring your results.  Don’t forget to analyze what worked and what didn’t.
  • Before you send a campaign to your entire list, make sure that you look at it in preview mode.  This is possible on the two programs mentioned above.
  • Use testing practices to see if you can improve your open rates, click rates, and, perhaps most importantly, conversions.

 

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