Don’t Make These Email Marketing Mistakes
Email is lower-cost marketing, at least when compared to paid ad space. Yet it’s certainly not “free” in that you’re investing your time and resources in creating the content, in managing your database and in the price of your email marketing platform. All the while, you’re making investments that can pay off for you – or that can prove costly in terms of lost subscribers and a poor image. So let’s take a refresher on what “not” to do.
Don’t send to a purchased list. If someone receives an email from you, and you’re a company they don’t recognize or have a relationship with, you’re inviting yourself to get flagged as Spam. Plus, your email marketing platform will likely turn a suspicious eye to you as a client. That’s why purchased lists are something to avoid.
Email marketing is “permission-based” marketing; a prospect or customer has given you permission to email them. That doesn’t mean you spoke face-to-face, and the individual said, “Yes, you can email me.” But by entering an email address in a form on your website or providing it to your call-taker or tech, the customer is agreeing to receive email from you. In other words, they’ve given you permission. The footer section of your email is the place where you can remind people how they opted-in to receive email – and how they can opt-out, if they so choose. To that end…
Don’t hide the unsubscribe. Yes, you want to keep the people in your email list. But again, because email is permission-based, you have to allow customers to say, “No thanks.” Or else you’ll be seen as Spam or a bit of a scam. Not a good look, and neither is a bunch of mistakes, which leads to…
Don’t rush to press send. Your email marketing is serious business, so make sure you give it the time and attention it deserves. If you send out an email that has sloppy mistakes, you can get an unsubscribe. Or send the wrong information, and you create headaches for yourself. If you have to follow-up with another email to explain the mistakes you made in a previous one, well… that’s not exactly putting your best foot forward. Check and double-check and review it again. Then press send.
Who’s your email from? Make a point to send your email from a person, not a vague address such as “info@”. And be sure that you are sending from a domain name that identifies your company (and not your personal Gmail account, for example). Most people only open email from recognized senders. And also very important…
Pay attention to your subject line. Like the headline (the ad for your ad), your subject line is the next most crucial factor in getting someone to open your email. So make sure it’s a good one. Shorter tends to be better than longer. If you make a promise in the subject line, fulfill it in the email. Don’t try to be so cute that you mislead your prospect.
Get personal. During a recent survey conducted by Ascend2, marketers said that “message personalization” was one of the most successful tactics they used. You’re sending to people after all, so take an extra step to sound human. Call them by name in the subject line and/or the greeting.
Don’t forget to call them to action. “Creating meaningful calls to action” was the other tactic marketers found most effective in their email campaigns. So whatever you do, don’t forget to tell your prospects what you want them to do.