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Starting an email marketing program is one in every of the neatest things a business can do. Greater than half of the planet(*11*) uses email, and 61% of consumers(*11*) prefer to hear from brands via email.
While sending email newsletters and campaigns is not brain surgery, it is easy for bad habits to slip through the back door. Listed below are 11 common email marketing mistakes — watch out for them so that you simply reap the total rewards of email.
1. Not segmenting the possible audience
Essentially the most effective strategy to boost email results is email list segmentation. That is according to 78% of marketers(*11*). It is smart in the event you take into consideration your personal inbox: Aren’t you more likely to engage with an email that feels written only for you? Before sending one other email, analyze customer data and use filters corresponding to location, gender and shopping habits to segment the possible audience.
2. Not testing emails
Hitting send on an email without testing it’s like buying an expensive garment without trying it on — so many things can go improper. A picture may not load accurately, one in every of the links could also be broken, and plenty of other possible pitfalls. Few things are worse than knowing that an avoidable mistake was made. Test every email together with your team to make certain nothing falls through the cracks.
Related: Why Automated Email Marketing Is an Essential Tool
3. Being inconsistent
Inconsistency is one in every of the largest reasons people fail at anything, not only email. There are many stories on the market of other business owners who make great money with their emails, but here’s a key point: They show up of their customers’ inboxes commonly. Email takes time to work, so have discipline about making a consistent schedule. It is the only way to construct engagement.
4. Bombarding individuals with emails
Emailing that list consistently is significant to constructing rapport, but consistency should not be thrice per day. Prospects clearly want to hear from a business after they share their email address. Nonetheless, be mindful of their time and the space that you simply are taking over of their inboxes. Some emails are day by day by design, but never send multiple email per day.
5. Using an old email list
Holding on to customer email addresses from years ago is comprehensible — growing an email list is difficult. Nonetheless, email data decays at an average pace of 23% annually(*11*), so you need to reassess the health of your list commonly. Keeping addresses people stopped checking months — and even years — ago affects your performance.
6. Not removing invalid emails
Many entrepreneurs do not know that bounces affect their entire email marketing campaign. When greater than 2% of emails bounce back, your organization begins to seem like a spammer(*11*) to inbox providers. Due to this, your emails will go to spam because of this. Avoid that by validating your database quarterly. If it grows quickly, confirm it more often to help your emails get to the inbox.
7. Ignoring spam complaints
Has someone reported your email as spam? Remove that person out of your list immediately — they clearly don’t need to hear from you. Likelihood is high that in the event you email them again, you will get one other criticism. That may have a dramatic impact in your email deliverability. To remain in the nice graces of inbox providers, be sure that your spam criticism rate stays under 0.01%.
Related: How to Avoid Email Spam Complaints
8. Crafting emails which can be too long
Writing an email to your list is exciting, right? The inbox is an excellent place to connect together with your prospects. Nonetheless, you are not the one company popping into someone’s inbox asking for attention. Be mindful of what number of words you employ and convey your thoughts succinctly. For in-depth topics, write a brief blurb and link to an article as an alternative.
9. An intimidating layout
As an example that your newsletter is longer than typical marketing emails. That is alright so long as it’s engaging. Apart from making every line count, also try to lay out your content in a way that is easy to digest. Use spacing and pictures to break up big chunks of text and make longer emails less intimidating.
10. Not including preview text
Sometimes it is not the headline that gets someone to click on an article — it is the subheading. The identical goes for email. In case your subject line is not enticing enough to make people click, the preview text could make an email irresistible. Add that little bit of copy to every email and likewise test emojis in your preheader text to see the way it affects your engagement rate.
Related: 5 Easy Tweaks for Higher Email Deliverability
11. Failing to reply to your customers
Getting a reply from one in every of your subscribers is email marketing gold. Whether or not they’re writing back to share feedback or ask a matter, it shows they care and wish to further communicate with you. What’s more, replies are good for email deliverability as inbox providers see them as an indication of trust. Make sure you respond to all emails. Ignoring a message from a customer has ripple effects in your brand.
In the event you’re guilty of those email marketing mistakes, know that you simply’re not alone. I run an email optimization platform, and my team and I actually have had some email blunders, too. We have learned from them and commenced seeing higher results through the years. You may experience that as well while you concentrate to these details and fix errors before they may cause damage.