Email mailing is a valuable marketing tool that you can take advantage of to the fullest.
In this article, we have collected 11 most frequent mistakes: both new marketers and experienced companies make them from time to time. Check your mailing, and perhaps, after reading our article, you will be able to improve it today.
Mistake #1. Sending emails without subscribers' consent
In addition to the fact that sending emails without subscribers' consent is illegal (although for many, it's not an argument at all), users may flag your email as spam. It will worsen the attitude towards your company and the reputation of the service from which an email was sent.
So, before investing time and money in a marketing campaign, it is crucial to get every reader's consent to receive emails. This way, the effectiveness of the messages will be higher, there will be more clicks on the links. Therefore, your sales will skyrocket.
Mistake #2. Lack of checking the current client list
Subscriber base must be up to date. Check correctly recorded names of clients before sending emails, exclude from the base unsubscribed customers, delete unnecessary information about clients, or enter data that will help with mailing lists.
Emails should be personal, not a copy of an advertisement from competitor emails. Personalized emails are much better at helping you communicate with your clients and building trust relationships.
Mistake #3. Rush
The most common mistake is, "you should have sent that email yesterday!" After this phrase, there is no more time to test the email, create a catchy topic (an essential factor that affects the effectiveness of the marketing campaign), and to check the mailing list. As a result, there are a lot of errors in the emails that lead to unsubscription or adding you to the spam list.
So, calm down and make sure that the contact base and the email are OK before starting to send emails.
Mistake #4. Ignoring individual emails to unsubscribed customers
It doesn't matter how the mailing list is composed or how much money is spent on it: if you haven't been asked for emails, you don't need to send them. To attract new readers who are not yet subscribed, send them personal invitations to subscribe. Let customers decide for themselves whether they want to receive the newsletter or not. It will save money and maintain your reputation.
Mistake #5. Thinking that people know who you are
People could subscribe to your newsletter some months ago, but the time to send emails has only now been found. The contacts seem to have been received honestly, but the readers have already managed to forget who you are and why they have subscribed.
Do not put off the first email for long, it is better to set up an automatic series of emails when registering new users. Thank them for subscribing. Moreover, in such a way, you can periodically remind them that they have subscribed to your newsletter themselves.
Mistake #6. Using someone's else database
There are times when the owner of a contact database asks members to "receive special offers from third parties" and then sells these email addresses to other companies. There doesn't seem to be anything illegal, but it's better when the owner of the database sends your emails himself. First, recipients know the sender, and due to this, the effectiveness of the emails will be higher. Secondly, you can't check the quality of the base before sending it, so the sender takes all the risks.
If you decide to send your own emails to someone else's database, think about how the database was created and whether it will spoil your reputation.
Mistake #7. Incomprehensible service emails (notifications, confirmations)
Customers who made a purchase on your site, registered, ordered the product, always are waiting for a confirmation letter. The effectiveness of such letters is much higher than regular letters, but this does not mean that you have to put a lot of commercial information into them. It is better to intelligently combine technical information with advertising. Only in such a way, you will receive maximum benefits.
Mistake #8. Thinking about the quantity, not the quality
People don't like receiving tons of emails per week. It's worth remembering that the principle of "the more, the better" doesn't work everywhere. So, opt to make quality content that will be useful for the customers.
Often people unsubscribe from such newsletters because they take too much place, they need too much time to read them or to delete - "Thank you, you're great, but you're too busy emailing" or "I really enjoyed it, but I can't read your emails".
Mistake #9. Lack of testing emails before sending
Email HTML looks different, depending on the program you are using for viewing. If an email looks perfect in the preview window or when you send a test email to yourself, it does not mean that recipients will see it the same way.
Adjust some accounts from free mail services, and test email on different computers and operating systems.
Mistake #10. Sending emails from a personal address
When you invite clients to your office, would you prefer to have people in a large business center or an extra bedroom in your home? The same goes for marketing campaigns. Do not send mailings from personal email or using "@gmail.com". You have a website, don't you? Use your website's domain by creating an additional mailing list address "newsletter@companydomain.com."
Mistake #11. Ignoring reports
The advantage of mailings is that you can view the results after each step. This is extremely useful because it is possible to analyze why the opening percentage of emails has changed, or the list of subscribers is steadily decreasing after each mailing, etc.
Check your statistics after each mailing campaign, look for new trends to understand:
- What day to choose to send mail?
- What's the best time to send mail?
- How do the adjustments to the template affect sales?
- Which color button works best, etc.
By analyzing your emails, you can eliminate such errors, significantly increasing the readability of your emails and customer loyalty.
Checklist for improved mailing lists
Let's remember what to pay attention to before sending letters.
- The subject line of the e-mail describes the content of the e-mail. It fits in 50-60 characters.
- The pre-heading is spelled out. It reveals the subject of the message.
- The letter is written correctly: misprints and errors are corrected, the typography accepted in the writing language is used. The text is broken down into paragraphs.
- There is a signature with the company's contacts. Phone and email work.
- There is an unsubscription link, and it is visible.
- Invalid addresses have been removed from the address book. The base is divided into segments, messages are relevant for each segment.
- There is a clear call to action.
- The letter is displayed correctly on the computer, tablet, mobile phone; in Gmail, Yandex, Mail.ru, Outlook.
Marketers' mistakes are inevitable, it is part of the job. The main thing is to notice them in time, correct, and make conclusions.