Top 10 Email Marketing Mistakes (Part 1). Errors That Kill Your Mailing List
Email marketing is one of the best ways to keep in touch with your customers. Moreover, a well-thought-out email chain allows you to increase your average revenue. All you need to do is learn how to use new email marketing tools. However, email marketers often make email marketing mistakes when creating newsletters. We have selected the top 10 most common mistakes that negatively affect the relationship with customers.
Marketing Mistakes to Avoid: Sending an Email Without the Recipient's Consent
If you haven't received the client's consent to receive letters, you are at significant risk. This email marketing mistake may cause:
- You're more likely to get into spam and blocklists of anti-spam services.
- Such mailings ruin the reputation of your domain.
- You are simply breaking the law.
Therefore, forget about buying a ready-made email database or using emails from other projects. Here's how you can create your email database:
- through a unique form on the website;
- through webinars;
- through paper questionnaires (for live events and offline stores);
- via a bookmark on social networks.
The Newsletter Is Not Adapted for Mobile Devices
All email marketing services offer to check the appearance of the letter on a mobile device. After all, more than half of Internet users check their mail using their smartphones. And this number will continue to grow.
If the letter is not adapted for a smartphone, the client won't read it or see the CTA button. Therefore, always check how your email looks on mobile devices.
Grammar and Technical Errors
If you commit email marketing mistakes, including spelling mistakes in your emails, they will look ridiculous, and your clients will doubt your expertise. It's good that there are spelling and punctuation online checkers that can help you fix your texts and avoid email marketing mistakes.
However, there would be some technical problems and marketing mistakes to avoid. Sometimes in emails, images are displayed incorrectly, buttons don't work correctly, or links to other pages or sections of the site are found.
Advice: give the letter for verification to another person. Let him look at an email with fresh eyes and discover the flaws.
Send Everything to Everyone
This strategy is akin to running on empty. Yes, you'll send newsletters, but your direct target audience will not always read them and that's one of the marketing mistakes to avoid.
Therefore, it's vital to consider all solutions to email marketing mistakes and divide subscribers into separate groups. Segmentation will allow your emails to be as effective as possible.
You can divide customers, for example, by age or products that are of interest to them. And no longer send one email to everyone at the same time.
Don't Use Warm-up Letters
Some companies can collect an email database for years without reaching out to subscribers in any way and then start a mailing campaign. If you start actively blasting them with letters, you run the risk of getting into spam.
However, there is a solution: warm-up letters. They allow you to work with inactive subscribers. In such a letter, be sure to remind when and why the user left you an email address. After that, you can talk about the benefits of your letters.
Don't Prepare Your Domain
It's also a fairly common email marketing mistake. Without preparing the domain, there's a risk that scammers can very much use it. After all, your emails end up in spam, and email clients block the domain itself.
Therefore, before starting the mailing, you need to warm up the domain:
- Enter SPF, DKIM, and DMARC digital signatures in the domain's DNS settings. They authenticate the sender and track unusual activity.
- Create an account on the postmaster service. It'll help to analyze the reputation of the domain and track possible email marketing mistakes.
- Prepare a reliable email database. It'll strengthen the reputation of the domain.
- Send neutral emails with no ads to warm up the domain. Better yet, break up your base into small groups and work with them.
- Sent test emails before launching and gradually build up your mailing volumes. It'll also improve your reputation.
- Track results in the postmaster. If the letters don't reach the addressee, you can stop the mailing and change it.
- Create a check-list with all the marketing mistakes to avoid and go through it periodically.
The longer you earn yourself a positive email reputation, the more trust your email clients will have. You might not avoid all the email marketing mistakes, but you can definitely cut their number.
Send Emails From an Address Registered on a Public Domain
It's simply unacceptable since scammers often send emails from addresses on public domains. Such mailings end up in spam, and addresses become blocked.
But there is a solution - create a corporate mail and indicate the return address in the letters on the corporate domain. It's not only simple but often also free.
Break the Rules of Email Providers
Violation of the rules also leads to spam mailings. Among the most frequent violations, it's worth noting:
- lack of a button or link to unsubscribe;
- the layout of the whole letter with a picture;
- using the same addresses for mass and transactional mailings;
- shortening of links through special services.
To follow the rules, you need to use the tools of postal services or monitor it yourself.
Send Emails Irregularly
Consistency is a good friend of an email marketer. If you send letters without a schedule and irregularly, then soon you'll "kill" the base. The reason is simple. Subscribers don't know when to expect emails from you, and they forget about the subscription over time.
It's better to create a plan for mailings for 2-3 months as it will guarantee that you do not forget what marketing mistakes to avoid. Then you'll always know what to send to your customers and be ready for various accidents. There is a plus for users: they will never forget you and open emails more often.
To Neglect the Preheader
Often email marketers don't pay enough attention to the preheader. It better be because it also attracts subscribers' attention and encourages them to open the letter and find something helpful.
Tip: make the preheader a logical addition to your newsletter topic. It can both clarify and add a little intrigue.
Conclusion
As you can see, even though there are many marketing mistakes to avoid, creating a beautiful, understandable, and compelling mailing is possible. And even if you don't have a team of top marketers, designers, and copywriters, you can always create the letter yourself.