Even though email is one of the oldest forms of digital communication, it remains the most popular. Email marketing continues to outperform social media, search engine optimization, and affiliate marketing as the most effective marketing channel. Despite the rise of social media, many people still prefer email to other communication methods. According to data, the number of email users increases every year.
Email marketing is the process of sending promotional messages to a large number of people. Its main goal is to generate sales or leads, but it can also include advertising. The issue with sending out Email Marketing is that not everyone is aware of how to do so. We realize it's a problem, but don't be concerned. We'll show you the 25 things you should never do when sending an email campaign.
1. Not Formatting Your Email Campaigns: As we all know that it is very important to have a well-built structure of the email campaigns. It should not be too long because honestly, we all know nobody likes to read a two-page long email. It is very boring and nobody pays heed to that. The campaigns have to be crisp and short. If any details are being discussed, one must keep things in bullets and number formats. With the email campaigns written in point formats, people take interest in reading the email campaigns. In 2018, Litmus discovered that mobile accounts accounted for 46% of all email opens. As a result, if you write eight-sentence long messages with no bullets or style, it's possible that many of your readers will delete your emails before reading a single line.
2. No Proofreading: How can someone forget to proofread their campaigns? Well, it has been witnessed in some cases that people tend to forget to proofread their spelling and grammatical errors. This leads to a bad impression of the brand. Always correct your minor mistakes and proofread. You can also use some AI-powered tools for corrections.
3. Using a misleading subject line: There are so many times that we receive an email with a different subject line while the entire content of the mail is very different. Well, it helps with the increase in open rates of the emails but in the long run, there are chances of customers unsubscribing you from their list. With this, there are lots of chances of your emails going straight to the spam. To avoid this, try to keep a conversational approach. For more help, you can use Subject Line Tester Tools.
4. Using Creative Font: Using different fonts is great when it comes to writing a school project. But when it comes to Email Marketing, one should keep this creativity aside and use some of the formal and mostly used fonts like Ariel, Times New Roman, and Trebuchet MS. These fonts are said to be much easier to read in comparison to other fonts. These fonts are web-safe fonts and will be loaded easily for all the users getting the mails. Too many colors and too many fonts should be avoided at all costs.
5. Use of Lazy Greetings: It is very important to put a strong impression on your customers. Your customers notice each and everything, so they definitely will take a look at how you greet them. Always remember either writing an email or working on an email campaign, never use a boring or lazy way of greetings like ‘to whom it may concern.’ People have always seen this and it is very repetitive. Try to avoid this and use some creative greetings.
6. Having No CTA: Email campaigns should be made keeping in mind their purpose. If your campaign is just about interaction, even that should include one Call To Action of maybe profile visiting links. It helps in engaging your audience. A request or an appeal to check out what your brand is offering or what is the motive of this campaign. According to Jeff Hoffman, a small closure with CTR is critical. Well one or two CTR is enough but too many should be avoided. CTR is the button used for action from the consumer’s end, too many CTRs will lack the focus of the campaign. Try keeping more than two CTRs at an arm’s length.
7. Lack of Personalization: One of the methods to expand your website's reach is to send personalized emails. With the help of certain creative tactics, you may generate a lot of demand for your brand. According to one of Epsilon's surveys, 122% of personalized emails have a positive return on investment (ROI).
8. Wrong Timing: The reason you want to know the ideal times to send email—or the best days—is that you want to increase the number of opens and clicks to your blog. So you want all of that because your email list is your most devoted audience, one that will share your content after reading it, resulting in a snowball effect of increased traffic, members, and customer engagements. According to Campaign Monitor's research, 53% of emails are opened from 9 AM to 5 PM, and 10 AM is the peak time.
9. No Segmentation: The segmentation of emails is very important as segmentation allows an e-retailer to quickly learn what each person on their contact list wants, allowing them to create specialized categories based on each customer's unique needs and interests. If you are not doing this, honestly you are not doing it right. Always check what your customers require and how they interact with your brand.
10. Follow Up too soon: After sending an email campaign, one must not be impatient and start sending out another campaign right after 24 hours just because it wasn’t clicked and opened. This shows the unprofessional behavior of your brand. Plus with many email campaigns, customers can unsubscribe to your brand, so strictly avoid that. Consider about 10-12 business days and then take action.
11. All emails are about conversion: It is a well-known fact that with the emails we expect an increase in conversion rates too. But it is also important to make emails that add value to the customers and are not redundant. Brand promotion is necessary but the increase in conversion rates will only take place when there is a relationship built between your eCommerce store and customers.
12. Using No Reply: People interact with people and they certainly don’t want to interact with a mailbox. Not using any email id or real name and instead of using No Reply for your email address is very annoying from the customer’s end. It shows that your brand is not interested to have any communication further. Sometimes so many customers don’t even open the email with the address No Reply. Avoid doing that and be more conversational.
13. Inconsistent Communication: If your brand is inconsistent and interacts with customers once in a while, it’s a loss for you. This is so because, with so many options available in the market, people may forget your brand. We aren’t recommending you to send out too many emails but some news must be shared from time to time. This will help everyone to remember your presence well.
14. Not getting to the point: We know that it is very important to interact with your clients and customers. But just involving them in vague conversation is wrong. We should help many of your readers reach them with an insightful approach. This is very important to talk sense and to the point in the emails. Killer subject lines and a strong introduction are all we need.
15. Relying on Images only: Your campaigns must include images but it doesn’t mean it should be all about images. Always use texts and then images don’t just stay dependent on images. Because then your email will look like a picture book.
16. Avoid Stock Images: Be more creative and don’t use stock images. These images are mostly seen by your customers and they might not want to see them. Thus, add your creative touch to your email campaigns.
17. Use your voice: We all know that you are out there ready to sell your brand but customers chose to receive notifications from you because they liked your approach. People signed up for this because they like the unique things about you. It is important to tell them relevant stories in order to spread your thoughts and voice.
18. Sending to those who don’t open your email: With email campaigns, there are high chances that your message won’t be opened by some customers easily. But some customers never open to your email and you can easily trace them. It is good to send emails to everyone but after 6-7 emails it is easier to find out who are your loyal customers and who isn’t. And with the piling of emails, there is a possibility of unsubscription too. Thus, do not send emails to those who don’t open your emails.
19. Require login unsubscribe: This is one of the most annoying things. When customers want to unsubscribe to your brand, do not ask for a login, not everyone remembers the login details or saves them up somewhere. In this case, customers tend to report or spam instead.
20. Waiting for Milestone of subscribers for actions: It is very enthusiastic thought to have a milestone with the numbers of subscribers. But not sending a particular newsletter because you thought of sending it with say 500 subscribers and you just have 200 now, is vague. Don’t sit back and wait for the subscribers to grow, keep shooting your shots.
21. Including Attachments: In marketing emails try your level best to not add attachments. Unless your customers signed up for attachments and pdf files don’t send them. This is an unnecessary technique of interaction. Some won’t even open the attachments.
22. Forgetting Mobile Users: Nearly 1.7 billion people check their emails on their mobile phones, much outnumbering the 0.9 billion people who use desktop computers. You must care for your mobile customers and make mobile-friendly campaigns with the images and links supported by mobile phones.
23. Not adding Email Signature: Just writing the name of the brand is not enough. You must add further details about your brand and alternate ways to reach your brand. The social media handles and other important links.
24. Sending without testing: Sending untested emails could have a negative impact on your return on investment. Not only are you risking a 13% drop in email marketing ROI if you don't test your emails; they can also have a negative influence on opens, clicks, and, most crucially, your brand.
25. With the number of email users growing every year, it's critical to boost your eCommerce game with Email Marketing. This is because your customers receive a certain number of emails per day, and yours must stand out. For more Email Marketing related queries, reach out to us at www.enalito.com
