Six Common Mistakes to Avoid with Email Marketing
Anyone can mistakes even email marketing gurus (hard to imagine
, we know).
Yet with so many things to double and triple-check before distributing a campaign, it's easy for valuable parts to slip the minds of seasoned pros and newbies alike.
In fact, The Retail Email Blog consistently posts about the mistakes and "oopsies" of big email marketers on their blog, so if in fact you do make a mistake from time to time, you are in good company!
All joking aside, it's always best to prevent a mistake before it happens. Here's a list of things to stay away fromin order to make your marketing run more efficiently than you ever thought possible.
1. Buying Email Lists
Successful email campaigns cater to specific demographics, tastes and interests. Using confirmed opt-in to obtain the proper permission from people who are truly attracted in your targeted emails ensures that they truly want to hear from you.
When you buy an email list, there's no way to guarantee that those people are really interested in your messages, so you must avoid purchased lists at all costs. You can never presuppose anything about the addresses of chance people that are not given to you directly by their owners.
2. Hard to Recognize "From" Names and Subject Lines
Once subscribers are on your list, you want to make sure that they open your messages regularly. Your subject line and from name/address are your only chance to command subscribers interest in their jam-packed inboxes.
To help jog their memory, always use the same email address and contact name so that there is no confusion when your messages land. Your subject lines must clearly represent the value of the emails while staying reliable with your past subject lines to evoke recognition and familiarity.
3. Avoiding CAN-SPAM Compliance
The Can-Spam Act requires that all messages contain the sender's valid physical postal address, but some home-based and global businesses are tentative to include this information in their emails.
Aside from the legal obligation, putting your contact address in your emails is the best way to show subscribers that you have a legitimate identity and that you won't disappear as soon as they make a purchase from you.
4. Irrelevant and Infrequent Emails
Sending emails that don't relate back to their primary request for info irritates readers and is a guaranteed way to rack up a excessive number of unsubscribes. Add an irratic schedule to the previous scenario and you have a recipe for email misfortune.
As a rule of thumb, if you haven't contacted subscribers in 6 months, delete them from your list. Revisit your landing page occationally to assess your email subject matter and make sure it correlates with your original offer. Establish expectations so that subscribers know what to look forward to from you, and when to expect it.
a. Create Subscriber Expectations Before the Opt-In
b. Create and Emphasize Expectations Right After The Opt-In
c. Create Subscriber Expectations Over Time
5. No Call to Action
With all of the emphasis placed on valuable content and strong design, it's understandable that marketers occasionally neglect the obvious. When a prospect opens a message and they're interested in learning more, don't forget they will be thinking, "What do I do next?"
Give them a way to move forward easily. Include multiple calls to action and links back to your site so you don't lose them. Set up your products favorably, and remember when creating your e-mails that there must be a logical sequence of events you want readers to open, read, click-through and finally buy.
6. Not Testing Before Sending
With all of the time spent prepping marketing emails, typos can easily go without being seen. Testing your e-mails before sending them only takes a moment or two and can help you isolate problems before they show up.
Send test copies to test accounts at several different email services to ensure that the message is legible, the images are viewable and the links work.
Are You Making These Mistakes?
We know email marketing isn't always easy. Like we've said from the get-go, everyone can make a mistake.
If any of the situations on the list above hit close to home, try altering your approach; you'll be amazed at the impact a few simple alterations can have on your campaign.
If you implement changes into your campaigns, please come back and post a comment. We enjoy hearing from you and sharing your experiences will help others.
Six Common Mistakes to Avoid with Email Marketing
By: Angela Chase
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