Emails sent for marketing purposes are different from emails sent for personal or work-related reasons. To increase the chances that your emails will be noticed, opened and acted on, you need a catchy subject line, engaging content and analytical data. You must also sidestep the common mistakes that can hold you back.
Below are the most common email marketing blunders to avoid. In return, you’ll see better results across all of your email marketing campaigns.
Mistake 1. You send emails from your Google or Yahoo account.
Always use an established email marketing provider to send emails, such as MailChimp, Constant Contact or AWeber. This allows you to send emails from a professional email address and get an assortment of useful features. For example, most email marketing providers offer email templates, account analytics and spam protection.
Mistake 2. You send emails without the recipient’s permission.
When you set up an account with your email marketing provider, you’ll have the option to do single opt-ins or double opt-ins. It’s important to know the difference between the two and how they can affect your opt-in rates.
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Single opt-in. With single opt-in, visitors must submit their contact information to be added to your email list.
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Double opt-in. By choosing double opt-in, readers must confirm their email addresses to receive communications from you.
Double opt-in is believed to decrease spam complaints, but you might see lower opt-in rates compared to single opt-ins. Some people don’t take the extra step to confirm their email address. However, some brands want to be assured that the people on their list want to be there. Nonetheless, always send emails with permission to avoid having your account banned.
Mistake 3. You don’t give enough importance to the subject line.
Subject lines are everything. As you scan over your inbox, what subject lines capture your attention?
Personally, I’m always attracted to subject lines that include the offer and the length of time the offer is good for. For example, an email that says, “All hats and gloves 20% off until midnight” gives me all the information I need to know before opening the email. Emojis are also a great addition because they cut through the clutter and add personality to an ordinary subject line.
Mistake 4. You don’t pay attention to your spam score.
Your account provider should give you a spam score. This score lets you know if your email’s content is spammy or not. Pushy sales words and excessive links typically trigger the spam score because they are consistent with ingenuine practices. As long as you create relevant, engaging content that your audience enjoys, you shouldn’t have a problem with this.
Mistake 5. You ignore email marketing analytics.
Another thing your account provider should give you is analytics. When you analyze this data, you can make data-driven decisions that improve your future email marketing campaigns. For example, using analytics, you can target people who opened your emails but didn’t convert. Then, you can retarget people on this list with a more attractive offer that gets them to complete their purchase.
You don’t have to be an email marketing expert to see results from your email campaigns. Avoid these mistakes, craft worthy subject lines and follow the best practices to ensure that your email marketing campaigns are the bomb.
