Top 4 Email Marketing Mistakes

Email marketing is making a comeback in the marketing industry, but there are four big mistakes that should be avoided to guarantee an effective campaign.

The False Promise

Emails that are too emphatic or that contain promises that simply cannot be true may be discarded as spam by wary consumers. Spam email is one of the biggest threats to effective email marketing, and it is crucial to avoid sounding like a "spammer" when you craft a company email.

The Generic Email

The worst type of email marketing strategy involves an email that is simply too generic to resonate with consumers. The problem behind this email marketing mistake is usually an audience population that is too large and unrefined. By breaking up your target audience into smaller, more intimate groups, you can create several different emails that appeal to consumers who need different services and different information. You wouldn't send an email about corporate tax law to a consumer who is unemployed, for example, because the content contained in the email is irrelevant to that consumer's life situation.

The Bland Subject Line

A common mistake that marketers make when sending emails to potential customers is neglecting the value of an intriguing subject line. Many marketers feel that a subject line with flashy words or bold promises will be read as spam and rejected by the consumer. It's true that businesses should avoid false promises or statements that seem too good to be true, but subject lines must still be interesting and engaging. Using keywords and phrases that are interesting to your target audience will increase the likelihood of an email being opened and absorbed by consumers.

The Annoying Daily Email

Unless your target audience has specifically requested to receive daily email updates from your business or firm, avoid over-contacting your potential customers. The balance between an effective number of consistent updates and an annoying constant presence in a consumer inbox is very delicate. It is crucial to send updates on a regular basis, but too many updates can cause a consumer to lose interest in the content you are sending via email. Consumers rarely want to hear from businesses on a daily basis. Weekly emails or biweekly emails are much more appropriate.

One way to solve the over-updating problem is to create email tiers and make consumers aware of the difference in emails. You might send one large email blast a month that includes a subject line such as "Monthly Happenings" or something similar. This subject line will let the consumer know that the information contained in the email covers all the important details of the past month. You can then send more specific emails in shorter emails, and consumers can choose to read these emails or ignore them without feeling like they are missing out on important content.

Email marketing can be a highly effective way to reach a large population of interested consumers. Avoiding these common errors will help to elevate your email marketing campaign and increase the positive responses generated from your email strategy.