Email marketing is a pretty common component of most companies’ marketing strategy – but sending potential clients an email and securing responses from that email are two very different things. It’s hard enough to win a great ROI as it is – but these 5 things are nearly guaranteed to make your next email campaign a flop.
#1 – Cheesy and too many images
Images can make an HTML email look “pretty,” but unfortunately, they also tend to load oddly (if at all), not to mention flagging spam filters if there are too many images. Beyond that, overly staged or cheapo clip art images make emails look cheap and impersonal. If you use images in your emails, remember that many people will never actual load them – so write your copy to resonate in itself.
#2 – Sloppy lists
Blasting your email out to everyone on your list is a quick way to send your email straight to the trash. Not every email that you send is relevant to every person on your list. For example, discount offers available to new clients are likely not relevant to existing clients – don’t send them these offers. Small companies are unlikely to need enterprise-level services. Companies focused in healthcare do not care about emails about your financial services offerings. You get the point.
Take the time to clean your lists before you send an email. Pay attention to things like geographic location, titles, previous response rates and bounces, business sector, and the like. It takes more time upfront, but will help to boost your response rates while also saving you from spam filters and agents, opt-outs, and costly send rates.
#3 – Large batch sizes
Many automated email marketing programs allow you to set the batch quantity – the number of emails that sends at a time. Your provider should be able to give you more insight as to batch size recommendations and you are best to pay attention. Sending too large of batches will trigger spam alerts and can even cause send issues that prevent your targets from ever receiving your email. The best part is that, in many cases, you’ll never know there was a problem – so beyond helping this particular email to flop, it may cause residual issues in your next campaign.
#4 – Failure to include clear call to action
Sending an email without letting your clients know what they are supposed to do with that email’s information is like sending someone a list of directions without letting them know the destination address; in either situation, they’re unlikely to find the destination. Make sure that each of your emails gives a clear call to action with an actionable item, such as a clickable link or button.
#5 – Lack of focus
Every email that you send should have one singular purpose. This isn’t to say that you can’t send a newsletter with multiple columns or an email that lists several upcoming events – however, it is to say that you should write each part of your copy in a clear way that precisely addresses one topic at a time. For example, writing a sentence about your current promotion, upcoming webinar, and new product is bound to lose readers and miss making an impact. Instead, identify each item individually to give it a precise definition and clear message with an identifiable purpose and action.
There are so many ways to make your next email a campaign a flop – but, there are countless more to make it a likely success. Avoid these five things in your next campaign and don’t be afraid to think out of the box – this is the first step toward finding your email marketing success.