Email marketing has taken the world by storm.
Did you know that in 2019 alone, 293.6 billion emails were sent and received each day? Now get this: in 2022 it’s projected that this figure will increase to over 347.3 billion daily emails.
Do you know what this means? Your subscribers and contacts are receiving more emails than ever. It’s time to put the kibosh on silly email marketing mistakes that are costing you customers and sales. Read about the seven email marketing mistakes you and your team might be making (and be sure to remedy them ASAP)!
1. You’re burying the call-to-action (CTA)
A CTA is marketing gold—don’t waste it!
Your subscribers are bound to opt-out of future emails if they have to go on a scavenger hunt to find what it is you want them to do. They’re not Indiana Jones—don’t make them work so hard!
From a 2-second scan of your email, your reader should be able to understand what action you’d like them to take, whether it’s purchasing an item, downloading a resource, reading a blog post, etc.
While it doesn’t have to be at the very top of your email copy, be sure to make the CTA stand out in some way. Bold it, make it a different color, turn it into a clickable button—the list goes on! Whatever you do, be sure to remain consistent so your readers can expect actionable items from each piece of email marketing they receive from you.
Eye-catching CTAs = killer results.
2. Your emails look sketch
The phrase, “don’t judge a book by its cover” is a beautiful sentiment, but not when it comes to email marketing.
Your subscribers are smart people—they know when something looks legit (and they especially know when it doesn’t).
Thankfully, resources like Net-Results’s drag-and-drop email builder allow you to create professional emails that will help you make a fantastic first (and second and third) impression.
Platforms such as these work to ensure your emails maintain a certain level of professionalism that email subscribers look for.
Need help outside of our snazzy email builder? Work to ensure your emails have a quick loading time, bold CTAs (revert to point #1), colorful (yet intentional) visuals, and error-free copy. Focusing on design integrity and thoughtful messaging will help you move from the “sketchy” zone to the “profesh” zone in no time!
3. Your emails aren’t mobile-friendly
It’s 2021 and it’s time to bring your marketing emails up to speed. Gone on are the days where you only had to worry about desktop formatting for your emails. In 2018, mobile accounted for 46% of all email opens, and that number is steadily rising each year.
Emails that aren’t mobile-friendly are most likely raising your bounce rate due to poor user experience and ain’t nobody got time for that!
All marketing emails must be optimized for mobile in this day and age. Luckily, if you use email automation software (we’re big proponents of Net-Results 😉), you can check mobile previews when drafting your email!
Focus on mobile optimization—it’s a must-do!
4. You’re ignoring key metrics
KPIs are the name of the game when it comes to email marketing success. When it comes to key metrics, think open rates, click-through rates (most important!), and bounce rates. These three stats are vital for any successful email marketing campaign.
To gather a comprehensive view of the KPIs that matter most, check out this handy-dandy blog post: 5 Important KPIs for Digital Marketing.
When it comes to email marketing metrics, it’s important to know what to measure and how to keep track of behavioral trends. Keeping track of key metrics will give you the chance to “right the ship” should your open rates, CTRs, or bounce rates take a nosedive (for the record, you want your bounce rates to be low—but you get the idea!).
5. Your subject lines are a hot mess
Subject lines act as a first impression, meaning they can either win or squander the hearts of your intended audience.
Here at Net-Results, we’re passionate about subject lines (we love to write all about them!). Give a look-see at our blog post on 5 Ways to Make Your Subject Lines Shine.
When crafting the perfect subject line, consider what would make you want to open the email. You aren’t going to fall for some obvious, pushy sales-pitch line and you also won’t want to open something gimmicky and outdated. You wouldn’t fall for it, so how can you expect your audience to?
6. Your content is tone-deaf
We’ve been living in a pandemic for an entire calendar year. Read that again.
Life is different for everyone now. During the past year, your audience may have lost their job, been hit with financial hardship, faced the loss of a loved one, experienced health issues, etc.
As a result, your tone and content must adapt to the current mood to prosper. Frankly, customers don’t want tone-deaf email content that pushes them to “buy, buy, buy” in a time where money is tight and life is far from normal.
Nothing about our current situation is normal—it’s okay to express that! Your current and prospective customers will love some transparency…promise.
Read the room when constructing your email marketing campaigns. What your customers need is most likely different than what they needed this time last year.
Better yet, ask what they need from you and your brand (via survey, social media content, etc.). They’ll surely appreciate the human touch and compassion that we’ve been lacking for a long time.
7. You’re not using A/B testing
Spice it up and try new things!
Whether it’s A/B testing dynamic email content (available on the Net-Results platform) or simply subject lines—it’s important to experiment with email marketing. What worked last month might not work this month and that’s okay! You won’t know until you try.
In the world of email marketing, strategy and “what works” are constantly changing. A/B testing allows you to adapt to those changes and see what’s currently resonating with your audience.
Need some ideas for how to go about A/B testing? Take a look at this awesome blog post from AB Tasty (what a name): A Beginner’s Guide to A/B Testing your Emails.
Email marketing is one of the most effective tools we have as digital marketers. As is the case with each of our marketing tools, mistakes will be made—that’s part of the game!
We hope this list helps you ramify and alter any email marketing mistakes you and your team come across; however, if you’re looking for further information and advice, take a look at our free Net-Results Resource page—we have tons of downloadable whitepapers, blog posts, and worksheets that will help you and your team improve as digital marketers.
Cheers to consistent improvement!
Lexie Robbins
Digital Marketing Specialist
