Email marketing is far from dead. In fact, it should be an established part of your digital marketing strategy. Why? Well, there are a few really good reasons. The first is that over 90% of consumers check their email at least once a day. Additionally, consumers spend more through email marketing. How much more? About 138% more than people who don’t receive email marketing offers. If you’re still not impressed, you should know that email marketing conversion rates and at least three times higher than social media.
Of course, all of these benefits are only accomplished when email marketing is done correctly. If you want the power of email marketing to work for your business, don’t do these five things:
Purchasing or stealing emails
Starting your email marketing list may seem like a daunting task. This is why some companies opt to buy or steal emails in an attempt to reach their audience. This is one of the worst things you can do. The majority of people with an email check their email daily. For busy professionals, their inbox acts as a to-do list, daily reminder, and messenger. If people get an email from your business they weren’t expecting, they will most likely mark it as spam. Once you’re in the spam folder, you’re not coming out. This results in a waste of your time, money, and effort. It’s much more effective to build your list from scratch through a free offer and content marketing. It will be worth it in the long run.
Waiting too long to send
Once you start to build your list, you need to make sure you have an email marketing schedule in mind. If you start to have people sign up for emails and then don’t send anything, your list will go stale. The longest you can possibly wait is six months before people will completely forget about you. But don’t wait that long. Have emails prepared and a schedule ready before you start having people sign up for your email to avoid opt-outs.
Not understanding spam filters
You might think that using words like “free”, “pay less” or “save money” will get people to open your emails. In reality, those words land you in the spam folder. You also want to avoid phrasing like “act now” or “open immediately”. Spam filters are smart and they are always becoming smarter. Every time someone manually moves something to the spam folder, spam filters pick up on it and analyze why. Spam filters also share information with each other so they know all the tricks. You want to make sure your subject lines don’t include all caps or extra exclamation points. Your content should stay away from all money-related topics – getting money, paying less money, and money-back guarantees. From a developing prospect, if your email has sloppy code or extra tags, it’s likely to be picked up as spam. Additionally, watch your use of images. If you’re going to use images, you also need to have content.
Not testing your emails
Always test your email campaigns before you send them. You can’t take back an email. Once it’s out there, it’s out there. Check for typos and make sure all of your links work. When you publish a piece of content on your website, you always have the option to go in and edit any mistakes you find later. Email doesn’t have that option. You need to make sure it’s perfect before it goes anywhere.
Ignoring campaign reports
If you’re lucky enough to receive campaign reports from your email marketing tool, USE THEM. These can only help your email marketing. These reports usually contain elements like open rates and opt-out rates. You need to know which emails are successful and which are hurting your campaign. The only way to know this is by looking at your campaign reports. Reports can help you establish the best time to send emails and the best subjects for your audience. Use them and improve your email marketing.
Email marketing can help your business in many ways. Use it correctly and start communicating with your customers. For help getting started with your email marketing campaign, give us a call!
