According to recent statistics, over 100 billion emails are sent and received every day. From business communications, to letters from aunts, spam and automated mailing lists, inboxes are crammed with digital deliveries. This noise will make it difficult for your email marketing campaign to stand out and leave an impression. Regardless of the length or quality of your subscribers list, if you neglect the basics you will throw away the hard work it took to build it.
MISTAKES THAT WILL SEND YOUR CAMPAIGN STRAIGHT TO THE TRASH A LACK OF PERMISSION
No one likes unsolicited mail. If your users have not signed up for your list then they will not appreciate your email’s arrival. Chances are they will mark your message as spam or junk and you will have lost them forever. While building an email list can be a slow, frustrating process, you need to ensure your messages will be welcomed before you send anything.
Some great ways to build an email list are:Blog regularly and generate interest around the content you are creatingOffer incentives for signing up such as discounts, offers and invitations to exclusive events.
Create an item of content people would be willing to provide their email to download. This could be an ebook, a recorded webinar or white paper.
SENDING WITHOUT TESTING
There are two types of testing.The first is the basic “Do all the images look good on a range of email programs? Do all the links work as they should?” Anything that doesn’t look right will put users off. People are savvier than ever and sensitive to email that looks suspicious, and shonky graphics and broken links are red flags. A failure on your part to ensure everything is as it should be will again see your hard work end up as junk.The second type of testing is A/B comparison. Send out two versions of your email and see which one yields the greater results. This is important to make sure you see some ROI and you emails don’t simply disappear into the cyber etherNO UNSUBSCRIBE LINKThis might seem counter intuitive, but the right to opt-out is law. Under the Spam Act 2003, every commercial email must include an unsubscribe link. Word travels fast online and failure to include one could land you in legal trouble, as well as damage your brand’s image. The best examples simply ask for your email address and take you off the list. The worst make you log in and change mail preferences. The most despicable ones don’t even work. Safeguard your digital reputation by making yours simple and effective.
NOT OPTIMIZED FOR MOBILE
More people check their emails on the go than ever before and it is vital to ensure your carefully constructed campaign looks great on a small screen. The text needs to be legible, the images should be perfectly scaled, and it should function as intended. If your customers and clients can’t ready their email immediately, there is a good chance they will forget to check it again later or worse still, they may just delete it.
VALUELESS CONTENT
Your email must have a value proposition to engage with users. You can’t send them a digital business card and expect it to entice them to purchase from your company. You must build a relationship through regular emails with discounts, special offers, information about new releases and upcoming events. Customers browse more than they buy and the key is to remain foremost in their thoughts for when they want to lay down some cash.
A POWERFUL ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITY
Email ubiquity is both a boon and a bane. It is often the easiest way to reach people, but it is also simple for them to ignore. While a large part of any success will come down to the content, avoid these basic mistakes and you will give your marketing campaign a better chance to find its audience and connect with people.
Credit: Beyond The Hedge
