Strategic email marketing strategies work and have been proven time and time again to be an extremely effective way to grow a business.
If you’re not convinced, then you might be doing something wrong. In fact, there are several common mistakes that many people make with their email marketing strategies that may seem minor but have disastrous effects.
It’s important to realize that there is no perfect email template, but there are some mistakes that should be avoided at all costs. We’ve compiled five of the most common mistakes business owners make when crafting and implementing an email marketing strategy.
Too Many Words
A classic mistake in email marketing is using too many words and having too much text per email. People are overloaded with emails everyday, so trying to pull them in with — when your email recipients see how many words are on an email, they are more likely to ignore or even delete it than to check out the information.
“Instead, your only goal should be to elicit a response — and you can do that with just four-to-five sentences,” recommends , contributor to Entrepreneur. “Keep your emails short and to the point. Don’t write too much.”
The Car Salesperson Pitch
People recognize when they are being marketed to and it can often leave a bad taste in their mouth to be aware of an email sender’s true intentions. When a potential buyer reads something that is packed full of sales terms and pitches, they are likely to lose interest — and respect — rather quickly.
Email recipients want to feel as though you are sending them information that is beneficial to them. If all they recognize is your desire to gain their support or funding, they’ll feel a lot less willing to engage.
“You may think you’re sounding intelligent and impressive, but you only come off as stiff and formal. Instead, write as if you’re simply talking to a friend,” says Wayshak. “Take out any buzzwords, fancy language or “sirs” and “ma’ams.” Simply be yourself, and you’ll be much more likely to get a response.”
Failing To Add Value
Readers sign up to receive emails because they expect to receive something of importance to them. If they don’t see anything that is useful that has the potential to improve or enhance their lives, why should they read on? A bored reader is the most likely to unsubscribe.
As well, a common email marketing mistake is to forget to add a call to action (CTA). Without a clear, concise, , readers are less likely to understand the value of the email and the next steps they could be taking to learn more or invest in the information.
“Stand out from the never-ending stream of emails in your prospects’ inboxes by offering something of real value. What’s actually useful in their world? Maybe it’s a free ebook, online assessment or relevant article,” says Wayshak. “These are all great items to include in your prospecting emails to help boost your value.”
No Email Personalization
Personalization isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a marketing strategy that can make a big difference when it comes to engaging an audience and trying to elicit a response. If your emails have no personalization, readers will assume they have received a standard, generic template and will quickly disregard your message.
“Instead, write very personalized emails, with details like the recipient’s first name and company to show that you’ve done your homework and care about them — individually — as potential customers,” says Wayshak.
No Hooks
If your email has nothing that grabs a recipient’s attention, it will be almost impossible to get them to act. Both the beginning and the end of your email should include something that will pull your reader forward. Remember that the quality of your writing is crucial to grabbing your readers’ attention and enticing them to read on. Make sure that all email content is extremely well written, taking into account grammar, spelling, punctuation and attention-grabbing leads.
“Instead, end every email with a question that prompts a reply. A short question like, “Does this make sense in your world?” or “Where should I send this book?” will make it easy for your prospect to hit reply and type out a response,” says Wayshak. “That’s exactly what you’re looking for.”
If you are failing to connect with your prospects and you aren’t seeing any return on your email marketing efforts, it might be time to shake up your strategy. This could mean reviewing your techniques, evaluating your data and adapting your campaigns to increase their effectiveness. Strengthen your strategy and reap the benefits of improved ROI and customer acquisition rates by eliminating these five common email marketing mistakes.