Online marketing has changed significantly over the past few years, yet email spam is still running rampant. In spite of hating email spam, many marketers are still guilty of relying on it. Spamming your contacts isn’t an effective way to reach them. Why would your lead click on an email you would delete if it came in your inbox? To create a successful email marketing campaign, avoid these common mistakes.
The Explainabrag
Your email needs to convey something of value. The explainabrag goes on for paragraph after paragraph explaining what’s great about your company. “Have you heard about our company? You should use us! We’re awesome! Our customers are happy, see here’s one now! You should be impressed! Here’s why everyone loves us!”
If this is all you’re saying in your email, the reader is going to delete your email faster than Walter from The Big Lebowski loses his temper. Your prospects don’t care about your accomplishments and your lengthy client list; they want to know how you can help them. Show them this and provide something of value, and your email will convert.
The “Call Me Maybe”
This email follows up after a trade show contact and says, “Hey, it’s great that we met at the tradeshow! Here’s my product. Give me a call, ok?” There’s no personalization, no connection with the prospect and no real call to action. You’ve jumped straight to the bottom of the marketing funnel without providing any value or creating need in the reader’s mind. Would that make you want to click?
All this email tells the reader is that you’re sending a mass email, you’re pushy and overeager and you don’t care enough to personalize your emails. Instead, nurture that trade show lead. Don’t jump right to the sales pitch. Grow that sense of trust until the lead needs to buy your product or service.
The Error Message
Your marketing emails are not something your contacts are highly motivated to read. Even if you have intentionally designed it and draw in a reader with your opening line and subject, errors in the email will cause them to click away.
If your email has an obvious error, like a misspelled name, image that won’t display, a broken link or, perhaps worst of all, a placeholder that’s not filled with a name, it won’t matter if it says the right things and is sent to the right people. As far as email marketing mistakes, this is the worst. It will brand you as unprofessional and lazy. Test, test, test and make sure that the email works.
The Ramble
What does your email say, exactly? If you go on for paragraph after paragraph about your company, what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, but never ask the reader for action, they’ll get frustrated and ignore you. Existing customers already know all of this, and potential customers don’t care.
Don’t ramble. Make your emails concise, to-the-point and productive, with a clear value and call to action.
In email marketing, you have just a few seconds to get someone’s interest. Once you have it, you have maybe a minute to turn that interest into a click. You can be effective, but only by planning your campaign well and avoiding these common pitfalls.
