Feb 20th 2015

6 Biggest Email Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Part II

Yesterday we discussed our first three email marketing mistakes and they all involved list building and segmentation:

Mistake #1 - Not prioritizing email list building

Mistake #2 - Not Segmenting Your Lists

Mistake #3 - Not Using “Trip Wire” Marketing

Now lets turn our attention to the email messages themselves.   Most of the email marketing questions and help requests that we get from business owners are related to ineffective messaging.

Mistake # 4 - Weak Subject Lines

Remember, the entire goal of your subject line is to get customers to KEEP READING so invest the time to make it good!  Keep your subject lines short (50 characters or less)  and descriptive.   Here at Gainesville Marketing, we try to avoid using the word “free” as it is commonly used in spam filters and can cause your message to get labeled spam and never be seen.
Other words to avoid (according to a research study by MailChimp) are:

  • Help
  • Percent off
  • Reminder

These words tended to induce low open rates.

Mistake # 5- Content that is void of REAL value

Quite literally, your company’s brand is on the line every time you send an email communication. If you constantly send promotions that are of little relevance to the subscriber, they will be deleted and you will lose the subscriber.  Your brand takes a hit.
Think of your opening statement, your first 1-2 sentences, just like your subject lines.  The job of your opening statement is to pull the reader into your message.
Try starting your emails with:

  • A powerful question
  • Statistics or Facts
  • A big problem that they are facing

Follow your opening statement with strong email body copy that has one BIG theme.  Most people are trying to get through their email quickly, and by keeping your messages, simple, direct and focused on one main point you help your readers understand what you want them to know.
helpful tip: let your emails represent your personality... keep them real and remember, they should sound like YOU.

Mistake # 6 - Improper or weak linking

Good email messages have one overarching goal:  To get the reader to click through to the website.  Once they are there, you can share your full message, your offer or whatever you want without being in the confines of an email inbox.

Make sure that you provide multiple link options in various places throughout your email message.  I recommend having your “call-to-action” link close to the beginning of the message, towards the bottom and again in the P.S.
note: We use P.S. for many of our messages... because they work.
You also want to track each of these links individually.  This will help you understand how readers view your messages and which link areas are most effective.  This will help you boost click thru rates for future sends.  This is done easily if you use Google Analytics.  Here is Google’s unique URL builder tool

Avoid these 6 email marketing mistakes and you will be well on your way to high ROI email campaigns that build your business.