Top 5 Email Marketing Mistakes Made by Beginners

Many beginners struggle with email marketing

Email marketing might not feel like the most up-to-date strategy, but it is still among the most effective. When it comes to building long-term relationships and converting prospects into buyers, email marketing gets consistent results. Email also has the added benefit of being easy to handle, particularly when you make use of a quality autoresponder service that does most of the heavy lifting for you. However, there are a number of rookie mistakes that, if not addressed, can harm relationships and conversions.

Sending Infrequent Emails

Everyone starts off with the best intentions, but it is easy to break the habit of sending regularly scheduled emails. If you want to develop a good relationship with subscribers, consistency is vital, particularly with the number of emails that are received each day by potential customers. When you stop sending emails, subscribers will forget about you and you have to waste time and effort sending follow-up emails to re-engage your audience. Thankfully, autoresponders allow to you cue up emails for a particular time and date, or even to schedule them based on when a person subscribes, so you can create a number of messages according to your calendar.

Too Many Sales Pitches

Sending regular emails is a worthwhile habit to build, but it can be an issue if you are constantly promoting. Some marketers like to promote something in every email they send, which can be effective if they have a constant influx of new subscribers. But relentless promotion can burn out your list. When subscribers start to realize you are always pitching, they will either unsubscribe or just stop opening your messages. Make sure you include content emails and great storytelling with your promotions, and mix up your content by occasionally directing people onto your blog or video posts.

Poor Subject Lines

The subject line is the first thing your subscriber will see, so it has to be interesting, enticing or intriguing. Many people have an inbox full of unread messages competing to be opened, so the first task is to get them to open the email. However, using dishonest tactics — such as mentioning things that don’t appear in the main email — can destroy your credibility with an audience. Use questions, reasons, benefits, news, intrigue and urgency to craft your subject, making sure it is clear, punchy and focused.

Ignoring List Segmentation

Without segmenting your list, you won’t be sending the right messages to the right people. Many marketers have a single list, with each person receiving the same message. However, not everyone on your list will be at the same point in your marketing funnel. If a customer purchases a product from you, you should add them to a new list for buyers. Your list of buyers will probably be smaller than your main list, but it will make considerably more money. When you first start list segmentation, you might be tempted to try and create many different lists, but it is worth trying to keep it simple initially to avoid an excessive workload.

Not Making Use of Analytics

A quality autoresponder service will offer you many analytics options, but many people don’t appreciate their full potential. Analytics will allow you to split-test two different messages to see which worked best, so you could experiment with a smaller segment of your list before most of your subscribers see the better email. You can also see which link was clicked the most, who opened your messages and which headline got the best response. This data can be particularly effective when you are setting up an email series. As enough people go through the entire series, your analytics will tell you what worked, so you can optimize the process for highest conversions.

It is possible to build your business around effective email marketing, but by making the aforementioned mistakes you will be hampering your results. Email marketing needs to be carefully managed, from the data analysis to the content you send your subscribers, so it is worth getting these things right from the start. When you have mastered the basics of email communication, your business will have a solid core from which to grow your status.