There are almost 4 billion active email accounts in the world, so the verdict is that about half of the world’s population uses an email address. Even though email is often called old school and outdated, its user base surpasses that of all the mainstream social apps used today. For this reason, email marketing remains a strong contender in the world of digital marketing. Marketing through emails is among the most straightforward and productive strategies to attract actual leads, increase website traffic, and generate sales. However, if you are reading this, I am guessing that it did not bring you the results you hoped for. The thing is that email marketing definitely works, but only if you do it right.
The following practices are probably what led your email marketing campaign to failure:
1. No Welcome Email
The welcome email is the very first email you send to a new subscriber. This person has opted to receive newsletters or notifications from you, thus you should definitely acknowledge and appreciate it. The subscriber receives this email shortly after they sign up and it thereby sets the tone of your brand. You may think of it as the first impression and you should make it count. If said recipient has made a purchase, you may offer them a discount on the next; if not, provide an incentive to convince them, such as a free gift or free shipping on the first buy. If you don’t send out a welcome email, chances are that the subscriber will forget all about you soon after.
2. Only Focusing on the Subject Line
Subject lines are of utmost importance, but you should work on the entire preview text. It is hard to stand out or sound original with the subject line alone, so it helps to get the user’s attention with the next line as well, i.e. the first 100 or so characters of your email content. The average user aims to perceive the purpose of the email without opening it first, so keep them guessing or say something intriguing.
3. Bad Copywriting
It is getting harder and harder to distinguish between click bait and genuine marketing emails because spammers are getting smarter by the minute, whereas the ‘real deal’ businesses are running out of ideas. If your email looks promotional at first glance, the user is likely to report it as spam without even opening it. In some cases, legit emails do not even make it to the inbox folder. Email service providers have upgraded the screening system to make it stricter than ever. Your email content should be up standards to pass the no-spam test; this includes quality written content (void of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes), exclusion of certain spam trigger words, proper formatting (correct usage of headings, segmenting/paragraphs, headers & footers, etc.), and an acceptable image to text ratio.
4. Ignoring the Statistics
It is fundamental to monitor the success rate of your marketing emails and make adjustments accordingly. You may experiment with different approaches until you achieve a favorable ROI (return of investment). For starters, you need to know your audience and take note of their preferences. Timing and frequency are very important aspects of email marketing. For example, universal analytics suggest that the click rate of emails is highest on Tuesday mornings, but this is not true for all sorts of businesses and their audiences.
5. Getting too Fancy
A common misconception is that ‘the fancier, the better’. If you ask a digital marketing expert, they will tell you that minimalism is the new norm. HTML emails with their glossy images and complex layouts may look pretty, yet plain text emails have a higher click through rate. HTML based emails that take forever to load just become ugly nuisances. On the contrary, plain text emails lack the dreaded commercial persona, and they are easier on the eyes. This does not mean that you should subtract all the glitz and glam, but maybe take it down a notch or two.
6. No Personalization
Artificial intelligence is surely taking over the world, but people need a break from machines. Emails that sound like a robot reciting a sales pitch are destined for the spam folder. Improve the readability of your email content by making it sound like a conversation with an actual person. You may add interactive elements like gifs and memes to engage the recipient; the use of ‘emojis’ has proven to improve response rate as well.
7. CTA missing or far too many
A CTA (call to action) is a button or prompt that encourages a user to visit the sender’s web page, which may then lead to a sale. If a CTA is not present, the chances of generating a lead are extremely low. On the other hand, too many CTAs tend to confuse or annoy the recipient. Therefore, do not forget to add one CTA per email, and the landing page should be what the user expects.
8. Lacking Mobile Optimization
Digital marketing statistics show that a webpage or email content that is not compatible with the user’s screen is immediately rejected or deleted. Around 60% of modern email users access their inbox via phone app; hence, lack of mobile optimization will result in the loss of more than half an audience.