{"id":1000,"date":"2018-04-18T14:56:50","date_gmt":"2018-04-18T12:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.getanewsletter.com\/en\/?p=1000"},"modified":"2023-09-29T09:29:05","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T09:29:05","slug":"6-common-email-marketing-mistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/getanewsletter.com\/en\/blog\/6-common-email-marketing-mistakes\/","title":{"rendered":"6 email marketing mistakes you’re probably making (and how to fix them)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s face it: at some point or another, we\u2019ve all been guilty of these email marketing mistakes. The good news though: most of them are really easy to fix, and – with a little determination on your end – eradicating them can work wonders for your conversion rates. <\/span><\/p>\n

Email marketing mistake #1: Not segmenting your email lists <\/span><\/h6>\n

Do you remember my last post about <\/span>good<\/i><\/b> subject lines<\/i><\/b><\/a>? And what did I say? Make sure your emails are <\/span>relevant <\/i><\/b>to your target audience. And how can you be relevant if you\u2019re trying to hit everyone with a <\/span>one-size-fits-all email?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The truth is: there\u2019s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all newsletter. In the same way, as you don\u2019t send the same birthday wishes to your boss, grandma, best friend, and your boyfriend<\/strong><\/em> – you should not send the same email to all your subscribers.<\/span><\/p>\n

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If you’re treating your email marketing like a war – you feel you need to drop as many emails at *everyone* you can as possible – you are going to lose it<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Segment your list<\/b> according to your <\/span>subscribers\u2019 <\/b>different<\/span> needs, interests, and personal profiles<\/b>. Segment them depending on <\/span>where you got their email from <\/i><\/b>– <\/span><\/i>they signed up for a <\/span>different reason<\/b>, so they expect <\/span>different content<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Segmenting by needs, interests, and profile <\/span><\/h6>\n

Imagine you\u2019re selling animal products online. Wouldn\u2019t it make sense to write <\/span>different emails to dog and cat owners?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Imagine you are a marketing coach selling online courses. You probably have a few different products you are offering to your customers: you sell <\/span>courses on email marketing and social media marketing<\/b>. You have a list of emails from clients that bought your online courses in the past. Sending information relevant to your client’s interest in the past (expressed, with where they used their credit cards on your website) is going to boost your conversions. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Segmenting by <\/span>where you got their email from<\/i><\/b><\/h6>\n

Let\u2019s continue with the marketing coach example. In order to show your customers value, you offered some freebies: <\/span>a free email marketing blueprint<\/b> and <\/span>a social media schedule worksheet<\/b>. Both could be downloaded from different landing pages with a sign-up form. Your subscribers expressed interest in a certain product at this point – don\u2019t send them something that is not related to their interest. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the only way to make your emails really <\/span>personal and relevant. <\/b><\/p>\n

\u2018But if I do that my email lists will be tiny!\u2019 <\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

So what? As Neil Patel said: <\/span>\u2018<\/span>If you are chasing quantity over quality when it comes to your email newsletter list, then you are wasting your time.<\/span><\/i>\u2019 It\u2019s better to have a small email list of engaged subscribers than a large list of dead souls. Read <\/span>Neils\u2019 post<\/span> on the possible consequences of having a large list with low engagement (hint: you may be blacklisted for spamming.) <\/span><\/p>\n

Email marketing mistake #2: Overusing images <\/span><\/h6>\n

We\u2019ve been told way too many times that \u2018an image speaks more than a thousand words. A big email marketing mistake that a lot of email marketers make is believing that attractive visuals are more important than good copy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Some newsletter senders like to even <\/span>replace their whole email body with an image <\/b>(containing text and all). \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The big fat problem with using images in newsletters is that <\/span>67% of email users<\/b> have <\/span>images in their email body disabled by default<\/b>.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

This means that what they see when they open your whole-image-as-body email is this:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Oooops! <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

…and because <\/span>an <\/span>average person spends only around 20 seconds<\/b>\u00a0reading an email, clicking this \u2018enable images\u2019 button may already be too much to ask of an impatient subscriber. (Who likes jumping so many hoops to read a bl**dy email?! Who?!) <\/span><\/p>\n

The irony is, some of my favorite-ever newsletters have no images in the body text at all. No fancy templates either. No cool fonts. Nothing. <\/span><\/p>\n

My favorite newsletter from a storytelling coach Jamie Jensen:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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My favorite newsletter *ever* from Jamie Jensen of https:\/\/thejamiejensen.com\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just *really great copy<\/em>* that speaks to me. Speaks my language. Makes me feel like the author really understands me and has written especially for me. That<\/span> tells a story.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Email marketing mistake #3: Not telling a story <\/span><\/h6>\n

…because you don\u2019t have a<\/span> plan<\/i><\/b> (yes, I will be hammering it home with every post: having an email marketing strategy is a key to your success!<\/strong><\/em><\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

If your newsletter sequence does not make sense when put together, it\u2019s like a really bad essay: messy, incoherent, and hard to read. <\/span><\/p>\n

If, however, your newsletter tells a story, your subscribers will be waiting for the next email the way they are waiting for the next episode of [<\/span>insert your favorite series<\/span><\/i>]. <\/span><\/p>\n

You may probably look for an excuse now <\/span>\u2018<\/b>But I\u2019m running a really boring\/traditional\/ eCommerce business and I can\u2019t tell a good story about it!\u2019<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Not. True. <\/strong><\/p>\n

You can write a great story about <\/span>anything<\/span><\/i>. Screws. Sheep. Dog food. You just need to be <\/span>personal <\/b>and <\/span>passionate<\/b>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Think about your own \/ your customer’s personal story that involves the product or service you are selling. Sit down to write about it, without even thinking that you are writing a newsletter. Think about everything that is interesting about it: successes. Failures. Struggles. Wins. <\/span><\/p>\n

Email marketing mistake #4: Sending emails from a do-not-reply address<\/span><\/h6>\n

Do you like getting these spammy and salesy emails from some soulless marketing agency? One-sided communication you cannot even reply to? <\/span><\/p>\n

No? <\/span><\/p>\n

Well, neither do your subscribers. So always make sure you are sending your emails from a trusted address the recipients can reply to (e.g. <\/span>emilia@getanewsletter.com<\/span><\/a>, not donotreply@yourdomain.com)<\/span><\/p>\n

Email marketing mistake #5: Missing out on email marketing funnels<\/span><\/h6>\n

So, you made sure your newsletter is relevant to the subscribers, it doesn\u2019t excessively rely on images they won\u2019t see anyway, and it\u2019s well-thought-through in advance and tells a compelling story. <\/span><\/p>\n

Your subscribers love it. <\/span><\/p>\n

But so what if you have not included any email marketing<\/a><\/span> funnels, calls to action, or links to your social media in it?! <\/b><\/p>\n

They read it and then <\/span>nothing happens. <\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

For your newsletters to <\/span>convert <\/i><\/b>you need to give your subscribers an opportunity to do something after reading the email: <\/span><\/p>\n