As one of the marketing tools with the consistently highest ROI, email marketing remains a solid way to attract your target audience, drive brand awareness, and lift profits. When this form of digital marketing is done right — which, among other things, includes leveraging email automation and scheduling tools — it can be an absolute powerhouse for any business.
However, far too many companies make some easily avoidable email marketing mistakes, which ultimately can harm their conversion rates (and more). What are these mistakes, exactly? And what can you do to circumvent them? Keep reading to find out.
1. Not personalizing your email content
In a world where tactics such as account-based marketing (read this for some great ABM marketing examples) can be incredibly successful, it’s surprising that many businesses are still making the huge mistake of not personalizing their email content.
Try to put yourself in the shoes of one of your customers. You open your inbox only to find a series of impersonal, irrelevant, and badly timed messages. You’ll likely feel frustrated and probably won’t be willing to engage with that content or with those companies.
Customers know full well that, in this day and age, if a brand truly cares about its audience, it will provide them with content that’s entirely tailored to their needs, wants, and expectations.
So, how can you ensure that you don’t make this mistake? Below are some easy-to-implement tips to personalize your email content depending on the specific recipient.
Subject line
An email with a catchy subject line that resonates with the recipient and feels authentic is a must-have for any successful email marketing campaign. Importantly, customizing subject lines is something that businesses across all industries can — and should — do. It’s not the exclusive remit of fashion brands or video-streaming companies.
Even SaaS and tech companies can customize the subject line by, for example, turning something bland like “Discover the API meaning” into something that truly catches the attention of the reader, such as “Hey, Louise: What the heck are APIs, and how can they help you do your job better?”
Introduction
Aside from doing this in the subject line, you should also introduce your message by calling the recipient by their first name. This will instantly up the personalization level of the content while piquing the reader’s curiosity and enticing them to keep reading.
Main body
Now that you’ve hooked your reader, it’s time to demonstrate that you know your stuff — and you know that your recipient is interested in it. If you’ve segmented your email list correctly and gathered the required data on each segment, you should be able to craft a message that feels bespoke and almost unique.
Use data on your customers’ purchase behaviour, interests, lifestyle, pain points, and more to inform the content of your message and hit that all-important sweet spot.
Closing
Before you say a warm and personable goodbye to your recipient (once again, by using their first name), remember to always include a clear and compelling call-to-action (CTA). This will encourage them to take the action you want, whether it be to take advantage of a special offer, check out your newest product launches, or sign up for your next event.
2. Not sending welcome emails
Your customers are the lifeblood of your company — whether you run a small business or an enterprise, thanking your customers for simply being there and supporting your business should be almost second nature to you.
While you can’t send individually hand-written thank-you cards to each and every one of them, you can certainly use the power of email marketing to achieve the same result. How? With a welcome email series.
If your new subscribers don’t get a thank-you email straight after hitting that “sign up” button, then you need to remedy this as soon as possible. A thank-you email should come across as an authentic, informal, and personal message, as it will serve as a first step toward building a long-term relationship with your customers.
You don’t need to go crazy with the content — keep it short, simple, and sweet. Thank the recipient for signing up, briefly sum up what your brand is all about, introduce any perks they might be offered by being on the list, and — most importantly — provide value. Do this, and your customer retention management team will thank you for helping them boost customer satisfaction and loyalty!
3. Not including CTAs
As we mentioned earlier, before you close off your email, you should always add an easily recognizable call-to-action. What do you want the reader to do before they shut down their laptop or turn off their smartphone?
Whether it’s attending a cool event you’re putting on, checking out your newest product, or receiving a free trial of your social media scheduling tool, you need to make it crystal clear via an enticing call to action that stands out on the page.
Make sure the text you use is bold, the font colours are bright, and the size is large enough to pop up on the screen. You could even make it interactive — for example, by revealing a different word or visual every time the reader hovers over it.Just don’t use plain, dull wording like “Download now”, “Read here”, “Buy”, and the like — they’re simply not clever or funky enough to attract today’s savvy customers. You can even try out a few different versions of your CTA and then leverage the best email tracking software to work out which one drove the most conversions.
Key takeaways
Whether you’re looking to grow your business, launch your products into new markets, or give your email list a boost, mastering the art of email marketing is essential. To begin with, you’ll want to steer clear of the top three mistakes that we discussed in our article.
Remember, then, never to send an impersonal and generic message, skip a warm and engaging welcome email, or neglect those all-important CTAs. Once you’ve taken care of these three essential aspects, you’ll be well on your way to managing your email marketing like a pro.
