5 Common Mistakes of Email Marketing

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Key takeaways

• Keep emails short: aim for four-to-five sentences to elicit a response, avoid long blocks of text that get ignored or deleted.
• Avoid overt sales language: remove buzzwords and formal phrasing, write as if you’re talking to a friend.
• Add clear value and a CTA: give something useful (e.g., free ebook, online assessment, relevant article) and an attention-grabbing next step.
• Personalize every message: include the recipient’s first name and company to show you’ve done your homework.
• Use strong hooks and closings: start and end with something that pulls the reader forward, end with a question that prompts a reply.
• If you’re not seeing returns, review your techniques, evaluate your data and adapt campaigns. Eliminating these five mistakes can improve ROI and customer acquisition rates.

Introduction

Strategic email marketing has been proven time and time again to be an extremely effective way to grow a business. And if you’re not convinced, then you might be doing something wrong. 

In fact, there are several common mistakes people make while sending emails that seem minor but can have disastrous effects. 

It’s important to realize that while there’s no perfect email, there are mistakes that should be avoided at all costs. We’ve compiled five of the most common mistakes business owners make when crafting and implementing an email marketing strategy.

Too Many Words

A classic mistake in email marketing is using too many words and having too much text per email. People are overloaded with emails everyday, so trying to pull them in with long form copy simply isn’t effective. When your email recipients see an overwhelming amount of text on an email, they’re more likely to ignore or even delete it than to check out the information.

“Instead, your only goal should be to elicit a response — and you can do that with just four-to-five sentences,” recommends Marc Wayshak, contributor to Entrepreneur. “Keep your emails short and to the point. Don’t write too much.”

The Car Salesperson Pitch

People recognize when they’re being marketed to and it can leave a bad taste in their mouth to know an email sender’s true intentions. Consequently, when a potential buyer receives an email packed with sales terms and pitches, they’re likely to lose interest — and respect — rather quickly. 

Email recipients want to feel as though you’re sending them information that benefits them. As a result, if all they recognize is your desire to gain their support or money, they’ll be much less willing to engage.

“You may think you’re sounding intelligent and impressive, but you only come off as stiff and formal. Instead, write as if you’re simply talking to a friend,” says Wayshak. “Take out any buzzwords, fancy language or ‘sirs’ and ‘ma’ams.’ Simply be yourself, and you’ll be much more likely to get a response.”

Failing To Add Value

Readers sign up to receive emails because they expect to receive something that is important to them. If they don’t see anything useful with the potential to improve or enhance their lives, why should they read on? A bored reader is the most likely to unsubscribe. 

As well, a common email marketing mistake is to forget to add a call to action (CTA). Without a clear, attention-grabbing CTA, readers are less likely to understand the value of the email. As well, they won’t know the next steps they could be taking to learn more or invest in the information.

“Stand out from the never-ending stream of emails in your prospects’ inboxes by offering something of real value. What’s actually useful in their world? Maybe it’s a free ebook, online assessment or relevant article,” says Wayshak. “These are all great items to include in your prospecting emails to help boost your value.”

No Email Personalization

Personalization isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a marketing strategy that can make a big difference when it comes to engaging an audience and trying to elicit a response. If your emails have no personalization, readers will assume they have received a standard, generic template and will quickly disregard your message.

“Instead, write very personalized emails, with details like the recipient’s first name and company to show that you’ve done your homework and care about them — individually — as potential customers,” says Wayshak.

No Hooks

If your email has nothing to grab a recipient’s attention, it will be almost impossible to get them to act. Both the beginning and the end of your email should include something that pulls your reader forward. Remember that the quality of your writing is crucial to grabbing your readers’ attention and enticing them to read on. Make sure all email content is extremely well written, taking into account grammar, spelling, punctuation and attention-grabbing leads. 

“Instead, end every email with a question that prompts a reply. A short question like, “Does this make sense in your world?” or “Where should I send this book?” will make it easy for your prospect to hit reply and type out a response,” says Wayshak. “That’s exactly what you’re looking for.”

If you’re failing to connect with your prospects and aren’t seeing any return on your email marketing efforts, it might be time to shake up your strategy. This could mean reviewing your techniques, evaluating your data and adapting your campaigns to increase their effectiveness. Strengthen your strategy and reap the benefits of improved ROI and customer acquisition rates by eliminating these five common email marketing mistakes.

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