Raise your hand if you’ve received a really bad sales email in your inbox. I’m sure all of you are raising your hand right now. Raise your hand if you’ve received back to back emails from a company that you actually enjoyed reading. This one might have less hands, but there are still some raised. Now, raise your hand if you are confident that your email readers are raising their hands at the last two questions. Ah, a thought provoking question.
Here are more thought provoking questions- are you signed up for your competitors’ emails? Are you reading their messages and seeing how they are promoting themselves? Do you think your email readers are signed up for more than one email list in your industry? How can you change your message to stand out if that’s the case? Do you see many mistakes in other email lists you’re a part of?
Email marketing can be a powerful tool for you to generate a relationship with leads and clients. Sending content that your audience wants to read will help your engagement rates, and hopefully help you accomplish your goal with each email, whether that be visiting your website, booking a consultation, landing a sale, etc.
I always tell clients to write and create emails that you’d want to get in your inbox if you were your ideal client. Is the font hard to read? Are you using pictures that are generic? Is your call to action clear?
Here are 4 Mistakes to Avoid with Email Marketing
1) Not Proofreading
In my opinion, there is nothing more embarrassing than seeing something that has a grammar or spelling mistake in it. Before I publish any content whether it be email, social media, blogs, etc. I like to reread it twice before publishing. I’ll be the first to admit that grammar wasn’t my strongest subject in school, but trying to ensure that my spelling is correct is something that, thankfully Word can do for me!
If you’re creating content in a language that is not your native tongue, consider having someone who is fluent in that language review your work. In the long run, this will help your brand elevate to one that is sophisticated and well rounded.
Don’t forget that having a second language is incredible and you should be proud of what you are accomplishing. You are running a business in a foreign language and that is incredibly impressive. Make sure to own your awesomeness.
One tool to help you with proofreading is Grammarly. Check them out here!
2) Forgetting Links
We’ve all been there… writing “please see attached” and then forgetting the attached. There really isn’t a subtle way to add that attachment to the original email without saying something like, “well, I’m sure it would be helpful if I added the attachment...” There really is no easy way around this awkwardness other than, you guessed it, not forgetting the attachment!
The same goes for links. Just like in my earlier call to action for Grammarly, “Check them out here” it would be really awkward if I forgot to add in the link. This is why, it is super important to always check and double check that A) you have links where they need to be and B) The links take people who click on it to the correct place. Nothing better than thinking you’re sending a reader to an air filter website when they are really being sent to a hair filter website.
3) Having Generic Subject Lines
Are you tired of seeing the same subject lines like me? I think if I see another subject line with an emoji in it I might scream. There is nothing more “spammy” than getting an email with a poorly written subject line. I am more likely to open emails that are more plain and seem like they have a purpose than ones that are like- “TODAY’S THE LAST DAY!” “DON’T MISS OUT” “ARE YOU READY TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE?” “YOU WILL REGRET MISSING THIS.”
By having a full understanding of your client and how they want to be spoken to, you will have more knowledge on how to develop these subject lines. If you’re a spiritual entrepreneur you clearly don’t want to use inappropriate language in your subject line. Don’t think you can’t play around with your subject line, but just make sure to bring it back to being targeted to your audience.
There is so much advertising clutter right now that it can be difficult to break through the noise. Change the way your readers open emails. Change the desire for sales emails in your reader’s inbox. Make your readers excited to see when you pop up in their notifications.
4) Sending too Many Emails
You know what is super annoying? When I wake up and have three emails from the same company. Nothing annoys me more than having to clean out my inbox of sales pitches and content that doesn’t relate to me (especially when I never signed up for the emails in the first place). By sending too many emails, not only are you annoying the reader, but you can cause that reader to unsubscribe from your list.
You don’t want to be too pushy with your message, but at the same time you want to ensure that you are staying in someone’s inbox. It truly depends on your audience (do your market research about them and understand their wants) but I suggest sending out no more than two, maximum three emails per week. There are exceptions such as if you’re having a launch, sale, event, ect. and are doing a countdown, but again less can sometimes be more.
Remember that building relationships is about trust. Your leads will want to know about you and that you care, but give them space to make their minds up on whether or not they want to stick with your brand. Clients should have the ability to pick and choose without feeling guilty.
Don’t forget to clean out your email list every so often. You don’t want to waste your money and energy on people not engaging with your emails. Ideally, purchase an email service that lets you know how many people open your emails and even who engages throughout your email. See who is clicking on links and who spends the most time reading your email.
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