There are a lot of things that can go wrong with email marketing -- broken links, typos, unoptimized images -- the list goes on. If we step away from this detail-oriented mindset, however, we can understand and fix some of the bigger issues that are likely holding our email marketing campaigns back.
That's why David Meerman Scott has identified five deadly sins of email marketing. Read carefully, and make sure you avoid these awful email marketing mistakes!
1. Database Fails
There is nothing more painful than seeing “Dear <First Name>” as the greeting in your email instead of your real name. Oftentimes, this is a result of bad marketing automation and puts an emphasis on the lack of authenticity on the sender’s side. Make sure you are correctly mapping labels (First Name, Last Name, Company Name) to their values. Otherwise, you risk disappointing your community and losing email recipients.
2. Being Boring
“There is no rule that says that when you do email marketing, you have to be deathly boring,” says David. Instead, use exciting language and try to pique people’s curiosity with humor, controversy, or data. “Be somebody who tells a story,” adds David. Grab the reader's attention with the very first sentence by referring to data or something funny, controversial, or newsworthy.
3. Sending Product Information
There are too many organizations that only send emails about themselves and about their products or services. “If you try to tell a story, email marketing can be so much better,” David says. Make sure your messages deliver value to recipients.
Interestingly enough, this is true for other aspects of marketing—presentations, blogging, press releases, social media updates, etc. For all of them, you have to develop a voice that represents your brand and resonates with humans. Try telling stories about successes or failures in your industry. Or consider responding to frequently asked questions with hypothetical situations that can be helpful to your community.
4. Being Narrow-Minded
So many emails are all about selling. That is the only goal in mind, which is a very narrow-minded approach.
Your email communication can actually have different goals—it could serve to spread announcements; help people with a common, industry-specific challenge; or extend new opportunities to an existing community of followers.
“Send emails that educate,” David advises. If you're a sporting goods manufacturer, for instance, don’t just send emails that sell your equipment. Instead, try to teach people new techniques when it comes to working out.
5. The Same Ol’ Timing
Don’t follow blindly how others in your industry are timing their email marketing. Test different times and days and, most importantly, do some counter-competitive timing. “Why not try something on, say, Friday morning?” asks David. Sending emails on weekends can actually bring you some high click-through rates and is something worth experimenting with.
What are some of the email marketing mistakes you have made and learned from?
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Jenn Staz 7:52 PM on November 15, 2011
Nice post. I'm afraid I'm guilty of Dear "Salutation" - huge bummer! I really like your idea of telling a story instead of selling. More emails like that in my inbox would result in more brand interest from me!
Mint 8:02 PM on November 15, 2011
Love the "tell a story" idea too! Another great opportunity to connect with prospective and current customers. Thanks!
Mitt Ray 11:05 PM on November 15, 2011
Thank you for the tips Magdalena. I really like the last one - trying out different days and timings, as everybody will have a different audience, who will prefer different days and times. - Mitt
David Meerman Scott 9:57 AM on November 16, 2011
Mitt -- try a Saturday or a Sunday!
Jayesh 12:24 PM on November 16, 2011
Great tips for email marketing....!
Matthew 4:49 PM on November 16, 2011
Not being soley focused on sales is a very good point. I find that I am a lot more open to information and education before being sold to. I.e., why it will benefit me as opposed to why I should have it now
Mitt Ray 5:22 PM on November 16, 2011
Hi David - Thank you for the tip. I have actually tried Saturdays and Sundays and it does work quite well. I used to post twice a day, everyday on my blog on white papers http://imittcopy.com/Thewhitepaperblog/ That was when I started sending them on the weekends.
The opening rate and the click rate were actually quite good. I think it's because very few people send newsletters on the weekends. You normally receive very few emails on the weekends.
Jay 12:11 AM on November 17, 2011
It's amazing how often mistakes like Dear happen. The problem is always a lack of testing.
Running email campaigns through spam filter tests and delivery tests before sending is always a good idea as well. We recently had a client that was a little too cute with the wording of a link and their email was flagged as spam or filtered out at several email service providers. Testing before is essential.
OpenMyVideo 12:09 PM on November 17, 2011
To take it a step farther, your ideas can apply to the even bigger picture of video emailing and video marketing. Planning, testing, telling a story--it all holds true. We admit we've been slow to break from the old "send it on Tuesday moring" adage, but it is time to try the more unexpected arrival times, like weekends--especially now that everyone's checking mail all the time and everywhere. Thanks for a helpful post.
Susan BizziBiz 1:21 PM on November 17, 2011
Great email marketing tips. Being boring is the worst in an email. It is important to make sure that you engage your customers.
archon 7:31 PM on November 17, 2011
From my own experience, selling educational software I know that email marketing is the most effective marketing strategy out there. It takes really little time to set up and it offers the biggest return for your investment.
All you need is a good email template to get those who receive your to open it and be interested in its content and you also need a good email database with opt-in email addresses. I get mine from http://www.emaillistus.com/public-schools-principal-email-list-addresses.html and so far it is as good as it gets.
Tiffany Brown 12:43 PM on November 18, 2011
Thanks for posting this article! However, what do you suggest when you work for a large, global firm that uses direct email (that customers have opted in to receive) focused on selling ... in my case, commercial real estate investment properties. If people want information about properties, its hard to get creative when all they really want is the basic information (photo, price, details on where to find more info, etc.) Time of day is also limited since it's usually something we would send during normal business hours. Telling stories might be appropriate, but it's more about presenting the facts rather than trying to "sell" a spin on something.
Sue Reddel 2:15 PM on November 18, 2011
Thanks for the post. We'll definitely give the weekend a try. We typically send out our weekly newsletter on Thursday at 3am. We found that sending it in the middle of the night has increased our open rate. People do tend to open them when they first scan their email for the day.
archon 12:21 PM on November 23, 2011
I agree with you 100%.I speak from my own personal experience when I say that email marketing is the most effective marketing strategy out there. It takes only little time to set up and it has the biggest return for the money invested.
All you need is a good email template go get you potential new customers interested in to opening the email and a good email database with opt-in email addresses that you can gather on your own or purchase form an email list provider.
I buy my email lists from http://www.emaillistus.com/schools-email-list.html and so far it is as good as it gets.