It might not be the priciest form of online marketing (PPC can firmly take that mantle, with some ridiculously inflated CPCs), but strangely enough email marketing happens to be one of the most profitable for businesses. It doesn’t cost a fortune to implement, while the ROI also tends to be exceptionally high.
Despite this, this isn’t a strategy that can come under the “set and forget” umbrella. On the contrary, email marketing still has to be done properly to work successfully, and through the course of today’s article we will pinpoint some of the most common mistakes that you need to avoid at all costs whenever setting up a campaign.
You don’t have a database
First thing’s first, make sure your database is in order before you get going. Without a decent pool of people to send to, it’s very difficult to measure your success and ultimately change your approach if it’s required.
This is one of the reasons why email marketing lists are so popular nowadays. These aren’t “general lists” either, they can be purchased as targeted lists which mean that you are contacting people who might genuinely be interested in your product.
You don’t have a timing strategy
The success of an email can sometimes come down to the time you decide to send it. Unfortunately, there’s no one-fits-all solution here. What works for one business certainly isn’t guaranteed to work for another, and this is where you need to test.
Start by sending your emails out at 9am every Wednesday, before gently switching to try 11am. Compare the results of both times and go from there. You might find that people open them more in the evenings, and ultimately, you’ll need to tailor your approach around this.
You direct users to the wrong landing pages
Even if you have perfected the above two mistakes that we have highlighted, there is still scope for things to go wrong.
This next point is all about where users go after they have clicked on an email you have sent. If you have got them to click the link, you’ve won half of the battle, but there is still plenty to do. You need them to convert, in whichever way you measure, when they land on your website.
Suffice to say, if you are sending them to an inappropriate page, all of that work in getting them to open, read and click through from your email has been for nothing.
You don’t keep a bad list
Finally, let’s talk about bad lists. Unfortunately, a lot of what you send out will not reach your intended recipient; it will get caught in all sorts of spam filters and cause you a real concern.
This is where your bad list comes into play. If you don’t have one of these, you are wasting a lot of emails, and you’ll also risk the wrath of email providers who are more likely to ban your address based on the fact that it bounces on so many occasions.
