When it comes to email marketing, there are so many mistakes that I see people make that could easily be avoided.
And in this article, I’ll be going over some of the most common mistakes that I see and simple and straightforward ways to avoid them and kickstart your email marketing journey.
Let’s get started –
Making your emails too long
Unless you’re an incredible copywriter who can get the readers to read your entire email, then you can skip this section (And this whole post for that matter…)
But if you’re not, then keep reading.
One thing I’ll see is people creating 1,000+ word emails that people probably won’t read…
Yes, there are exceptions, but you have to remember, people are busy and may not have the time, patience, or focus to read 1,000/2,000+ emails.
As Larry Niven says –
“It is a cardinal sin to bore the reader”.
And if you’re creating long emails, there’s a very high chance that you might do just that…
So, if you want to avoid your readers looking like this –
Then make sure you’re doing yourself a favor by making you opt for making your emails too short rather than too long.
Personally, I like to aim between 250-350 words for my emails.
Because remember – it’s far better for your subscribers to be wanting more from you than to get disengaged halfway through and click off your email.
Spammy subject lines and email contents that could trigger the spam filter
An easy way to get your emails landing in spam or not reaching the intended subscribers is to include email subject lines and email contents that will trigger the spam filter.
Because each niche has a set of words, phrases, and symbols that will 100% trigger some kind of the same filter.
We’ll use the Make Money Online niche for this example.
If you’re writing emails for this niche, it’s best to use the following phrases in moderation –
- “Financial freedom”
- “Credit Card accepted”
- “Explode your income”
Now, I’m not saying if you use these phrases once, it’ll result in landing in spam, but if you’re overdoing it, it will trigger the spam filter which could affect your email deliverability rates.
And if you want to get a deeper understanding of how to improve your email deliverability – you can click here where I’ve created a whole blog post detailing how to do so.
Not including a CTA
How do you expect to make sales or get the reader to take the desired action if you don’t tell them what to do?
If you want the reader to do something, make sure you include a clear call to action and specifically say what they must do.
Otherwise, it won’t get done, I can guarantee this to you.
So make sure you inform the reader what is going to happen when they click on the link and what is going to happen after.
A simple tip but it makes the world a difference when you make it as clear as possible for them.
Including Too Many CTA's
You may think that including lots of different CTA’s will improve your results…
But this is definitely not the case. If you want the reader to take a desired action, only have CTA’s specifically for that one thing.
Because if the reader has too many options, they may not make a decision at all…
Google ‘What is the Paradox of Choice’, and you’ll have a better understanding of this.
Not having a golden thread throughout the email
This is a mistake that I would make when starting out.
With your emails (and any copy in general), it’s important to have a theme and thread you follow throughout.
A lot of people who write emails will jump from idea to idea and the copy can seem a bit all over the place (Causing the reader to disengage and ultimately click off).
So instead, your copy should flow from line to line and take the reader down the page, all the way to the call to action.
Emails that are boring
I’ve said this earlier in this post but a lot of people who own email lists send out emails with the hope to give loads of ‘Value’.
But sometimes, the ‘value’ that people try to give is usually boring…
Because here’s the truth – people prefer stories, rants, infotainment, and everything in between.
Sending emails like this is guaranteed to make the readers more engaged and willing to read your entire email.
As the famous Steve Jobs once said –
“The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values, and agenda of an entire generation that is to come…”
And if you want to learn more about this, you can check out my post on ‘7 Evergreen Newsletter Ideas.
Or you can check out my ‘copywriting research process’ that will hello you brainstorm ideas for your email list.
Not having any email sequences set up...
Email sequences are a must for everyone who owns an email list.
Especially something like a welcome sequence (arguably one of the most important sequences that you can have set up).
And it doesn’t have to be overly complicated either.
A simple welcome sequence can do wonders for your business because it allows you to explain to your readers who opt-in for your list to know who you are, what you plan to send them, and what they can expect from you.
And I like to use my welcome sequence as a disqualification for new subscribers…
Here’s what I mean:
In my initial welcome sequence email, I like to emphasize the fact that I’ll be emailing and selling to them a lot.
So, if that’s something, they don’t want to unsubscribe straight away.
Here are some email sequences that you can set up:
> Welcome sequence (Most Important)
> Post-purchase email sequence.
> Winback email sequence (For cold subscribers)
> Retargeting email sequence: If someone has clicked on a link, you can retarget them and try to persuade them to take whatever the desired action was as you know they’re interested.
Not all of these are necessary for every kind of business, but if you’re to set up one, make sure you set up a welcome sequence.
Creating Poor Subject Lines
Your subject line is arguably one of the most important parts of your whole email.
The aim of the subject line is to get the click, and if you don’t get the click, the email that you take time to painstakingly create won’t even get read…
So here are a few tips on creating –
- Evoke the emotions of curiosity in your subject line. There’s a quote by Ben Settle that says – “Curiosity overrides programming”. And it’s true, people can’t help themselves from finding out a question you’ve set up in their mind.
- Split test subject lines. It’s hard to say what’s going to work and what won’t and the only way to find out what works is by letting your list decide.
Another point worth mentioning is that if you’re consistently mailing your list, the subject lines will become less important as your readers know like and trust you…
Usually, you’ll get to a point where your subject line could be anything and it’ll get opened because of the reputation you’ve built.
But this only comes after months, maybe even years, so best not to rely on this and focus on creating eye-catching emails.
Analyze those subject lines and try to reverse engineer the reason why you opened them.
Using too many graphics in your emails
A couple of pictures in your emails are not too bad.
But if they’re filled with images, don’t be surprised when your emails begin landing in the promo tab and taking ages to load for the people that do open your emails.
Doing this on a consistent basis will no doubt tank your deliverability and as a result, affect results.
Only emailing once a week (Or worse, once a month)
This is arguably one of the biggest and most common mistakes that are easiest to avoid –
And it’s not mailing your list enough.
Mailing your list once a month or even once a week isn’t enough, especially if you want to be getting results from your list.
Personally, I think you should be mailing your list as much as you can (5x a week) and at a minimum 3x a week.
It’s fairly basic marketing principles… The more eyes on your offer, the higher the probability someone will buy.
So, if you’re unsatisfied with the number of sales you’re getting from your email list, the answer is simple – send more emails.
Not maintaining basic list hygiene practices
This is a pretty big one that I don’t see a lot of people doing and it doesn’t have to be complicated either.
It’s inevitable that some of your subscribers will go cold and stop opening your emails.
But you want to stay on top of this because cold subscribers can turn into spam traps if you consistently send emails to someone who doesn’t open them.
An easy way to get around this is by doing the following –
- Setting up a win-back email series for cold subscribers and if they don’t reply, they get removed from your list.
- Segmenting your list based on behavior and engagement (Only applicable to larger lists 10k+). Doing this allows your subscribers to have a more personalized experience and will no doubt help improve deliverability.
- Mailing your list regularly. Doing this will allow you to see results at a quicker rate and address any problems that you might not have otherwise realized.
Doing the above doesn’t take much work but it can pay dividends down the line.
Not using the correct email software
I’ll see people all the time making it unnecessarily hard for themselves…
Using clunky old software that makes their job 100x harder than it already has to be.
So, here’s what you should be using to make the whole process as easy as possible for yourself –
ActiveCampaign – If you’re someone who wants all the bells and whistles, automation, and a CRM for your business, then ActiveCampaign is your best bet.
ConvertKit – Perfect for anyone who has an audience (Think Youtuber, blogger, author, podcaster, etc). If you want to learn more you can read my ConvertKit review by clicking here.
MailerLite – If you’re working on a budget, MailerLite has one of the best free plans out there. Check out my full review here if you want to find out more.
GetResponse – Ideal for anyone who wants’s to do a lot of affiliate deals in their email marketing.
And if you want to learn more about some of the above software, make sure you check out my ConvertKit Vs ActiveCampaign review.
Final Thoughts
I hope you’ve found this article helpful.
If you avoid the above mistakes in your email marketing journey, I can guarantee you’ll be head and shoulder above your competition.
Remember, those small mistakes that you don’t think matter add up over time. How you do one thing is how you do everything.
Get on top of your email marketing game and be the best in your niche.
If you have any questions, just leave a comment below and I’ll make sure I get back to you.
