Most marketers understand the basics of an optimized marketing email, such as segmented lists, personalization, and a call to action. These basics are great first steps to creating successful marketing emails. However, if you’re looking for better results from your marketing emails, you might consider more advanced marketing techniques. Read below for a list of common email marketing mistakes that even smart marketers make. Avoiding these mistakes can help bring your email marketing strategy to the next level.

1. Repetitive Sender Name

When every email a customer receives from you has the same sender name, either the same person or simply your company name, it can get repetitive. Changing the sender name for different emails can help make your emails seem more interesting which will increase their open rates.

Consider using “friendly froms,” which are variations of your sender name that appear more friendly and inviting to recipients. For example, instead of sending every email from John Smith or Mr. John’s Pizza, try variations such as “John at Mr. John’s Pizza,” “Mr. John’s Pizza Customer Service Team,” or “Mr. John Himself.” Using this type of variation can help keep your emails fresh and encourage recipients to open them.

2. Boring Subject Lines

Many people make the mistake of assuming that the subject of an email should simply describe its contents. This idea might be true of your work emails, but the same does not hold true for marketing emails. The purpose of the subject of marketing emails is simple: get recipients to open your email. Consider using elements that will stand out in recipients’ inboxes, such as capital letters, emojis, and short subject lines. Attention-grabbing subjects are important, but you should also be careful to avoid phrases that might flag your message as spam, such as “money back guarantee,” “buy direct,” or “as seen on.”

3. Auto-Populating Your Preview Text

Preview text is the short amount of text that appears below your subject line in your recipient’s inbox. If you allow the email server to auto-populate your preview text, it will use the first few lines of your email. However, if you allow this text to auto-populate, you are giving away previous space to improve the open rates of your emails. Instead, you should use this space to add compelling text that will encourage recipients to open the email. Keep the text short, avoiding the chance to be cut off by ellipses, and give readers insight into the content of the message.

4. Too-Professional Copy

As a business professional, it’s normal to want to maintain a level of professionalism in your emails. It’s true that you shouldn’t include excessively informal language in your emails. However, copy that is too professional will be boring. Instead of opting for professional language, you should develop a distinct voice that you use throughout your emails. This voice should be friendly and compelling to keep your readers interested and excited about the content in your emails.

5. Too Many Emails

A successful email marketing strategy involves regular emails that maintain a connection with your subscribers. However, you should never bombard subscribers with emails. 69% of email users unsubscribe from email lists because they get too many emails. To avoid having your recipients unsubscribe, you should send emails regularly, but not so frequently that they feel like spam. If you guaranteed a frequency when your subscribers signed up, you should stick to it. If you make any changes to the frequency in your emails, be sure to let your subscribers know why.

6. Image-Only Emails

Many marketers make the mistake of sending image-only emails. Some people choose this option because it is easy to format an image and make it look good. However, image-only emails are very difficult to load. Often times, images will not show up at all, as many email servers require users to opt into the ability to view images. Image-only emails are often very difficult to view on mobile devices as well, forcing readers to zoom in and out trying to get the full view of the image. Although image-only emails ease formatting concerns, they will cause more problems than they will solve.

ImageWorks, LLC | CT Email Marketing

If you're looking to generate leads, engage with your customers, or promote a brand, service, or product, you may want to develop a strategic email marketing campaign to educate and influence your prospects. ImageWorks, LLC can work with you to improve your current marketing plan, overcome your challenges, achieve your goals, and meet deadlines. By creating content specifically designed to appeal to your dream customers, you can attract qualified prospects to your business and keep them coming back for more. We cover each and every step taken, tool used, and lifecycle stage to help assist the customer, effectively helping to empower marketers to attract visitors, convert leads, close customers, and delight promoters.