Email marketing is one of the best ways to grow your business, regardless of your industry specialty. It is estimated that there will be 4.4 billion email users by the end of 2020, and this marketing strategy already has a whopping 4,400 return on investment.
There are plenty of benefits of running an email marketing campaign. When you engage with subscribers through email, you’ll generally see more sales and website traffic. The problem many marketers and business owners run into is they end up listening to bad advice. There are countless experts out there, and not all are created equal.
We want to explore some of the bad advice we have heard over the past few years. After explaining why the advice is hurting your business, we are going to look at effective alternatives.
1.“You Don’t Need to Send a Welcome Email.”
When you subscribe to a brand through their website, do you expect a welcome email? Most consumers expect some form of communication that verifies their subscription, in almost every case that is accomplished with a welcome email.
There are some “experts” who have suggested that welcome emails can appear spammy and unnecessary. If you think about it from the standpoint of two people, instead of a business and consumer, it seems rude not to acknowledge their subscription.
Imagine if a new person walked up and greeted you, and you turned around and walked away. Five days later, you see them at the park and smile warmly. They would feel confused due to the mixed signals, and consumers feel the same ways about companies.
When you’re creating an email marketing campaign, always create a welcome email where you thank the user for subscribing, give them a brief overview of what to expect, and provide contact resources for future questions. You don’t have to flood them with emails, but trust us, people expect to get at least one welcome email when they sign up.
2.“Mobile Users Don’t Matter. All Email is the Same.”
Another common piece of advice we hear is that mobile users don’t matter as it pertains to email marketing. The truth is, mobile users tend to make up around 61 percent of email opens across all platforms.
If you’re not optimizing your emails for mobile users, you could miss out on plenty of opportunities to connect with consumers. Luckily, there are several easy ways you can optimize your emails for people using their smartphones or tablets.
The first thing you’ll want to do is look at your design. Go easy on images and make sure that you add in alt tags, so subscribers know what you’re trying to display if the picture doesn’t show up. The key here is creating a simple and intuitive layout that’s easy on the eyes.
You’ll want to carry this same design over to your text. Make sure your headling is short and direct since most phones can’t fit most headlines on the screen. Your text paragraphs should be short, scannable, and free from fluff.
Finally, use a call to action button instead of a traditional link that goes back to your website. Big, clear, actionable buttons are considered more user-friendly based, and thus, more likely to see engagement from mobile users.
3. “Personalization Marketing is a Gimmick!”
Personalization marketing is a strategy where you take the individual needs of consumers and create campaigns to cater to each need. For instance, if you’ve ever added something to your Amazon shopping list but didn’t complete your purchase, you ended up with a follow-up email in a few days.
In many cases, these emails will feature other popular products purchased by people who bought the item the consumer put in their cart. The idea is if the products are related, there’s a better chance that the individual person will need more items in the same category.
Personalized email marketing also occurs when you send out customized newsletters with articles related to the products they’ve purchased. For example, if you were a marketer at an online pet store, you would want to curate a list of blog content specifically for dog owners.
Despite what some people say, personalized marketing is not a gimmick. Consumers have consistently shown us that they want personalized emails and interactions with businesses.
4. “Buy Email Lists for Fast and Effective Results.”
Have you ever heard a self-proclaimed expert tell you that buying email lists will help you grow your business? The truth is, buying and using email lists will result in damage to your reputation at best, and a career-ending lawsuit at worst.
Consumers want to receive email from businesses, but they have to decide to join your list actively. When you buy prepopulated lists with lead details, you’re asking for trouble. There’s a good chance that these people are exhausted. It’s far from likely that you’re the only business owner that has access to this personal information.
You’re not going to win anyone’s favor by purchasing their email address from an unethical source, then bombarding them with marketing emails.
Instead, focus on building organic traffic. You can boost your organic traffic by engaging with consumers on social media, writing guest posts for other businesses and publications, or by optimizing your on-page
Back to You
There are plenty of tactics you can use when growing your email list and business. The most important thing to keep in mind is that delivering value to your customers will guarantee your success. If you’re offering a product, service, or content that improves the lives of your target audience, you’re going to have a healthy email list.
It’s up to you to use the right tactics when engaging with these individuals. If you keep the following mistakes in mind the next time you’re working on your email marketing campaign, you’ll have a better chance of converting and retaining customers.
e-mail marketing laptop – DepositPhotos
