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6 Terrible Mistakes of Email Marketing

by suip81
24 replies
Hi Fellow Warriors,

Email marketing is a very powerful marketing method in your business. When done right, it can mean subscribers opening your emails and purchasing your products or services. When you do it wrong, it can cost you subscribers, conversion and your trust.

Let's look at some of the deadly mistakes that you should avoid in email marketing.

  1. Long emails: Honestly, people don't have time to read long emails. They scare people and often they end up in trash folder. If you want to share information with your subscribers, write a blog post and provide a link to that post on your email.
  2. All CAPS Headlines: This is yelling at someone. Writing your headlines in all caps signifies you're a pusher. People don't like being forced to do things. Make your tone soft.
  3. Being General: People don't identify themselves with generic emails. You should be talking to your subscribers the way you talk with your friends. Be specific.
  4. Testing: Most marketers don't remember to test their emails before they send to their subscribers. Test your emails. See how it appears in your inbox. Check whether your links are working properly.
  5. Spammy headlines: People get discouraged to open headlines that look spammy. Avoid using strange characters and symbols such "$$$,#,>>,LOL..." Be accurate and informative in your headlines.
  6. Unclear Call-To-Action (CTAs) Buttons/ Links: Before you introduce your CTA, make sure you explain clearly what your reader should expect. Make your buttons or links enticing, clear and specific.

Basic mistakes may cost you time and your business. Avoid these basic mistakes.

What other mistakes do you think marketers make in email marketing?
#email #marketing #mistakes #terrible
  • Profile picture of the author jsyz426
    That is great advice suip81. More people should take a quick second and read this post. Then follow it. The people who don't follow these simple rules are just making things worse in the internet marketing niche for the rest of us.
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  • Profile picture of the author Yair Dolev
    Good advices. About the long emails, I don't really agree. I know a 7 figures marketer who ALWAYS writes long emails. So basically it's up to you and your writing style, it's true that most of the people wanna read short emails but heck if you can write long and good emails then I don't see any reason you shouldn't.
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  • Profile picture of the author Declan O Flaherty
    So I should stop writing long emails, eh?
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  • Profile picture of the author Shancock
    If the niche is something people are super passionate about I imagine you could keep their attention for quite a while, I often feel really disappointed when a good article on something I love ends short. I could read at LEAST a few pages, like a magazine would have. Also perhaps if you use a writing style that builds up to a long awaited climax, something that gets you hooked and leads you on for a while you 'gotta know what happens at the end' kinda thing. I suppose you could captivate cold traffic in that manner. Sometimes I find myself reading the dumbest things ever that I scroll by just because the curiosity of what happens. Even a bad joke captivates people until the punchline.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joseph Then
    I also don't quite agree with #1. I have written LONG emails and the open/click rates are still the same as the short ones. I also read long emails from other marketers and they told me that their conversion was actually HIGHER than the shorter ones.
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Originally Posted by suip81 View Post

    What other mistakes do you think marketers make in email marketing?
    How about posting general advice, at least one item of which is open to debate, and calling them "deadly mistakes"?

    Change "long emails" in #1 to either "long, boring emails" or just "boring emails" and you'd be on to something. Length, in and of itself, isn't a mistake. Boring is.

    Long, unbroken blocks of plain text, regardless of the content, are off-putting. But long emails, properly formatted with line breaks, sub-heading, bullet lists, etc., are just as accessible via email as they would be in a blog post with added advantage of not requiring an extra click.

    The rest of the list isn't bad, though.
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  • Profile picture of the author TraderAgency
    I also have ready some pretty long emails ( as long as I'm interested in the subject ) , I also think it builds a better relationship. For example, I'be been a subscriber to a commercial real estate mentor for several years now. And she does talk normal like a friend would, but her emails are always really long but over the past couple years it has almost felt as if she has created a relationship with me.

    If it get's uninteresting I just speed my reading up and scan through the rest to the offer or the point of the message.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by suip81 View Post

    people don’t have time to read long emails.
    Better just to speak for yourself, perhaps: my subscribers (across a wide range of different niches) have become subscribers directly or indirectly through liking "long content" - they particularly want long emails, and they sign up knowing in advance that that's exactly what they're going to get. Some of them are really easy to sell to, too: they just haven't bought from/through other marketers who sent them only short emails.

    Originally Posted by suip81 View Post

    often they end up in trash folder.
    Nope. It isn't usually email length that determines that, at all.

    .
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  • Profile picture of the author talfighel
    The biggest mistake you can make with email marketing and when you build your own list is that don't get new subscribers on a daily basis.

    Too many people build a list of let's say 200 people and then stop. The KEY to success with email marketing is to get FRESH AND NEW subscribers every single day.
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    • Profile picture of the author Angela Rose Weber
      The length of the email is dependent on your audience, are they cold, lukewarm, warm, or hot? Why are you emailing them? What do you want from them?

      Are you selling, prepping, informing, being friendly?

      Are you writing a slippery slope series or sending random affiliate offers?

      The more selling you need to do then the more words you need, and the more emails, generally. But each email has a goal and you write the precise number of words needed to meet that goal.
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  • Profile picture of the author jamescanz
    7) Not crafting, creating, or writing any type of email.

    This happens way too often :0
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  • Profile picture of the author xverify
    It is also important to be mobile ready. The email should be presented nicely both on the desktop and the mobile environment. The statistics are crazy with the amount of emails which are read via mobile and if your emails and websites are not mobile ready then that could be a huge reason you are missing opportunities.
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  • Profile picture of the author discrat
    Originally Posted by suip81 View Post

    Hi Fellow Warriors,

    Email marketing is a very powerful marketing method in your business. When done right, it can mean subscribers opening your emails and purchasing your products or services. When you do it wrong, it can cost you subscribers, conversion and your trust.

    Let's look at some of the deadly mistakes that you should avoid in email marketing.

    [LIST=1][*]Long emails: Honestly, people don't have time to read long emails. They scare people and often they end up in trash folder. If you want to share information with your subscribers, write a blog post and provide a link to that post on your email.
    Long emails have their time and place.


    Many of us provide email courses so do you think it would be prudent to write quick and staright to the point emails in this situation ?


    - Robert Andrew
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  • Profile picture of the author teeowl
    Let us define long emails please... how many words of content do we call a long email?
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    • Profile picture of the author Ghoro
      Originally Posted by teeowl View Post

      Let us define long emails please... how many words of content do we call a long email?
      Was wondering the same thing my self. On average what are people talking about when they say a long email? 1000, 1500, 2000 or more words?

      Obviously that number will vary person to person. However I'm pretty certain no one would say 400 words falls under the category of "long".
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  • Profile picture of the author Itzonly1mo
    So true- that why I keep it simple and use one main business for all my banner, ads, funnels etc. Don't make it harder for yourself!
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  • Profile picture of the author annewilliams123
    Call to actions Subject may help many times to read your mail by user.
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  • Profile picture of the author thet
    I am creating a standard e-mail for myself when I am cold calling and they give me the "send me some information" objection. I can tackle it, but I also want to send a great e-mail that they a. read b. get them to action.

    So thank you for this!

    More tips are helpful, I just made my own thread
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  • Profile picture of the author fulfilledlife
    I actually agree with the #1 rule about avoiding long emails.

    I think occasionally it is ok to send a long email. But, given the age of a mobile media when 60+% of subscribers open emails on mobile and when checking emails is one of the major favourite actives people do on their mobile devices is to check the emails, it makes sense to keep the emails short.

    As a general rule I try to keep my emails short, and if I need to send a long email I will usually split it into 2 emails and send 1 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon.
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  • Profile picture of the author pourien
    Thank you suip81 for your advice
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  • Profile picture of the author Cygnet Infotech
    Absolutely agreed!! And one more thing, not a catchy subject line. It impacts a lot. Actually this is the first thing they see and if it is not found interesting. No matter how perfect your email is, your efforts would go in vein!!
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    • Profile picture of the author totalyrecycled12
      Some realy good tips here but i agree i will always read a long email if it is interesting and gives good information but it has to be leading but not pushy and the offer or what ever they are promoting should be genuine.

      I am on a lot of differant email lists and have just been studing the style of emails i recieve I also hate headlins in Capitals and long winded boreing emails that just repeat themselves with differant words .
      I have recently unsubcribed to quite a lot of them now as most just send spammy things like youve got to read this now or click here and make your fortune then get taken to a spammy long winded video about a product that doesnt even explain what the product is then when you try to leave you get browser hijacked with about 10 pop us that you have to click on to leave. As soon as i get somthing like that from the people i follow they are instantly unsubscribed.
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