29 Mistakes You Must Avoid In Your Email Marketing Campaign

Email Marketing Campaign Mistakes

Due to the amount of junk mail sent by unscrupulous people trying to scam people (as if spamming weren't enough, we have the scammers to contend with), ethical email campaigners and services are struggling to hit their real customers who have requested email updates and news.

Do NOT allow your email campaigns to look remotely close to scammers and spammers by avoiding the 13 "Do Not Do's"

• AVOID claiming high priority when your email is NOT high priority. No one died. Respect your clients by not insulting their intelligence.
• AVOID using an invalid reply-to address. Only spammers and scammers do that and you're not one of them (are you)?
• AVOID using ridiculous and vague subject lines. Have a catchy subject line but for Pete's sake, don't be "cute." You're a professional.
• AVOID " cc' or forwarding your email campaigns to everyone you have ever known since high school.
• AVOID not personalizing your emails. Get an email campaign program that will allow you to personalize your emails to your customers.
• AVOID confusing instructions or links that don't work. Take the time to have someone test your email for accuracy.
• AVOID not providing contact information: full name, company name, address and phone number, please.
• AVOID inserting promotional content in your email campaigns (if you can, at all, help yourself). The idea is to get your customers to your site!: "For more information, please visit http:____ .com."
• AVOID using dollar signs in the subject or message. Just don't do it. If you do, you can be sure you will satisfy your customer's suspicion, "uh, huh, here's the catch."
• AVOID sending huge images. For one thing, large images can take forever to load. For another, large images may exceed the size limits by an email client. Lastly, don't you want people to see the great images on your SITE?
• AVOID using incorrect html code in your email campaigns. Why not reserve html for your WEBSITE? In addition, html code is unreadable by email software/clients that is programmed to read "text only."
• AVOID assuming your email campaign looks the same in every email client. TEST your email campaigns on different email software or send to friends on different email providers. In addition, do not forget to:

  * Offer to open your email in HTML or plain text.

  * Test html coding. Pictures may not show up and make your email look unprofessional? Too many images and not enough text should be avoided.

  * Make sure that the path to an image goes to an image stored on the web---not on your local computer.

  * Avoid embedding ActiveX, scripts, video, and sound. People do not appreciate "uninvited guests" (applications opening up without their permission).

• AVOID not providing or forgetting the "opt-out/unsubscribe" link in your email campaigns.

What Else to Avoid in Bulk Email Marketing Campaigns

In addition to the above 13 things to avoid in email campaigns and marketing, pay close attention to these additional things to avoid in email campaigns and any email marketing service.

• AVOID forgetting to provide a double-opt-in. This means that you do not send email to people who have not specifically requested receiving your email. Additionally, bulk email services require opt-in and opt-out links be in each email sent.
• AVOID sending bulk email during the holidays. I know: you think what a better time to advertise product and service sales. However, every other marketer is also sending their email during the holiday season and your emails could get automatically deleted. Why? Because during the holidays, people avoid reading the onslaught of email and automatically hit the "Delete" key.
• AVOID saving the "best information for last" in your email campaigns. Put the best information first and remember that people have a short attention span when reading email. This leads to:
• AVOID writing a novel, assuming what customers want to know, or including wrong or misleading information in your emails.
• AVOID breaking the laws of the land. At the very least:

* Your ISP can blacklist you and cancel your internet account.

* Your bulk email service provider can and will suspend or cancel or account---and possibly report activities to authorities.

* Customers may mark all your emails as spam and, therefore, never read them---ever---again.

* You risk prosecution by stealing or "harvesting" email addresses. This normally happens when using software that can "weed" through html code on web pages and find email addresses.

* You risk prosecution by sending offensive or pornographic content.

* You risk prosecution by spoofing; faking information in order to obtain (steal) personal and financial information from people for the purpose of illegal financial gain.

AVOID not testing ---or testing and not recording the results of emails. Not only test the quality of your email marketing efforts but also the effectiveness of the bulk email service as well.

AVOID not consulting with a professional or not reading literature on effective email marketing. Many bulk email services provide free literature to anyone who visits their website.

AVOID not researching customer reviews prior to using bulk email services.

AVOID not keeping your email list clean: pay attention to unsubscribed and "bounced back" emails and promptly REMOVE THEM.

AVOID purchasing suspicious full-right, leased, or rented email lists. Make sure you know how xyz obtained their email lists; only purchase or rent email lists if the source has a credible and strong track record of satisfied clients.

AVOID not having a schedule to send emails on a regular basis; not too often or not enough. Again, testing is needed to evaluate the frequency of when your emails go out through by bulk email service.

AVOID not revealing who you are. Let people know who you are and how and why they received your email.

AVOID inching toward stepping over the line by being over-zealous and impatient to make a sale. This behavior can lead to spamming (sending emails out too frequently) and could result in the cancellation of your account with your bulk email service provider.

AVOID not including something free. Give people incentive to stay on your list and reward them for taking the time to read your email by giving them something for free. This could be an e-book, free subscription to magazine for a limited time, or anything else simple but appealing you can think of to show your customers you appreciate them.

AVOID not providing a sense of urgency in your email campaigns. If you are sending emails to your subscribers on a regular basis, it is fine to lead them to a price break on a product or service on your website without nagging about it or (heaven forbid) putting in a PRICE with a dollar sign on the item within the email.

AVOID not providing reassurance of confidentiality, e.g., "We do not sell or rent lists to third parties" in your emails and on your website.

Building a long lasting email Campaign

By avoiding the above in your email marketing campaigns you will build a strong and long-lasting relationship with your customers and your bulk email service provider.

The people who pay attention to what to avoid in email marketing campaigns and email service provider agreements leads to trust, credibility, and consistency of their sales.
You can be one of them.

Email marketing campaign services worth investigating:

MailChimp

icontact.com

benchmarkemail.com

constantcontact.com

awebwer.com

getresponse.com

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