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Despite the explosion of social media marketing, email marketing is still a very powerful and effective way to grow your business.
A study by ExactTarget shows that 77% of consumers prefer to receive permission-based communications and sales messages by email. And according to Experiment, for every dollar spent on email marketing, there is an average return of $44.25.
Building a responsive mailing list can do wonders for your business but there are some misconceptions about email marketing that can cause you to lose your subscribers.
1. Not being consistent – Email marketing should be regular and consistent. Don’t send messages “sometimes” and expect to get a response. You need to send regular updates and information to your readers to appear credible. There are varying opinions on how often you should send your emails but consistency is the key. If you send your messages once a month, make sure to send one message every month. I have unsubscribed from many email lists because the newsletters and/or updates were sent so inconsistently. This tells me that the business owner is not committed to his business and therefore will not be committed to his customers.
2. Try to sell with every email – Don’t insult your readers by trying to sell something with every message or newsletter you send. Show your readers that you really want to provide them with useful information and resources. Your number one priority should be building a relationship with your readers and with that comes the sales.
3. Not encouraging participation – Building a relationship with your readers involves participation. Encourage them to participate by having contests, polls, Q&A etc. By connecting and interacting with your customers, you will create a bond with them that will do more for your business than email.
4. Not sending mobile-friendly messaging – More and more people are using mobile these days and you need to optimize your marketing to do so. According to TopRankBlog, 64% of consumers read their email on their mobile devices. You need to accommodate your mobile clients as well as standard computer readers.
5. Not Proofreading Your Message – You need to proofread your message or newsletter to make sure it is formatted correctly and is readable. Don’t assume that it will look good when shipped just because it looked good when it was made. Send it to yourself and a few other people to see how it will actually appear to your readers. Although your readers will overlook some things, you don’t want to send an email full of errors or badly formatted emails.
6. No Contact Information – Building a relationship with your readers is essential, but not keeping your contact information in plain sight is a good way to sabotage your efforts. Always include your name, business name and information in all your messages. Let people know who you are. If you are unwilling to provide your information to your customers, it is definitely suspicious and could be a death sentence for you and your business.
7. Not researching and writing an effective subject line – Don’t use “spammy” words and “hyppy” phrases in your subject line. Keep your subject lines short and to the point. Words like cash, buy, cheap, free and many more are known spam triggers. Use words that will give you a higher open rate and fewer unsubscribes as opposed to triggering spam filters. For example: use cheap instead of cheap.
8. No personality – Don’t subscribe to the misconception that your newsletters or email messages have to be all business and no drama. Add a little fun, humor and personality. I’ve been putting up a trivia challenge in my weekly email for several years now and this is one of my readers’ favorite messages. It is also a fun and interesting way for me to interact with my customers. Note: Make sure any humor or jokes are not offensive or inappropriate.
9. Not proofreading your messages or newsletters – Always proofread your own work and if possible get someone else to proofread it as well. It is very easy to make mistakes in reading your own writing. We all make mistakes as we go through our personal and professional lives but doing too much can backfire.
10. Never deliver – If you say you are going to offer this or that, make sure you do it. Once you start with false promises and offers, your customers will leave quickly and with good reason. You certainly can’t expect your readers to stick with you if they can’t trust you. Be there for them and make yourself available to answer questions and always deliver!
Some have said that email marketing is dead, but read the statistics and you will see that it is alive and well. Start your email marketing now and be sure to follow the guidelines above to join and build a responsive email list.
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