5 Fundamental Email Marketing Mistakes You Should Stop Making

When it comes to email marketing, mistakes can be costly. One mistake in an email campaign can be broadcast to hundreds of thousands, creating timely customer service issues and damaging your brand reputation. Ensuring that you're set up for success can make all the difference.  Let’s take a look at some commonly made mistakes that can ruin your reputation and destroy your email campaigns.

1.     The Last-Minute Campaign

I can’t emphasize this enough: planning and giving yourself plenty of time for execution are key to successful email marketing campaigns.  

Too many of us expect to bring in thousands off of last-minute campaigns, and you very well may... for a while. But eventually, your reactive efforts or rushed campaigns will damage the brand equity and customer engagement that you work so hard in other channels to create. 

Emails require planning. The more time you have to plan, the less likely you are to make any mistakes and ultimately, the more effective your messages will be.

2.     Forgetting the Point

You may have drafted the best email copy ever, with a perfect subject line that generated over 40% open rate, but if no one clicked through to your website where they could actually spend their money... then your campaign missed the point.

The Call To Action is the one aspect of your email that tells your customers what you want them to do. Make sure every email has one.

Remember your goal, and when in doubt, fill in the blank: The point of my email marketing campaign is to _____________; and then make it as easy as possible for your customers to do whatever ___________ is.

3.     Monotony

At some point or another we all suffer from monotony. Don't let it happen to your subscribers! 

Whatever you do with your email marketing campaigns, make sure to change things up from time-to-time. Commonly referred to as pattern interruption, you can capture your subscribers' attention by experimenting with design or format, changing the time of day that you send, or even trying a different "From" name.

Hot tip: If you are constantly testing, you are constantly trying to find what works, and if that is the case, you may avoid suffering from the all-too-common monotony!

4.     Forever Selling

Do you remember the Avon lady who only ever contacted you when she had a new catalogue or some amazing promotion? Though it was nice to flip through the pages of her shiny new catalogue, you probably never felt like you had a connection with her.

Establishing and maintaining a connection with your customers is vital! Make sure your editorial calendar includes value-adding content, such as a harvest update from the winemaker, wine pairings, wine education, or even letters of thanks for your subscribers' attention and support.

5. The Solo-Project 

Sending an email-marketing campaign is more difficult than you would think, and doing it solo is something you shouldn’t do. Your email marketing campaigns are one of the most important aspects of your e-commerce and online marketing strategy. Why would you do it alone? Leverage the support of a full-service email marketing agency, like Premier Cellar, or hire the appropriate staff to ensure you are successful. Whatever you do—email marketing is not a one-man show.

Our last piece of fundamental advice is to forgive yourself...

We all make mistakes. Some mistakes will be larger than others, but if you keep track of what you have learned from your mistakes and create systems to avoid repeating them, you'll be well on your way to achieving your email marketing goals.