Kevin George — December 17, 2018 — December 17, 2018
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Man is a social animal. We set ourselves apart from animals by how we communicate and present ourselves. Similarly, the notion of a brand is built on how the brand portrays itself in the eyes of its customers and prospects. Out of the multiple channels of communications between a brand and a customer, an email is the only one where the conversation can be personalized based on the individual journey. While mistakes are bound to occur, it is important for marketers to avoid certain common email marketing faux pas.
Common Email Etiquette Mistakes
No welcome email
60% of subscribers expect a welcome email as soon as they subscribe to a brand. It is a great way to build a relation with your subscribers, but unfortunately 41% of brands miss out on making the first impression as they do not reach out even after 48 hours of subscription.
Remedy: A welcome email needs to be the first triggered email in your automation and the first communication your subscriber receives.
Not using emails as permission-based marketing
Most marketers assume that the subscriber is interested in everything under the sun that the brand caters to. However, this is not the case. In fact, it is the quickest route to getting unsubscribed as your subscribers will be overwhelmed by the number of emails they receive, most of which may not interest them at all.
Remedy: Since the implementation of data protection and privacy law GDPR, brands need to make sure that the subscriber provides permission for email communication to be sent. Additionally, brands have to take care to not send them something they have not opted for. Learn how important it is to implement GDPR in emails .
Need help? Let me sell it you
As per inbound methodology, a visitor subscribes to your email newsletter as they trust your brand can help solve their problems. Sometimes, email marketers tend to sell their products under the pretext of providing a solution.
Remedy: Customers don’t mind a small amount of sales pitch as long as you provide the valuable information they are looking for.
Not fixing on a sending schedule
Email marketers sometimes forget the importance of setting a sending schedule for their emails. By sending your emails at a time least expected by your subscribers, there is a higher chance that your email will be less effective by the time the subscriber opens it.
Remedy: By setting an email send schedule, you create anticipation amongst your subscribers and increase their expectations from your brand. Fixing your sending schedule also helps you to plan your emails better.
No list segmentation
This is one of the most common mistakes committed by email marketers. Sometimes, they send emails to a batch of their mailing list without list segmentation. As we stated earlier, sending emails that are of no interest to your subscriber can cost you their subscription.
Remedy: Always segment your list before sending the email. Move from segmentation based on demographics to customizing your list segmentation based on customer journey location.
Email series nightmare
Email marketers may set overlapping automation workflows wherein the subscriber starts getting multiple emails. While they may contain different messages, the subscriber in short gets spammed.
Remedy: Double check your email automation workflows for any gaps.
Clinging on to stop them from leaving
Sometimes things don’t work out and your subscriber wishes to unsubscribe, but marketers tend to hide or forget to add the unsubscribe link making it difficult to break the communication. When marketers manage their list manually, the customers who unsubscribed are not taken out of the list sometimes. This is a very costly mistake since it lowers your sender reputation.
Remedy: Always respect the request to unsubscribe and investigate the reason for their action to improve your campaign performance.
Email Copy Mistakes To Avoid
Improper punctuations & grammar
Regardless of what kind of business you are in, there is no excuse for poor grammar, especially punctuations. Your grammar is a reflection of your image and bad grammar can influence your subscriber in a negative way. Add to it improper formatting and your subscriber is already having trouble with your email moments after opening.
Remedy: Always proofread your email copy at least thrice before using a tool for spellchecking. Send the email only after the copy has been checked thoroughly.
Improper email tone
A spell-checked email copy is useless if it conveys the wrong tone. The prime areas where marketers tend to miss their footing in setting email tone is improper salutation, wrong choice of words or even how they sign off.
Remedy: Stick to the personality that your brand has. Addressing your subscribers with Hey becomes too intimate and should be used in conjunction with the subscriber’s first name. Hi or Hello sounds very formal, while you lose the personal touch by using generic terms such as Sir, Madam or Friend. The middle ground is using ‘Dear [First name]’.
“Domo Arigato, Mr. Oliver”
Addressing your subscriber with wrong personalization is one of the common mistakes that email marketers tend to commit. The root cause of the error exists in wrong list entry, wrong personalization tag or even the lack of a tag.
Remedy: Always prune your email lists for wrong entry and double check your merge tag syntax.
Wrapping Up
Your email is a reflection of you. When you commit such common email etiquette faux pas, not only does the brand’s personality get dented, but you also weaken the relation between you and your subscriber. Did we forget any other mistakes? Share your views in the comment section below.
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