Email newsletters are an excellent component of email marketing because they can help you build relationships with your readers, increase brand recognition, and establish your authority as an industry expert. If you’re new to email marketing, there are a few things you should avoid to maximize the effectiveness of your email newsletters.
Making It Difficult to Unsubscribe
Let’s start with the big one. Not only can hiding or omitting the unsubscribe link cause readers to complain and cast a negative light on your brand, but you can also face serious consequences (such as being blacklisted by your email marketing platform) if you violate CAN-SPAM regulations. Include an unsubscribe link in each message that is prominent and easy to find.
Triggering Spam Filters
While we’re on the subject of spam, ensure that your messages do not trigger spam alarms and never reach your recipients’ inboxes. MailChimp’s guide outlines several of the most common spam triggers that you should avoid.
Neglecting to Promote the Newsletter
One of the purposes of email newsletters is to grow your email list. It is not a simple matter of “create a newsletter and subscribers will follow.” You must be extremely proactive in building your list. This can be accomplished by promoting your newsletter on your website and social media platforms, as well as by including a link in your email signature and marketing materials. Additionally, you may wish to activate the public archive feature offered by many email marketing platforms. It will generate a list of all your previous issues, which you can reference in the future.
Consistently Using the Same Subject Line
Your subject line should accurately reflect the contents of your message, enticing readers to open it and not disappointing them once they do. However, your From line should remain consistent (either your name or the name of your business) so that readers become familiar with you and recognize your messages in their inbox.
Not making use of an Email Marketing Platform
The days of sending marketing messages via Gmail, Outlook, or your preferred email client are over. Not only is this unprofessional, but it is also untraceable, which means you will never know whether your messages are being opened or whether your links are being clicked. Additionally, it may result in the blocking of your IP address and email accounts by other providers, as they will view your messages as spam. Email marketing platforms are the prudent course of action.
Ignoring the Email Test
If you send HTML email messages, it is critical to test them across a variety of email clients to ensure that they display correctly and that all of your links work. Additionally, you should test your messages on a variety of platforms, including mobile devices. A testing feature may be included in your email marketing platform. Additionally, you can use a service like Litmus to test your emails across more than 30 email clients and devices.
Sending Messages Inconsistently
Your email newsletters should follow a consistent schedule. Whether your newsletter is sent weekly, biweekly, or monthly, it should be sent on the same day and at approximately the same time each time. Timing is critical. If you send email newsletters too frequently, you risk having a number of readers unsubscribe out of frustration. However, if you send infrequently, your subscribers may lose track of you and automatically mark your message as spam because they are unable to recall what it is.
Forgetting to Review Your Reports
A good email marketing platform will include a reporting function that provides invaluable insight into your subscribers and newsletter performance. You can see how many times your message has been opened, how many times it has been clicked, which links have been clicked, and how many subscriptions and unsubscribes you have received. You can use this data to gradually improve your email newsletters.
In Conclusion
Now that you’re aware of some of the email marketing do’s and don’ts, you can begin your next campaign with a clean slate. Utilize the checklist above to help you increase the overall effectiveness of your email marketing messages.