8 Email Marketing Mistakes


There is plenty of scope for getting things wrong with email marketing campaigns; the focus here is on the most common errors made.

Poor Subject Line

Getting recipients of your email to open and read it is key to your marketing campaign’s success. It follows, therefore, that of primary importance is the field marked “Subject”. Yet research shows that the content of this title bar is often the last thing considered, and sometimes it is even left blank. What a wasted opportunity.

Equally important as not leaving it blank is devising a suitable subject. Headings such as “Free Coupon” tend to perform badly against simple descriptive titles such as “[Company] Newsletter.” My advice is to describe the content honestly, rather than “sell” it with a gimmick.

Unrecognised Source

Some email campaigns originate from unrecognisable email addresses, or companies with bizarre names few have heard of. Emails from unidentified sources are usually instantly deleted. If your company is known to everyone on the data base you are using, ensure its name (or yours) appears in the “From” field. You certainly don’t want the words “Mailing List” appearing as sender.

Awful Presentation

Emails have to be easy on the eye for comfortable reading, so how you format text is important. Central alignment of content makes text very hard to read.  Similarly, choosing an unusual font is a bad idea as it may not be among the listed styles on your recipients’ system and will consequently not display properly. Play safe – stick to the common fonts, and the standard “align left” for content.

Outsize Images

Promotional emails are sometimes simply a scan of a company’s leaflet, with a huge image embedded with little or no worthwhile text. Don’t commit this crime.  Many email programs do not display images by default, so such emails can appear empty or blank. They also run the risk of being deleted by spam filtering systems. Use images only if they are necessary, and keep them down to 10% or less of your email content.

Badly Coded HTML

This is a technical issue but worth mentioning to anyone with coding knowledge, or in-house programmers. Emails are single or multi-part templates with many HTML emails using CSS and <HEAD> tags for text coding and display commands. However, some email programs (especially web based ones) strip out <HEAD> tags to prevent security problems. Any style code commands listed here will be stripped out, thus mangling the coding and making the email impossible to read. To add style to your email, make sure inline CSS coding is used. Be aware, too, that HTML exports from some programs, such as Microsoft Word, Publisher and PowerPoint, can create very bad HTML that does not work in email.

No "Unsubscribe" Link

There are pointless risks run with either not offering an “unsubscribe” link, or putting a “Reply with Unsubscribe” link in the Subject/title bar. Recipients of such emails will instantly hit the “Spam” button, and you could get blacklisted. Instead, make it as easy as possible for recipients to leave your list by providing a simple “one click” instant unsubscribe link. That way they will think better of you, and you will not be wasting your resources emailing uninterested people.

Spam Appearance

Marketing emails that are blatant promotional messages will resemble spam and, like all junk mail, end up being deleted. It is wise, therefore, to steer clear of highlighting text in bold, to refrain from displaying content in capitals, and to avoid using too many colours. Using the word “free”, particularly in bold or coloured text (whether in capitals or lower case), can also trigger automated spam filter systems if usage in ratio terms is out of proportion to other words used.

Unfamiliar Contacts

If it has taken far more than a year to build up your list of leads, and if you are not in regular contact with everyone on it, will they remember you? Don’t email infrequent customers and prospects out of the blue; some may have forgotten you, been replaced or changed their email address. Instead, turn a potential negative into a positive by sending a short and sweet re-subscribe email along the lines of:  “We know it has been a while since we were in touch. If you are still interested in hearing from us, please click here to subscribe.” 

 

Email Marketing


Sending email newsletters involves overcoming different obstacles so my tips for tackling the basics may help you when compiling and transmitting your own.

Some email marketing beginners get off the starting block by creating a simple email message, sending it to multiple recipients via their email client. There are pitfalls to be aware of when doing this, which were highlighted in one of our articles last year, entitled Multiple Recipient Emails.

Email Nuisances

People who send out too many emails can find themselves in trouble with their ISP (Internet Service Provider). Those who commit this crime and are deemed a nuisance by their ISP can, as a result, find their internet connection cut off. Don’t run this risk; instead of annoying your ISP, use an ESP (Email Service Provider).

Email Service Providers (ESPs)

A much better method for transmitting email newsletters is to use an Email Service Provider, who is specifically set up for this purpose, and is skilled in managing emails to thousands of recipients at a time.

ESPs come in all shapes and sizes, from those who provide full campaign creation and management, to the “self-service” providers who allow you to build your own campaigns via a web interface. Service costs vary; the most inexpensive method is to use a self-service provider.

Self-Service Providers (SSPs)

SSPs provide a simple graphical interface for you to design your own email newsletter, plus easy-to-use options for uploading and adding your email recipients. They will also manage any “bounces” (undelivered emails) and “unsubscribe” requests for you, saving you both time and hassle.

Reliable Recommendations

AGUK uses and recommends the following providers:

They offer similar services at similar prices and personal choice is down to individual preference on the interface provided. Both companies are based in the USA and charge in US Dollars, with a free service for lists of up to 100 email addresses. In our opinion, there are no UK-based ESP services to rival the level of options provided by these two companies, but if you know of one we would be happy to hear from you.

Please note that using a hyperlink ending with an asterisk (*) , as shown above,  may result in a small financial referral contribution to AGUK. This in no way influences our recommendation and if you wish to avoid this automatic reward, you can instead use the following link: Mail Chimp

 

New Year Resolutions


A Happy New Year to you. Returning to work after the festive break is always challenging for two reasons. Firstly, there are the tasks to face that were postponed until after the holidays. Secondly, this is traditionally the time for evaluating business systems to identify where any weaknesses lie, and where improvements can be made for this year's trading.

In an effort to kick-start the new business year in a positive way, we are highlighting some past Newsletter topics that proved a hit with readers. This first Newsletter of 2009 is, therefore, an aide-mémoire as a helpful checklist when assessing your internal processes, together with our suggestions for good resolutions.

Tidy up your Inbox

Get to grips with your email inbox now before the influx of new messages develops into a rising flood. By ridding yourself of old email habits and managing your inbox more effectively, you could save hours every week. To find out how to do this, read our Managing Your Inbox article.

Legalise Your Website

Your website may be bringing you new business but does it comply with all the relevant legislation? Two of our popular articles will assist you in giving your website a quick and easy legal check-up. These are:

  • Your Website and the DPA This article will help you recognise how your website could be breaching the Data Protection Act. 
  • Privacy Policies This article explains how you can ensure your website visitors understand how you use their data.

Invest in Expertise

In the current economic climate it is tempting to think of cost cutting, but avoid short term savings at the expense of long term business. Out-sourcing can be a wise and economic way to benefit from professional help not available in-house. Bringing in experts can introduce you to exploring and adopting new added value services to boost your business, while also allowing you to get on with what you do best - running your business.

Accept Free Offers

Many companies offer a period of free consultancy. These offers, especially from independent businesses, can be worth taking up. We at AGUK Solutions Limited have always been happy to operate in this way. We know such a service has proved genuinely beneficial, in turn bringing us new clients in a win-win situation.

If you have any internet related project already running, or in planning, we can help you. Our initial meeting with any client, as mentioned above, is without charge and obligation. Why not see what we can do for you?

Sign up to Seminars

Taking time out of the office for a concentrated one-off business seminar is a fast way to learn from the professionals. AGUK Solutions Limited announced its new seminar programme last month and we are delighted some readers have registered interest. Subjects we will be concentrating on include everything you need to know about email; how to trade online; and getting a return from your website investment.

Seminar places are limited so to register your interest, please click here to subscribe to our mailing list.

 

Email Is Not Instant


Email is now an accepted form of communication, perceived as cheap and immediate and regarded as either an advantage or necessary evil.  But just how instant and reliable is email?

Have you ever sent an important email only to learn it hasn't arrived? Perhaps you've waited all day for an email that was supposedly sent hours ago? This month AGUK provides a brief insight into how emails work and system hiccups.

Along with the dramatic growth in email usage came unsolicited email (spam) and the ever increasing risk of email viruses. Email providers and systems have struggled to battle against these threats and, as a result, many email users are noticing some side effects. What was once a method of near instant communication has become less so and there are a number of reasons for this:

  • Congestion
    The internet, just like the UK road transport system, can get congested with traffic. Emails travel via the internet's equivalent of a road network, with traffic lights and junctions along the way to stop them bumping into each other and getting lost. Just as there are rush hours on the road, the same happens on the internet;  at busy times, the traffic slows down and queues start to form. Hence, an email sent off-peak, say, in the middle of the night, arrives immediately, yet one sent at 16:45 can be held up by a closing day's congestion. 
  • Security Checkpoints
    As a result of the growth in spam and viruses, the number of security checkpoints has increased. Airports are a good analogy here.  When you jet away on holiday, or business, you may find yourself held up by Customs and kept waiting while your credentials are checked.  The same can happen with your email;  it is called "Greylisting".  A first email from you to anyone can be delayed by a few minutes to a few hours while credentials are checked. Similarly, just as a frequent traveller can be recognised by Customs and simply waved through checkpoints, the same can apply to your email. 
  • Checking Your Bags
    In addition to primary checks, further checks may be made.  As in the airport analogy whereby Customs choose to check some bags and sift through their contents, so a similar action is taken with emails. Many email systems now check the contents of emails for abusive words, or anything appearing to be spam, and will check attachments for harmful viruses. Again, like Customs, they only have the capacity to carry out so many checks at once. Consequently, your email may end up in a queue for checking before it is forwarded to its recipient. Plus, the bigger an email attachment, the longer the check. 
  • Out For Lunch
    Where immediacy is concerned, an aspect of email often overlooked by senders is an assumption that recipients are at their desks, with their email clients open to receive messages.  However, if they are chatting to a colleague by the coffee machine, in a meeting, or out for lunch, there will be an obvious delay in reply.  A much longer delay will occur if your email recipient is actually away, and has not set up an automatic message to notify you of their leave of absence and date of return.

What Can I Do?

Here are our tips:

  • Understand and appreciate how emails work.  They are fast, economic and effective but should not be relied on as a fail-safe form of instant communication.
  • Where urgency is paramount, consider the alternatives of either reverting to the long trusted technology of the telephone, or using a mobile/fax/or SMS text messaging service.
  • If you know your addressee needs time to respond but want to check your email has arrived safely, set up a receipt confirmation request.
  • Show email consideration to others:  if you are going to be out of the office for any length of time, set up an automatic email advice notification to explain your absence, giving the name of a colleague if the matter requires attention before your return.
  • Ensure emails containing customer data are handled correctly, and your email policy complies with the Data Protection Act

 

Managing Your Inbox


Emails - a blessing or a curse?  Is your business time squandered by instantly reading and responding to emails, or do you postpone action and store up trouble for yourself?  Glancing at subject headings in the "I'll deal with that later" mode leads to an overloaded inbox with crucial emails buried.
 
Haphazard handling of inboxes can consume working days in a Catch 22 way, and waste hundreds of hours over a year. This month is about tackling bad habits and getting to grips with effective email management.

Avoid Compulsive and Impulsive Actions

Becoming addicted to your inbox is easy.  Constantly checking your inbox, either looking for new messages or responses to your own emails, fritters away precious time and can become a compulsive habit.  Don't do it.  
 
If your email program has a notification flash or noise announcing new mail, fight the temptation to check your inbox. Impulsive distractions like this disrupt work and can break your train of thought.  Instinctively you will also scan previously read emails as if they have changed. Unless your primary function is email responding, shut down your email client/program.

Email Managment

Instead of random email scanning, set aside a specific time each day to work on your inbox. Devoting 30 or 60 minutes of uninterrupted time should be sufficient, and beneficial. Read all emails before answering them.  This will stop you missing updated messages and replying too soon.

Housekeeping

Use your email client/program to your benefit.  A chronological date setting for email receipt is common but reverse date order can be better. Start at the top and do not move onto the next email until you have handled the first.  Create subject folders and sub folders to manage your emails efficiently, and to track progress quickly on different issues. 

Processing Mail

AGUK endorses the 4Ds system and recommends using it like a mantra:

  • Delete
    Be decisive and use your delete button. If an email contains information that is not immediately useful, and will have no use within the next six months, delete it.
  • Do
    If you can do what the email requires within two minutes, do it.  It's as simple as that.
  • Delegate
    Can you delegate action required by the email?  It takes minutes to read and forward an email so delegate instantly.
  • Defer
    If you have to defer action, don't forget it. Create a task or calendar reminder detailing what is needed by when. Most email clients/programs allow you to generate a task from an email with a couple of clicks. Once you have generated the task and added it to your task list, delete the email.

Information Only Emails

A large percentage of emails are information only. Their content value can be classified in one of two ways: Delete or File. Before you file, think - "Do I really need this?"  Filing emails should be done only where necessary.

Empty Inbox

An empty inbox is a realistic goal. It comes with practice and good housekeeping. If your inbox is already bursting don't overburden yourself clearing it in one session. Stick to an hour a day and watch it shrink.

 

Multiple Recipient Emails


In a competitive business world, speed is of the essence.  Email messaging is the fastest form of written communication, however,  the saying “More speed, less haste” is very apt when it comes to sending emails and here we look at why.  

EMAIL MESSAGING

An over eagerness to send an email can cause embarrassment and even result in costly mistakes. In many cases a lack of understanding how email messaging works leads to such errors. Better knowledge and more care is all it takes to avoid monumental mistakes.

Email Nightmares

When an email is sent to one recipient only, an apology may be all that’s needed if a mistake is made. It’s a different matter altogether when others are unwittingly involved.  Imagine any of these scenarios:

  • You email a special offer to new customers and accidentally copy in your long-standing customers
  • You email new suppliers for a quote and accidentally send the enquiry to your regular suppliers
  • You respond to a tender but accidentally reply to all, revealing your bid to competitors

In the first example, you risk losing long-standing customers through revealing new customers get preferential treatment. In the second case, you risk upsetting your regular suppliers by alerting them to the fact you are looking for new ones.  In the last, you have shown your hand unnecessarily to your rivals.

Multiple Messaging:  Send Errors

Email nightmares can occur through using the wrong “fields” when preparing to submit an email simultaneously to multiple recipients.  When you click the “Send” button, any addresses showing in either the “To” or “Cc” (carbon copy) field will be openly transmitted. In other words, every addressee will see the names of all your email recipients. A further worry is that you could even find yourself in breach of the Data Protection Act. Suddenly that simple email is potentially breaking the law. Learn how to use the “Bcc” (blind carbon copy) field correctly and you will avoid these errors.

Multiple Messaging:  Reply Errors

Understanding the implications of completing the correct fields when sending multiple messaging emails is only half the battle. Replying to them holds its own dangers.  

When you find yourself receiving an email sent simultaneously to others, be careful how you respond to it. If you fire off your email and hit the “Reply all” button instead of “Reply”, your response will be sent to everyone.  Did you really want all of them to see it? Less haste when you hit the button is the answer.

Our Multiple Messaging Tips

As we all start working faster and become overly familiar with email, it is all too easy to go into "auto pilot" and hit buttons without checking fields.  Remember:

  • Never send or reply to an email without exercising caution
  • Turn on your automatic spell checker when writing your email. This will slow you down, and prompt you to double-check all information, including any listed recipients, before transmission
  • Always check the “To” and “Cc” fields before hitting “Send” 
  • If you are unfamiliar with using the “Bcc” field then manually insert/delete recipient names as appropriate
  • Change your mail settings so that emails are not sent instantly but every few minutes;  that way you can stop an email in your outbox if you have to amend it 
  • Use the “Reply all” button sparingly – if at all