email marketing mistakes

Email marketing mistakes and how to fix them.

1. Oversized headers.

One of the most common email marketing mistakes are large headers may grab attention, but they but it means they take up so much of the space, the user will have to search for the relevant information. A top graphic that serves little or no purpose will quickly throw away the viewers attention.

oversized headers often means viewers have to scroll down to the bottom half of the page to see what your newsletter is about. This isn’t good for holding their attention, and it makes it more difficult and time consuming for them get the information they want from the campaign. The important information should be placed in the top half, meaning they can see it strait away to grab their attention.

2. Wrong images dimensions.

It is important that your mailer is the right size. If it is to small it can’t be read, if it’s to big it will take ages to load. Either of these will immediately lose the viewer and they will move on.

The advisable width for your mailer is around 600 px. This will normally look great on all email browsers and mobile devices. This is important to remember as mobile use is only becoming more popular so it should fit a mobile screen size.

It is important to check screen size otherwise the mailer can become huge in size and file space. Just remember your mailer is for a computer screen, not a 50ft billboard.

3. No call to action.

It is a common occurrence that the viewer will read your mailer, think it looks great, reads well, but then doesn’t know what to do next? This is one of the most frustrating email marketing mistakes, as it can effect the hole mailer despite the quality the mailer is in.

Always have a clear call to action, for example, tell them do they phone you? go to your website? give them the information necessary to do this, and make it easy to see. Keep it clear, make it simple.

It is also a good idea to give them options as not everyone, will be able to contact you in the same way. So give them options to suit them.

4. Email address from name is no-reply.

This one is all too common. viewers thinking “I love your mailer”, I’m ready to buy, I’ve hit reply, but my enquiry bounces back. Why? Your reply address is a generic no-reply or un-monitored email box. This quickly loses their interest and they will move on.

Using no-reply email address’ means that readers can’t reply to your email. If they can’t reply they will lose interest in taking any further action with you.

5. Massive image file sizes.

If you mailer does not load quickly, viewers are not  going to sit there waiting, they will move on. With more people opening emails on their mobile cellular networks rather than high speed connection small file sizes has never been more important. This a one of the most important email marketing mistakes to note as it is fast becoming the norm for email access Optimise your images for the web as it will make it easier for mobile users to load your mailer.

To do this it is best to use PNG files for images, as images are usually a big cause of large files.

6. Spelling mistakes and typos.

Spelling mistakes are the biggest email marketing mistakes, and ones that can be easy to miss. Your mailer may look great, but a simple spelling mistake or grammatical error can ruin it.

Proof reading is all too often overlooked. recipients of your emails can be bothered by this as it does not convey attention to detail, implying a sloppy service? Take the time to look over it or getting some one else to proof read it.

7. Broken links – spelling mistake in your link.

An error cutting and pasting, spelling your domain wrong. All too easy to do, but will completely destroy the purpose of your mailer. Checking for broken links is important as broken links means 0 click throughs, and that means 0 sales.

Check and double check your links before sending by reading and testing them to make sure all is as it should be.

8. Having your mailer as one big image and no text.

By default some older email readers have image viewing disabled. As a result your recipient will receive a blank mailer – your beautiful photoshop work will go straight in the bin without ever having  being viewed.

It is a good idea to have your important information delivered as text so, people can still find out the important information, such as company name, contact information etc. Use images more for the purpose of catching peoples attention, and leave the more important stuff to text, or at least have it on both.

9.  Hiding the unsubscribe link  – pressing space, making it small.

Nothing will annoy your subscribers more than hiding that unsubscribe button. If you viewers cant find it, they will just mark it as spam. This will mean that your delivery will go down for everyone. Not providing features like an unsubscribe button, can quickly send out a bad image of your mailer.

Remember tiny buried unsubscribe links do not decrease your unsubscribes, as people won’t just leave it and move on. However Sending unsolicited email marketing is how you achieve low unsubscribes as that is likely the reason they will want to unsubscribe.

10. Not reminding your recipients of opt in.

At the very top of your mailer you should always but a brief statement reminding your subscribers of who you are and how they asked to receive your newsletter.

Don’t let your mailer be falsely classified as spam because your clients see you as a spammer.  Reminders can jog their memory as to who you are and why they are receiving your mailer.

So always include a small prompt at the top to jog the memory.

In summery there many email marketing mistakes to be made for various different reasons. Follow these top tips to stop yourself falling into these traps, and make sure your mailer is effective and attracts your costumers.

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