Are You Sending Sinful Emails To Customers?
Most businesses today use email to some extent in the daily workings of their company or business life. It has proven to be not only an effective but also a cost-efficient way to keep in touch with customers wherever they live.
Sending emails to customers is one of the most effective forms of marketing a business can participate in. But if you’re not getting the results you want from your emails you may be committing one or more of these 7 deadly sins.
7 Sins To Avoid When Sending Emails To Customers
1. Sending Marketing Emails Without Permission
This is probably the biggest sin of all. Don’t send marketing emails to customers or prospects who didn’t give you permission to send emails to them. Only when somebody has submitted their email address into your email opt-in form are they giving you permission to send them emails.
FREE REPORT: Write emails that get opened (& how often to send them)
2. Not Using Proper Email Marketing Software
By using email marketing software you’re able to collect, build and manage your customer’s email data. This software manages your email marketing campaigns for you. It provides a streamlined solution to collect, send, track and analyze all your email marketing campaigns. The type of data it provides allows you to tweak your campaigns to improve performance and ROI. This is something that would be impossible to do manually with day-to-day email software like Outlook, Gmail, Webmail,etc.
There are free email software services available but these often carry intrusive advertising that will distract your readers. More importantly, you want to ensure that your emails actually land in the inboxes of your audience. Top autoresponder services, like AWeber, guarantee that your emails are optimized to get delivered to your customer’s inbox.
3. Boring Subject Lines
Many businesses fail to craft appealing subject lines their emails to customers. The subject line is like the headline of an advertisement. This is what people will see first in their email inbox. If they don’t like it and if it doesn’t make them want to read what the email is about they’ll ignore or delete it. It’s very important that headlines and subject lines be specific, keyword rich, and something the audience will want to open and see.
Your email has to have a compelling subject line so that it will be opened. But don’t trick people into opening your message by promising something that you can’t deliver. There can be a fine line between being clever and being deceitful so make sure you don’t cross it.
4. Just Sending Plain Text Emails
If you aren’t including graphics in your emails, you are practically asking for people to click back to their inbox the second they open it. People need big bold headings, clear and concise text, and images that help give context to your message. People are busy and they won’t waste time with an email that doesn’t instantly grab their attention.
Speaking of which, you only have about 8 seconds to do so once they open your email, so be sure the first few lines really pique their interest. The whole thing should be able to be digested in 30 to 60 seconds or less, with links to more information should they desire it.
5. You’re Constantly Sending Sales Messages
You might know how to get email subscribers onto your list by offering something of value in return for their email address. But once they’re on your list it doesn’t mean that they’re ready to buy from you. People joined your list because they thought you offered value. They will unsubscribe if all you do is blast out sales messages.
People buy from businesses they know, like and trust you. Your emails to customers should include useful information, special perks, freebies, bonuses and coupons. Let them know in the email that what you’re sending is only for them. Make them feel that they’re appreciated.
6. No Call To Action
If your emails are confusing, your readers will unsubscribe. It’s best to get to the point quickly in your emails, be it an offer or information. Offers should be mentioned at the beginning of the email text, and quickly restated again at the end. For example, “Here’s the link again,” or “Remember the sale ends in 3 days.” All links in emails and newsletters should be bright blue. It’s what people are used to and will yield the best click-through rates. The call to action will depend on what type of email you are sending. Tell them what to do, and make it as easy as possible for them to do it.
7. It’s Difficult For People To Unsubscribe
Nobody wants to buy anything from a pushy salesperson. Your email needs to be friendly and provide relevant information to your reader. However, if your reader decides that they no longer want to receive emails from you, allow them to easily unsubscribe. If you make it difficult, they will start to resent your emails and certainly will never buy from you. They may also report you as spam, which will cause you problems in the future.
Free Course: Marketing With Email (+ 45 Promotional Email Examples)
Sending marketing emails to customers is one of the most effective strategies for successful modern businesses, but it has become a great deal more competitive in recent years, with savvy readers becoming more discerning about what they put down their email address for. No one likes spam, after all. And when you’re fighting for attention in a busy inbox, you have to make sure that your message not only stands out, but gets read and some action is taken.
If want better results from marketing with email this free email marketing course gives you the tools, guidance and expertise you need to succeed plus you’ll get over 45 templates including the best customer service emails and customer service response templates.
