The Dos and Don'ts of Email Marketing
The great thing about having an email list is that it’s yours, and you’re able to market to people who you know are interested in hearing more about you and what your business is up to. It’s amazing for building lasting relationships with your audience, which is the key to making consistent sales and seeing growth.
However, like many aspects of business, there are a few dos and don’ts that are important to remember. Otherwise, it’s super easy to break down your relationships and see a large increase in unsubscribe rates and, ultimately, sales.
That’s why, today, we’ll be going over these do’s and don’ts. Some we’ve experienced ourselves and others we’ve seen firsthand with other businesses. And if you really want to up your email game, stick around till the end!
Do: Introduce Yourself and Your Business After Someone Opts-In
Upon someone signing up for your email list, they should receive a welcome email from you either the day-of or at least the next day. If they opted-in to receive a freebie, some people prefer to wait to send their welcome email the day after they’ve received the freebie delivery email– how large the time delay is between the two is up to you, however new subscribers should always receive a welcome email or full sequence with the purpose of getting to know you and your business a little better.
Don’t: Start Selling Immediately
The quickest way to destroy a relationship before it even starts is to pitch to a new subscriber right off the bat. It’s okay if a small upsell is included in the freebie they downloaded, but you don’t want to overload them with pitches as soon as they sign up. The key to building relationships is through nurturing your subscribers and providing value, even if just for the first few emails they receive.
Do: Segment Your Subscribers
Most email marketing services allow you to segment your subscribers or tag them so that you can have organized groups of certain audiences. For example, in Flodesk, we have segments for our Shop members, non-members who are interested in hearing about The Shop, webinar registrants, a segment for each opt-in we have, etc. This allows us to send certain communication to certain subscribers.
Don’t: Send the Same Email to Everyone
When it comes to nurturing and pitching, you don’t want to send the same messaging to everyone. Something you’re promoting may not necessarily apply to certain subscribers, like how we don’t send promotional emails about The Shop to those who are already members because it wouldn’t make sense. Having your subscribers segmented allows you to personalize your messaging based on the subscriber’s activity. For example, we have a “Prospects” segment for those who click on certain links because it shows they’re interested, therefore we may want to change up our messaging or send emails only to those people.
Do: Get Personal In Your Emails
Try to get as personal as you can with your emails. The goal of having them think, “Wow, it’s like you’re speaking directly to me,” doesn’t stop at just your ad copy. Aim to have that same effect with your emails as you would your public-facing content. If you’re lost on where to start, the first and most basic step you can take is using a custom field to input their first name. That way, when they open an email, instead of being greeted with just a “Hey”, it’ll say “Hey, [first name]!” for a more personalized touch. When we use custom fields in Flodesk, we’re able to default “friend” in that field in case we don’t have a subscriber’s first name.
Don’t: Send Generic Emails That Don’t Speak to Anyone
Again: Get clear on your messaging. We don’t want to beat a dead horse here. If you want your audience to trust that you know what you’re talking about and that you’ll be able to help solve their problems, you have to make it clear that you know what problems they’re facing to begin with, how they’re feeling, what they’re like, etc.
Do: Pay Attention to Your Marketing Service’s Analytics Reports
This is a common mistake that’s made– not paying attention to the data your email marketing service gives you. This is invaluable information that you can use to determine if you need to change up your messaging, test different subject lines, add more imagery or plain text, etc. There are countless ways you can up your email marketing game, so try to review your stats weekly.
Don’t: Ignore Your Analytics
Obviously, as we just said, your analytics are important, so don’t ignore them or forget about them! They’re often taken for granted and easily forgotten, but they’re the key to telling you whether or not your email marketing plan is actually going well or not.
Do: Watch Out for Spam Trigger Words or Phrases
Watch out for certain words or phrases that could cause your emails to land in the spam folder instead of the inbox. We’ve typically had problems in the past with words like “free” and variations of “profit”– anything that sounds like you’re advertising a get-rich-quick scheme. You’re also more likely to land in spam if your emails are overloaded with images and not a lot of plain text. That’s why it’s sometimes a good idea to send a couple of emails that are fully or mostly plain text. Having 8 or more links, a low link-to-text ratio, 5 or more images with no alt-text, and no SPF or DMARC records can also cause your emails to get flagged for spam.
Don’t: Forget to Read Through Your Emails After Writing
It’s easy not to notice words or phrases that could send your emails to spam, which is why it’s important to go back and review every element of your email to make sure it’s in the best shape possible. You may also catch a few typos or grammatical errors, broken links or places you forget to add a link, or maybe you even added the wrong image to your email. These are all great reasons to go back and proofread every email you (or someone else) writes. On the same note, don’t forget to also send yourself a test email.
Do: Create Appealing Subject Lines
Try to make your subject line as interesting as possible. For example, if sending a promotional email about a case study, try the subject line “How [name] landed X clients in Y days”– something that will make them want to open the email to read more. We recently used a similar subject line for an email we sent that received great open rates. When delivering a freebie, make the subject line clear that their download is waiting for them. Our typical subject line for freebie delivery emails is “[OPEN NOW] Your freebie!” with the preheader text as the title of the freebie.
Don’t: Use Clickbait Subject Lines
Never, and we repeat, never try to clickbait readers to click on your email. Don’t make your subject line something outlandish for the sake of receiving higher open rates. This is one of the top reasons people unsubscribe from lists. You can ask a question, make a bold statement, etc., but never trick them into opening. Just don’t do it.
Do: Create Beautiful Emails
Emails can still be beautiful without having a million images (hello, spam folder). As long as you have your text formatted correctly and a header, you can still have a perfectly branded feel without needing to go overboard. We’ve created email header graphics so that you can add headers for different types of emails, like announcements, new blog posts, personal notes, and course promotion; though the text and colors can be easily edited in Canva to match your branding and stay relevant to your email’s subject.
All you have to do is one-click add them to your Canva account, customize, and then import them into your emails for beautifully branded messaging. Check them out in The Shop and do yourself a favor by grabbing a monthly membership plan while you’re at it so that you can download all of the templates in The Shop for just $47/month.
