10 Reasons Why You Suck at Email Marketing

Did you know than an email open rate of around 20% is considered very good?

Or that a click through rate of 2 to 4% is considered typical? (depending on industry)

Look at this 2016 stats for three different markets…

Daily Deals/E-Coupons:     13.87% Open rate  and a 1.81% Click rate

Education and Training:     21.96% Open Rate and a 2.75% Click Rate

Hobbies on the other hand enjoy some of the best open rates and click-through rates.

Hobbies:    28.85% Open rate and a 5.41% Click-through rate

It may not look good – but this is the reality of Email Marketing!

Indeed, some marketers and brands are excited if they get more than 1% of their list clicking on links.

Does that sound familiar?

Let’s face it, when you are off the mark on your emails, it has devastating consequences.

The biggest is the hit you’re going to take to your bank account.

No one likes that.

But the ripple effect can continue on. Bad email marketing campaigns can not only shrink any potential income, but they can also damage your brand.

It’s unbelievable how many marketers and brands are willing to blow lots of money that should be coming their way because their email marketing is terrible.

Thankfully, there are ways to fix that.

You don’t have to be one of legions of marketers and brands who suck at email marketing.

If you’ve been seeing dismal numbers on your email marketing metrics, there are reasons behind them.

Today, I’m going to show you 10 reasons why your email marketing sucks (and how to fix it).

Let’s go.

#1. You Don’t Know Your Audience

If you don’t deeply understand who you are speaking to before you even start emailing, you’re sunk already. Your subscribers have given you something precious, their email addresses, don’t take advantage of that.

When you’re list is full of 25 year old guys who are into kettle-bells and they are suddenly offered a product on losing baby fat, you’ve set yourself up for disaster. Now your list knows you don’t know anything about them, so don’t be surprised by not only a loss of trust, but also a tidal wave of unsubscribes.

Avoid this by paying attention to what your audience likes and responds to. Since you are selling them on your product or service, you should have already done your due diligence and have a good idea of who you are targeting.

#2. You’re All About Selling

Yes, the end goal of pretty much any email marketing campaign is to get your subscribers to buy a product or service. We all know that, but that doesn’t mean you need to be selling them round the clock. In fact, if you are, you’re blowing it.

The best email campaigns work out a balance and lead their readers on a journey towards the sale. They warm up potential customers by offering them value, telling stories and building a connection with their readers. Then, when it comes time to actually buy, the decision for your reader is often a no-brainer.

#3. Your Subject Lines Stink

You’re never actually going to sell anything with your emails if no one opens them. Some of the biggest culprits of a bad email marketing campaign are poorly written subject lines that don’t inspire anyone to actually click.

Rather than sending out emails with boring subject lines, you can do better. Try thinking creatively, be interesting, engage a bit of curiosity and ask questions to start. You know what makes you want to click when you see an email in your inbox, use those same ideas with your own campaigns.

Just fixing this single issue alone can help increase your click through rates because you’ll have more people actually opening your emails.

#4. You’re Inconsistent

Now, you don’t have to send your newsletter every Tuesday at exactly 4:37pm to see success, but you need to establish consistency with your email marketing campaigns for the best results.

If you email too often, you run the risk of overwhelming your subscribers and losing them. If you email once every 6 months, then your readers are never going to remember who the hell you were in the first place. Let your subscribers know when (and how often) they can expect emails from you, with both campaigns and newsletters.

#5. You’re a Brand, Not a Person

Part of connecting with your readers is being approachable (and yes, even likable). People like to know there is a person behind the brand not just a automated robot, so stop hiding that in your emails.

When you use your brand name in your “from field” it can send the wrong impression, turn readers off or even make them think they are getting spam.

You know what happens then, right? Email meet trash bin.

Instead, use your name front and center and use your personality to build a relation with your readers that enhances the brand.

#6. You Have Terrible Copy

Copy is a lot more than just dropping a few clever words down on the page, clicking send and calling it a day. Your entire campaign can be won or lost in your copy, and most people are losing…badly.

Here’s where you can be better. Start by studying. There are plenty of masters of copy out there who can help you improve your content dramatically, making it fun and easy to read. Guys like Gary Halbert, Dan Kennedy and Gene Schwartz are all people who you can learn from.

If you don’t have the time, or the skill, to tackle email copywriting then outsource it to an expert. Improved copy will not only pay for itself almost instantly, but will also save you the time and headache of getting it right.

#7. You Don’t Test

Come on, you have to know by now that testing everything you send out is really important. So why aren’t you doing it yet? If you’re afraid to see the numbers, it’s time to get over it and start testing and tracking, now.

Once you do start testing, the data you collect can lead to a wealth of information about your list. You could see that while you have great open rates no one is clicking, or that you have bad open rates but high clicks, or just bad everything, ouch.

You can’t start improving your email marketing until you have an idea of what’s not working. And you’re never going to know that until you take a deep dive into the data.

#8. You Don’t Make it About Them

Getting your email subscribers to take action in your emails involves hard work. Too many brands and marketers make their emails all about them, not their potential customers, instead of what they like and want to say.

Move away from the pack and make your emails all about your readers. Find (by testing) and understand what drives the passions of your email list. And then appeal to that.

Some of the biggest and most successful email marketing campaigns are those that have a cultivated an amazing relationship between the brand and the list. It’s these customers who will always keep coming back for more.

#9. You’re Not Using Call to Actions

Congrats, you have an amazing subject line that drives opens, the perfect product or service for your list, and great copy.

Guess what? Nothing is going to happen if you aren’t sending emails that have a clear purpose and direction.

One of the most vital parts of any email is how you tell your readers to do something. That means buying a product, signing up for a webinar, downloading an ebook, you name it. If you aren’t specifically telling your readers to do something they won’t do anything and you miss out.

#10. You Aren’t Following Up

This is a two fold issue for many brands and marketers. And neither is very good.

On one hand, some brands and marketers send out their first campaign and then…crickets. They don’t follow up on the campaign they sent. And then there are those who don’t respond to their customer’s emails.

Both of these are huge mistakes. You’ve spent so much time building up a relationship with your list subscribers and then you blow it by not paying attention when it counts. You should always (always!) reply to any emails from people on your list. And don’t leave your potential customers hanging by disappearing after your first campaign.

Bonus: #11. You’re Not Collecting Emails

All of this advice is for nothing if you haven’t even begun collecting email addresses from potential customers yet. If that’s the case, you can’t start doing this soon enough, like today.

Set up your website to grab opt-ins and build that list. This is one of the most important things you can do from the very beginning to help pave the way to marketing riches from the start. You’re never going to have success in email marketing if you have no one to email.

So, get on it!

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Want to write emails that get a response?

Want to really connect with your subscriber?

Want to make more money, either as an email copywriter or promoting your own products?

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