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Avoid These Six Common E-mail Marketing Mistakes

A friend asked,

I signed up with [an e-mail marketing service] and plan to send weekly messages to my subscribers. Do you have any advice for me?

I think cardinal rule #1 (from the first page of my playbook for planning Web projects for clients) is this:

• Know who your audiences are.


• Clearly communicate how you can help them (your Value Proposition).


• Present a prominent Call To Action to get them to do what you want them to do as a result of receiving your message.

The rest of my advice is on the order of what NOT to do. So here are a few common mistakes people make with their e-mail marketing campaigns.

Common Mistake #1: Ignoring the real estate limitations of e-mail software

E-mail software clients (e.g., Outlook, Thunderbird, etc.) offer limited real estate for the meat of the message. This is because most people have their e-mail clients arranged in panels (see right). E-mail clients aren't like Web browsers. Even those e-mail clients that are accessed in Web browsers aren't like Web browsers.

Now consider that many people avoid scrolling. And few people routinely open e-mail messages in their own standalone windows.

Conclusion: You have less space than you think to get your message across. Use it wisely.

Common Mistake #2: Ignoring the technical limitations of some e-mail setups

Some people's e-mail clients are configured to view messages as Plain Text. And many people (more and more these days) routinely read e-mail through their mobile devices.

Conclusion: Make sure the templates you choose are optimized for the broadest possible audience.

Common Mistake #3: Ignoring the time-management challenges posed by e-mail

We're drowning in our inboxes. Some days it seems we just can't catch up with all the inquiries from bosses, co-workers, clients, prospects, suppliers, friends, relatives, etc. Not to mention urgent requests from Nigerian princes (for help in transferring all that "excess" money out of their country) and Facebook friend requests.

Conclusion: You have less time than you think to get your point across.

Common Mistake #4: Not getting to the point

This is the logical conclusion to be drawn from mistakes #1-#3. You have limited space and time. So get to the point right away.

Put your Value Proposition (e.g., a discount coupon, information about a new product or service, etc.) and your Call to Action (e.g., "Click to get Coupon!", "Read More Here...", etc.) up front, up top.

Common Mistake #5: Overstated Design

If you're with me so far, you see the common theme: Less is more.

And so it is with the visual design of your message.

While it might be loads of fun to experiment with fonts and colors, too many of either can turn your missive from terrific to tawdry in no time.

As for that oversized masthead or logo that proudly proclaims the name of your enterprise at the top of your message? Scale it down! Don't push the key content of your message (your Value Proposition and Call to Action) below the fold.

Common Mistake #6 : Not sending readers to your Web site

I subscribe to lots of e-newsletters, some for their subject matter and many more for keeping abreast of trends in e-mail marketing.

Frankly, I'm flabbergasted by the number of e-mail marketing campaigns that do not prominently and effectively compel me to click over to the marketer's Web site.

Why should your marketing e-mails try to send readers to your Web site?

• Web browsers don't suffer from the limitations of e-mail clients.
  Ideally, any Value Proposition you present in your e-mail message will have a corresponding page (or at least a section of a page) on your Web site. You've got a lot more real estate on your Web site to get your point across.



• People can't drag your Web site to the trash.
  Long after your marketing e-mail has been deleted, forgotten, or swallowed up in the swamps that are our inboxes, your Web site will still be there.



• Bait & Switch is definitely fair game here.
  You Web site is where (presumably) you display lots of compelling content about who you are and why people should engage with you. It presents (or should present) testimonials which testify to your trustworthiness, integrity, and quality. It's where your other products and services are explained and marketed. If you've implemented e-commerce, it's where your online store resides. Since you're doing in e-mail marketing, your Web site is where you ought to have a form for collecting subscribers' e-mail addresses. All of these Web-site content areas (and others such as blogs, press releases, case studies, etc.) are a mouse-click away once one has reached your site. Use that!

Well, friend (and readers), I hope some of this helps make your e-mail marketing campaigns successful.