Email marketing is one of the oldest forms of marketing that is still as effective today as it was forty years ago. However, the results could depend on your email marketing strategy. In a 2021 research by HubSpot, 64% of B2B marketers say their email marketing strategy was effective for meeting business goals in 2021. What did they get right that they could boast about an effective outcome?
As old as email marketing is, the strategy has evolved over the years; what worked five years ago might not work today. This is why it is essential to review your strategy from time to time and see what you might be doing wrong.
Why Your Email Marketing Strategy Fails
This article highlights some of the top reasons why your email marketing strategy isn’t working and also how you can fix it.
Poor Email Design
Design plays a huge role in how your message is presented to your readers. A subscriber first notices the structure and design once they open your email. If it is not appealing, they will likely close the email and might even opt out of your email list.
To give your email a great design, it’s best to stick to the following:
- Use minimum graphic elements: while graphics would help break your text, it’s always best to use fewer of them, as too many graphic elements can be distracting. In addition, the email might not load properly if you have more images and the user has a poor internet connection. Aim for a ratio of 70% text and 30% images.
- Keep it short: the goal is to pass your message as quickly as possible in a succinct manner. Use single-column designs to enhance clarity.
- Responsive design: this simply means that your email layout should fit all screen sizes, from a desktop to a laptop and a mobile phone. If it’s not mobile responsive, you might lose your users, as mobile remains the most popular reading environment with 42% of all emails being opened on smartphones or tablets.
- Choose colors carefully: preferably, opt for a mild color and stick to two colors, which could be your brand color. However, you should watch the contrast between the text color and background color and ensure it blends.
- Use simple fonts: choose a font that is easy on the average user’s eyes. Also, avoid typing in all caps or bold font size that might come off as though YOU ARE SHOUTING at your subscribers.
Emails Are Not Personalized
Personalizing your emails can be as simple as including the name tag in the email to reflect each subscriber’s name. Instead of “Hello there”, you could have “Hello [FirstName]” and that changes everything.
Statista reports that 78% of marketers are using email for personalized communication. Many times, customers want to feel seen and heard, and if an email can simply address them with their name, they are more likely to open it.
Unoptimized Subject Lines
An average user receives about 100 emails per day. What are the odds that they would open yours? To stand a better chance among the pool of emails in the user’s mailbox, you need to use a catchy subject line that encourages them to open it.
Consider this image below from MARTECH that shows email open rates with the recipient’s first name in the subject line.
When writing your subject line, consider the following:
- Keep it simple and short. Preferably, less than 10 words.
- Personalize it by using the [FirstName] tag.
- Place the most important words at the beginning.
- Use power words and eliminate filler words.
- Avoid spam words or anything that can make your email seem overly promotional. This may include typing in all caps or using numerous exclamation marks or constantly using catchy words like “Buy now” or “Free” to gain attention. This can drive your emails to the spam box.
No Segmented Email List
Email list segmentation is also one of the ways to personalize your emails. If you keep sending generic emails to a user that they have no use for, it is only a matter of time before they opt out. Marketers report that 58% of revenue is generated due to segmented and personalized emails. You can segment your email list based on the following:
- Age
- Location
- Interest in your brand
- Registration date
- Purchase history and habits
- Level of engagement
- Email subscription form type
- Website activities, and so on.
Some email marketing service providers already make this easy based on third-party integration and proper subscription sign-up forms, to ensure that you automatically have every subscriber in their specific segments. All you have to do is choose the segment to send emails to per time. This makes the email more personalized as it ensures you are catering to their needs and not just sending some random email that does not apply to them.
An Irrelevant Mailing List
Your subscribers likely signed up for your emails because of a promise you made to them and you must keep that promise. To increase your open rates and ensure your email marketing strategy is working, build a credible email list and align it with what you offer. If your content isn’t relevant to your audience or meeting the promise you made, there will be an increased rate of unsubscriptions and no marketer looks forward to that.
Poor CTAs
The image below shows a clear example of what your CTAs should look like.
For your emails to convert, you need to have a clear call to action (CTA), and statistics show that emails with a single call-to-action increased clicks by 371% and sales by 1617%. If your email doesn’t have a CTA, you might be completely wasting your emails. For every chance you miss to use a good CTA, you are likely losing a lead. At the end of each email, consider telling the user a clear and concise action to take next.
Will Your Email Marketing Strategy Ever Work?
Creating an email marketing strategy isn’t where it all ends. You need to follow it up by being deliberate about how you send out your emails. This article shows you what you might have been doing wrong, and implementing some of the points here would yield changes in the long run. However, this starts by having a concrete email marketing strategy.
If you struggle with creating one for your business, we can help you with that at MailDrip. We are working to ensure more businesses get the most from their email marketing strategies. Beyond using a tool like MailDrip, you can partner with us to help create an email marketing strategy for your business that would generate great results. By working with our team, you can relax and be certain that your email marketing worries are well taken care of. Fill out the form below to get started with us.
