I talk a lot about how powerful email marketing is. It’s cost-effective, relatively easy to grow, and currently benefits from a surge of new AI-driven tools to help you get the most out of it.
However, there are some significant ways that over-zealous email marketers can go wrong.
Today, I’m taking a look at five key ways people annoy their email subscribers – and letting you know what you should do instead!
1 - Sending Too Many Emails
Not one wants to hear from you every day – not even your Mum. If you send out too many emails in a burst of enthusiasm, especially in the early days, then you run a serious risk of becoming an annoyance.
Of course, too few emails and you end up losing visibility and being forgotten. It’s a careful balance, and it’s a balance that’s a little different for each industry sector. Finding that balance can be hard, but it’s not impossible – especially in a world where there’s plenty of data for you to analyse.
Be gentle with your emailing, don’t overdo it, and regularly evaluate the feedback you’re getting to adjust your email marketing triggers.
Consistency is important, visibility is important, and understanding the customer’s journey is important, but when your subscribers get overwhelmed, they start ignoring your emails or hitting that unsubscribe link.
Why not read more about email marketing timing here.
- DON’T: Become a spammer.
- DO: Find the right balance to stay visible and top-of-mind.
2 - Only Emailing to Sell
Email marketing is more than just pushing your product or service on potential customers – it’s about building a relationship of trust with them, putting yourself forward as a knowledgeable and reliable source who happens to be there when they need you.
If every email is a sales pitch, then you’ll turn your customers off fast!
There’s a lot that can be done here, from utilising automation technology to send appropriate emails at the right time (such as ‘Happy Birthday’ emails or recognition of long-term customers with anniversary messages and offers) to getting some really valuable content into your emails that works to build your reputation.
Just remember: you’re building a relationship, not pushing a sale.
- DON’T: Make every email a sales pitch.
- DO: Develop a thorough email campaign that mixes value-driven content with nurturing emails and (yes!) some sales.
3 - Not Understanding Your Audience’s Challenges
Just sending out generic emails that don’t address the real problems that your audience faces (and that you are solving) will result in low engagement. Simply saying ‘Hi’ doesn’t really do much; you need to understand their needs and cater to them.
Your subscribers are going to want content that feels relevant to them, and for the most part, that means helpful content that recognises their problems and offers a helping hand.
Data analysis and list segmentation are of the greatest help here. Through feedback and data, you can discover exactly what sections of your subscriber base want. Through automated mailing list segmentation, you can target the right people with a message that’s personalised for them.
Trust me – it works!
- DON’T: Just send out mass emails designed to appease everyone.
- DO: Craft and target your emails to meet a need and deliver on it.
4 - Using Clickbait Subject Lines That Don't Deliver
‘You have won £1,000 in our prize draw!’
(But you haven’t really.)
There was a time in the early days of email marketing (yes, I’m that old!) when sending out blatant lies as clickbait to get your target to follow a link and end up on your website filling in their personal information worked. I don’t lie – it did really work!
Thankfully, in the years since then, people have wised up, and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who will still fall for that sort of immoral trick. Yet, people still try it.
When you send an email with a subject line that doesn’t deliver with honesty and transparency, you lose subscribers. It’s as simple as that. Misleading subject lines frustrate your audience and seriously damage the trust you are trying to build up with them.
If you promise someone a freebie and then make them jump through hoops to get it, giving you more info, following more links, and then being told they can only get it if they spend £100 on other products – well, then you’re a liar.
Make sure your subject lines are clear and compelling and, most of all, match the content of the email.
- DON’T: Lie or exaggerate in the hope of getting an immediate response.
- DO: Build trust over time with subject lines that are honest, with emails that deliver on any promises.
5 - Not Allowing Easy Unsubscribing
Ah! A personal bugbear. I speak to many people who think there’s something to be gained from making it difficult to unsubscribe from their list. The thinking is clear: if you can’t get away from me, you’ll listen to what I have to say!
But that doesn’t work. What it actually does is showcase that you are forceful, aggressive, and cannot be trusted. It also raises a large flag that suggests you don’t believe in your product or service enough to let it stand on its merits.
It’s the email marketing equivalent of standing in the doorway, not letting someone leave, while you make them listen to your point of view – and it has the same reaction in your audience.
Not only that but when your desperate unsubscribers finally manage to report the problem (because it’s a breach of GDPR) and get it resolved, your sender reputation is damaged – and that can really hurt your future marketing credibility.
Just don’t do it!
- DON’T: Try to use tricks to desperately hold on to your subscribers.
- DO: Make the unsubscribe link easy to find and consider a preference centre to give them more granular control over the emails they receive.
Avoiding Being an Annoying Email Marketer with Nathan Littleton
Email marketing is about building trust so people can evaluate your product and service fairly and make an informed decision about whether they want it. If you trust in what you’re promoting, then you don’t need to be forceful, spammy, or lie about what you’re offering. Just be honest and reasonable.
Partner with me, Nathan Littleton, to create effective email marketing campaigns that will deliver without annoying or resorting to immoral tricks. I bring years of experience to help you craft content and develop a structure that will boost your engagement and drive conversions – why not book a meeting? I look forward to hearing from you.
