Email marketing is a powerful tool that ecommerce businesses use to connect with their customers, promote their products, and increase sales. However, even the best intentions can sometimes lead to mistakes that can harm your email marketing campaigns. In this article, I’m looking at 6 common email marketing mistakes made by ecommerce businesses and what you can do to avoid them.

1. Sending too many emails

Email is a powerful marketing channel, but that doesn’t mean you should bombard your subscribers with too many emails. 

Sending too many emails can lead to subscriber fatigue, causing them to lose interest in your brand and even unsubscribe from your list. To avoid this, limit the number of emails you send and focus on sending high-quality, relevant content. Ensure you segment your list and are sending relevant information to the right people.

2. Sending too few emails

This is the polar opposite of point 1 but actually sending too few emails can negatively impact your sales, particularly where you sell fast moving consumer goods.  

Sending too few emails can lead to subscriber ignorance. They aren’t being given enough chance to build trust of your brand and will look elsewhere to brands who are getting in front of them regularly and consistently. Start to send more emails with a mix of promotional and value content.

 

3. Not segmenting your email list

Not all subscribers are the same, and they shouldn’t be treated as such. Segmenting your email list allows you to target specific groups of subscribers with relevant content and promotions. 

By doing so, you’ll increase the chances of your emails being opened, read, and acted upon. For example, you can segment your list by, location, purchase history, or email engagement.

4. Ignoring mobile optimisation

More than half of all emails are opened on mobile devices, so it’s essential to optimise your emails for mobile. 

If your emails are not optimised for mobile, they may be difficult to read and navigate on smaller screens, leading to a poor user experience. 

Whilst most good email marketing providers will provide mobile-responsive designs, it’s essential to test your emails before sending, particularly if you have created a design from scratch.

5. Focusing only on promotions

While promotions are an essential part of email marketing, they should not be the only focus. 

Your email campaigns should also include valuable content, such as educational blog posts, product reviews, and company news and views. This helps build a relationship with your subscribers and keeps them engaged with your brand.

6. Not testing your emails

Testing your emails before sending them is crucial to ensure they look and function as intended. How the email looks into the editing screen is very different to how it looks in the inbox and I promise that you will see things differently.

Sending an email with broken links, incorrect formatting, or other errors can harm your brand’s reputation and lead to lower engagement rates. 

Take the time to test your emails on different devices and email clients (gmail, Outlook etc) to ensure they display correctly.

Remember ….

Email marketing is an effective way for ecommerce businesses to reach and engage their customers. However, it’s essential to avoid common email marketing mistakes such as sending too many emails, not segmenting your list, ignoring mobile optimisation, focusing only on promotions, and not testing your emails.

By following these tips, you’ll increase your chances of success and build a stronger relationship with your subscribers.

 

Need some help and guidance with your email marketing?  Whether it’s starting from scratch or your need an overhaul, I’d love to help you. Contact me to get started.