Our email recipients have to be treated with sensitivity and dedication, because after all, they are the blood of our business. True, right? Well according to Monetate, email marketing drives more conversions than any other marketing channel, including search and social. This means that email brings a higher ROI than any other avenue of communication. So how do we ensure that we make the most impact with email? And more specifically, how do we ensure that we make the most impact with our email subscribers?

We’ve compiled the 5 top ways that marketers fail with email subscribers as we’ve learned from our experience. Let’s examine what we’ve got to ensure that you avoid these mistakes in the future.

1. Don’t get personal

By now you know this as an email marketer – recipients don’t want to feel like they are being marketed to. That’s why top performers create digital experiences that make prospects feel that someone is speaking to them about their needs and offering them a product that adds value to their lives.

This is why the best way to fail with subscribers is by not personalising emails. According to an Experian Marketing Services Study, personalised emails were shown to lift transaction rates and revenue per email six times higher than non-personalised emails. Companies that aren’t using customer personas and aren’t segmenting their audiences are less likely to personalise their emails, and, as a result, are achieving less open and click rates.
Just as a friend spells your name correctly, knows what your likes and dislikes are, remembers your birthday and speaks with you in a conversational voice, a good email marketing campaign exhibits these personable traits as well.

Just as a friend spells your name correctly, knows what your likes and dislikes are, remembers your birthday and speaks with you in a conversational voice, a good email marketing campaign exhibits these personable traits as well.

2. Don’t strive for consistency

Many of us have that one friend that bombards them with phone calls and outings, then disappears for weeks or months at a time. It gets old in a hurry. If you don’t want to succeed in your marketing campaigns, be that friend that doesn’t stay in touch consistently. If you do want to succeed, however, don’t be insensitive toward the emotions and needs of your subscribers by delivering your messages inconsistently or at the wrong time.

3. Don’t make your offers specific

Top performers succeed because they speak to their subscribers clearly and effectively. Laggers, however, fail because they focus on getting their name out there more than delivering real value to their audiences. Customers that merely tolerate your messages need your product, but aren’t committed to a real, long-term relationship with you because you aren’t being clear on what it is you are offering. By not making your offers specific, you’re on your way to losing prospects and customers.

4. Spam your recipients

Want to fail with your email marketing campaigns? Spam your recipients. By sending unsolicited emails to your list of subscribers and not sending permission-based emails, you are set on your way to email marketing failure. What’s more, is that if you send out emails without permission, a lot of your recipients will click the Report Spam button putting your campaigns at risk.

5. Don’t follow customer behaviour

Emails should be sent based on data and behaviour. Inactive users can get a nudge to come back. Active users can get emails about features they haven’t tried yet or emails that inspire them to engage even more. If you want to connect with your subscribers, you have to focus on segmentation in order to deliver data-driven emails. If you don’t want to see results, don’t track customer behaviour and don’t collect information to reach out to them in the most effective ways with the right messages.

Don’t make the lives of your subscribers harder. Close to 68% of online shoppers abandon product purchases just because they have a negative buying experience. We need to create email marketing tactics that delight and engage our customers. Are you struggling with the do’s and don’ts of email marketing? Perhaps it’s time to align your marketing and sales teams and focus on tactics and strategy.