Why Most Email Marketing Campaigns Are Duds - And What You Can Do About It

by Terry Cane, Guest Contributor

We’ve all done it.

We order a product or service online, and when we’re prompted to sign up for the seller’s mailing list, we hit ‘accept.’ We figure maybe we’ll get something worthwhile out of doing so. Some good deals, insider info, or cool knowledge.

Most of the time, the only thing we end up getting is a series of email blasts which ultimately end up relegated to the spam folder.

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Why exactly does this happen? The people who sign up for such mailing lists should be the most interested and engaged of any customers. Yet time and again, they’re left frustrated and bored.

Time and again, they either unsubscribe or hit ‘ignore.’ 

The problem, I think, is twofold. First, the modern web is positively choked with marketing messages. Everywhere consumers turn, they’re bombarded with brands that are desperately trying to grab their attention through multiple channels. 

It gets exhausting, and eventually, they tune out all but the most interesting, attention-grabbing messages. Everything else becomes little more than white noise. Assuming you’ve spent even a small amount of time on the web, I’ll wager you fall into this camp, as well.

When’s the last time you actually clicked on a banner ad? Found something genuinely interesting in a marketing email? Engaged with branded content on social? 

You get the idea. We’re inundated with ads. The Internet has become the digital equivalent of a busy farmer’s market where every single stall is manned by a screaming boor. 

That’s not the only issue, of course. Far worse is the fact that the vast majority of email marketing is downright awful. It’s irrelevant and impersonal at best, obnoxious and over designed at worst. 

Brands, even those that should know their customers intimately, send out cookie-cutter messaging en-masse. Some send emails far too often, flooding inboxes with advertisement after advertisement. Others reach out so infrequently that most people forget they exist.

Here’s what you can do to avoid falling into either camp. To actually create email copy your customers care about. 

• Know your audience. Invest in Customer Experience Management software. While CRM software is meant to help you learn about people as they move from prospective to converted lead, CEM software helps you consolidate and analyze data about customers after they’ve moved through your sales funnel. Combine this with the audience profiles you’ve already compiled, and start tailoring your messages to their unique interests.
• Don’t be generic. Don’t just send out a single mailer to everyone. Segment your mailing lists based on purchasing behavior, location, and demographics. A customer who purchased a barbeque probably wouldn’t be interested in a sale on floor wax - but they might want to purchase patio furniture. Similarly, you probably don’t want to email someone in North America at 2 AM PST, but someone in Singapore might not mind so much.
• Establish a good cadence. Do a bit of testing to figure out how many emails to send your audience, or better yet, allow them to choose for themselves. Too much, and people are going to unsubscribe. Too little, and you’re not going to get any engagement. There’s a sweet spot. It just takes a bit of time to find. 
• Focus on the customer. Give your emails actual personality, and write them like you’re telling a story rather than shoving a sales brochure at someone. With each word you type, think about what the recipient might want - what would catch your attention if you were in their shoes? 
• Keep it short and sweet. A marketing email shouldn’t be a self-contained novel. A few paragraphs, some images, and a call to action or two are more than enough. As long as it’s well written and gets the message across, it doesn’t need to be long. While we’re on the topic, avoid overly salesy or familiar copy. It comes across as pithy and insincere. 
• Test before you send. Few things can kill a campaign faster than a poorly-formatted email. Always send messages to a dummy account to test how they look before sending them to your larger mailing list. Better safe than sorry.

Email marketing can be difficult to get right. To cut through the noise of the modern web requires dedication, understanding, and personalization. But it can be done.

The first step is understanding what your audience wants. From there, everything else should fall readily into place. 

​Author bio:

Terry Cane is the COO atSEOHost.net, a reliable and supportive SEO hosting partner.

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