Timely, personalized and hyper-relevant to the reader, automated emails are certainly doing a hell of a job for marketers by saving them plenty of time and money. But having said that, a lot of them are still making mistakes – from not being careful of the smallest errors to painful data problems, some of these can seriously damage your credibility.
When it comes down to email marketing automation, a mistake, no matter how big or small, is the last thing you want. Not only will it turn off your prospects but also negatively impact your efficiency.
1. Forgetting Customer Data
One of the great things about email marketing automation is the volume of customer data that can be put to use for targeted campaigns. These are website and email activity, transaction history, and demographics.
However, despite all the valuable resources at their disposal, some marketers are hardly putting them to use. To segment your email list properly, you need to first review the customer data and then use them to target the customers with the right message and timing. Ensure you’re leveraging all the necessary strategies, such as needs-based, value-based, and purchase based decisions to execute your campaigns successfully.
2. Focusing on the Wrong Metrics
Some marketers tend to get swept up in vanity metrics. While open rates are a good start, the rate of click-throughs, conversions, and subscribes will bring in much more value to your business. And it is also important to look at how well you’re performing on these parameters.
For instance, it’s better to see a 5% conversion with an open rate of 10%, rather than no conversions with an open rate of 50%. Having a 10% open rate means your subject line could use some work, hence, you need to look at your metric realistically and find places where you can add more value.
3. You’ve Become a Spammer
Since automated email campaigns take up less time and energy, it’s easy for some marketers to abuse its use, especially if your metrics are looking good. But this could make you a spammer, and that is the last thing you want as it can negatively impact your business. And that’s why you need to make sure to only send relevant emails to your audiences.
4. Failing to Perform Tests
You must always perform tests to maximize your features in email marketing automation software. Not only will this help in determining which strategies to deploy but also give you more knowledge about your audience.
For instance, can help you compare the various versions of your campaign, be it your subject line, CTA or the landing page, etc. Similarly, also test your emails on mobile, tablet and desktop to be sure that your customers have a smooth experience regardless of which device they use
5. Forgetting to Humanize Yourself
While it is important to ditch the manual process and focus more on important matters, you may be running the risk of becoming too inorganic. Your customers are human and deserve to have genuine communication that doesn’t make them feel like they’re talking to a robot.
Hence, it is always important to and add a personal touch to your messages. In that, you should use triggers so the messages can strongly relate to the recipients.
When it comes to retaining and nurturing your customers, there should be no room for error. Remember that your current customers are much more valuable than the new leads. And to ensure that you do not end up losing them you must think beyond the automated journeys and focus on a more humanized and relevant one.