Top 7 Email Marketing Ailments (And Their Surefire Remedies)

Is your email marketing failing to deliver the results you expected? If so, it may be in poor health. Like a doctor, you need to diagnose the problem before you can apply a cure.

Below, we'll cover the top 7 “bugs” afflicting today's email marketing campaigns. I'll describe each one and present its remedy. By the time you finish reading, you'll know how to ensure your next campaign is in great health.

Ailment #1: Too Many Options Per Message

Most of the emails you send should contain links. The links might direct the reader to blog post, landing pages, sales pages, or to content you've posted on Facebook.

Your goal is to get the reader to click the links.

The problem is, many companies include multiple links in each message. That dilutes the reader's attention. He or she is likely to choose between the links, which means one or more will be ignored.

Cure: Include no more than one link in each email. If you have other content you want the reader to check out, link to it in a separate message.

Ailment #2: Boring

You want subscribers to feel excited about you, your company, and your products. You want them to look forward to receiving messages from you in their inboxes.

So why ruin things by being boring? If you bore your readers, they'll unsubscribe or ignore your messages.

Cure: First, show your personality. Second, master the art of storytelling. Third, speak to the challenges your subscribers are facing. Do these three things and you'll never bore your readers again.

Ailment #3: Impersonal

You're a professional. You may even run a company that's a leader in your market. But that doesn't mean your emails should lack the personal touch.

No one wants to receive messages devoid of charm and charisma. To that end, your subscribers don't want to hear from your company as much as they want to hear from you.

Cure: Let your hair down. Offer your opinions. Describe personal, teachable moments you've experienced in your life. In short, let your readers know who you are as a person. You don't have to be perfect. You just have to be real.

Ailment #4: Not Mobile-Friendly

Your subscribers are as likely to read your emails on their phones as they are to read them on their laptops. That means your messages must be mobile-friendly.

If subscribers are unable to read your entire subject line or have to scroll from side to side to read the content, they'll hit the delete key.

Cure: Limit your subject lines to 30 characters. Display your content in a single column. And think twice before loading up on images.

Ailment #5: Weak Content

Email marketing is a lot like dating. You need to establish a connection with the other person before going for the kiss.

With email, jumping the gun means asking your subscriber to buy something from you before you've given him or her a reason to trust you.

Trust is forged by giving valuable content to your subscriber. Without it, it's tough to make a connection. And without the connection, you'll never get a “second date.”

Cure: Provide practical, helpful content your subscriber can use to solve a problem he or she is facing. Make it actionable to gain his or her trust. Then, and only then, take your relationship to the next step.

Ailment #6: Messages Are Sent Too Frequently

Even your most ardent fans will grow weary if they receive daily emails from you. And once that happens, you can expect your unsubscribe rate to rise and your open rate to plummet.

How often is too often? That depends on your audience.

Cure: Survey your subscribers and ask them how often they want to hear from you. Let them set their preferences. If you'd rather avoid the hassle, send two to four emails per month.

Ailment #7: Messages Aren't Sent Often Enough

If you're not emailing subscribers at least twice a month, you're missing opportunities to build trust, reinforce your brand, and generate sales. You're not as visible to your audience, which means a lot of folks will forget about you.

Some will forget they joined your list and report your once-in-a-blue-moon emails as spam. That will impact your deliverability down the road.

Cure: The cure for this ailment is the same as the cure for ailment #6. Either survey your subscribers or plan to send two to four emails per month.

If your email marketing is coughing, sniffling, and sputtering, it's time to diagnose the problem and apply a cure. Go through the seven symptoms above and test my suggested remedies. It won't be long before your emails are back to full strength, exciting subscribers and driving sales.