Imagine that you’re at a crossroads: Do you continue down the traditional marketing route and waste money trying to get people to pay attention to your brand, or do you take the new digital approach and market your product directly through email?
And here’s where things get tricky.
With so many options for advertising, it’s easy to make mistakes, especially when it comes to email marketing. Many brands opt for email campaigns because they know how effective they can be – but making this decision isn’t always enough; you need a good strategy that targets your audience while creating high-quality content that will keep them coming back for more.
Below we’ve outlined some common pitfalls that marketers may experience on their journey towards email greatness. Read on!
1. Not targeting the right audience
When it comes to email marketing, it’s crucial to target the right audience. If you’re not reaching the people who are most likely to be interested in your product or service, you’re wasting your time and money.
Targeting the wrong audience can have a negative impact on your email marketing funnel. If people aren’t interested in what you’re selling, they’re not going to buy from you, no matter how much you spend on advertising. It can lead to an increased bounce rate, a decrease in paying customers, and a lack of loyal customers.
How to fix it?
If you’re not reaching the people who are most likely to be interested in your product or service, you’re wasting your time and money. And targeting the wrong audience can have a negative impact on your email marketing funnel.
Here are a few tips:
Do your research. Figure out who your target market is and what they want. This information will help you create content that is relevant and appealing to them.
Use segmentation. Segmenting your audience means that you’ll only send certain kinds of content to specific people. For example, if someone has purchased from your company, they should be receiving emails from you about similar products.
Use behavioral data. Behavioral data is based on what customers have done in the past. If they’ve clicked a link or an ad before, it’s safe to assume that they’re interested and might want future updates. Companies like Datalogix and Acxiom collect this information for brands and help them target their audience more effectively with targeted content. The point is: do research and target the right people!
Personalize your content. One way to make customers feel valued is by taking the time to personalize emails based on past activity or shopping history – this shows that you’re paying attention to them and what they’re interested in.
Optimize your time. Take a step back and see if there’s anything you can cut from your workflow. If you find that certain content isn’t helping drive sales, focus on the things that will have a good impact on your email marketing funnel. Prioritization is crucial for optimizing your time so you don’t spend too much of it sending emails no one wants to read. In short: do your research, optimize your time, and segment content appropriately!
Sudipta Gupta, the founder of WebTopic.com, follows up on the issue:
“Many firms get carried away with novel technology during digital transformation and forget that the consumers are the driving force behind the move. These projects are doomed to fail because they tend to focus on technology rather than the demands of actual people – the consumers.
Understanding how customer needs change is critical for business, especially during unpredictable times like a pandemic. Customer-centricity and a customer-centric attitude are essential.”
2. Focusing on quantity over quality
When it comes to email marketing, it’s important to focus on quality rather than quantity. If you’re only sending out low-quality content, people will quickly lose interest in your brand and you’ll see a negative impact on your email marketing funnel.
Quality content is key when it comes to email marketing – after all, you want people to be interested in what you’re selling, right? If they’re not interested in what you have to say, they’re not going to buy from you.
How to fix it?
Be consistent. Sending out useful, valuable content on a regular basis will help you establish yourself as an expert in your field and keep customers interested in you and your products.
Get feedback from people who already know & like you. Your clients are the most important thing – make sure to ask for their input on whether or not they think your emails are high quality! If they say no, take another look at what you’re sending them and see if there’s anything that can be improved upon.
Don’t be boring! Create content that is unique, fun, and exciting – this will keep readers interested and wanting more.
Track your results – and adjust accordingly! The number of emails that people want to receive each day or week will vary: some might want daily updates while others find that once a week is sufficient. It’s important to track how many people open and click through your emails so that you know if they’re opening them at all – this should let you figure out how often (if at all) you should be sending out emails to maximize your results.
3. Sending irrelevant content
Similar to the previous mistake, sending irrelevant content can damage your email marketing funnel as well as erode trust between you and your customers.
People don’t like it when they’re not getting something that’s useful to them, and if they’re bombarded with emails about topics that aren’t relevant to them or their interests, they might end up marking your emails as spam.
Keep in mind: sending out irrelevant content is a surefire way to kill your email marketing efforts!
“In B2B, the most challenging part is creating a funnel that resonates with possible clients regardless of the customer journey stage they’re at.
This happens because, in B2B, the customer journey takes a long time. From awareness to conversion, there’s a lot a possible client needs to figure out,” says Eulises Quintero, Content Manager at Titoma.
How to fix it?
Again, research is key here! Sending relevant content means that you’ll be able to create an image of what individuals are interested in – whether they’re fans of certain products or genres – which will help you tailor the information that you send out to each person. This means that you’ll be able to stay top-of-mind and ensure that customers remember your brand when they’re in the market for certain products.
4. Poor design and formatting
Poor design and formatting will hurt your email sales funnel efforts, especially if people are opening your emails but not clicking through.
If your design is cluttered or unprofessional, people are going to be turned off from your content and might not even bother reading it. Additionally, if your formatting is off, people might not be able to read your email properly and could end up clicking on something that they didn’t mean to. This can lead to a negative experience for the reader and could damage your relationship with them.
How to fix it?
Formatting is important for readability. Plain text may look nice on the surface, but it doesn’t have much visual appeal to it, which can mean that readers won’t take any action on what you’ve sent them!
Ensure that there’s sufficient padding between each line so that content is easy to read. To give yourself more space to work with, use a smaller size font – you’ll be able to fit more words or details into less space this way!
You should also use different colors of the text so you don’t have huge blocks of white space when headers appear in front of paragraphs. Fonts matter as well – if you’re using a serif font, do not use the same one for your headers as you would for your body of text.
Make sure that your brand is easily identifiable on everything that you send – from the colors that you choose to the images that appear within your emails, be certain they stand out and have a consistent look throughout every piece of content!
5. Ignoring unsubscribe rates
If people are unsubscribing from your email list, it’s a sign that you’re not providing them with the content that they’re interested in. This means that you’re not only wasting your time by sending out emails that no one is opening, but you’re also damaging your relationship with potential and existing customers.
Unsubscribe rates can give you insight into how people are responding to your content – if you notice that there’s a sharp increase in them or that they’re happening at an alarmingly high rate, you should reevaluate what kind of information you’re sending out. This will help prevent churn within your email marketing funnel!
How to fix it?
It’s important to take a look at your unsubscribe rates and figure out why people are leaving your list. Are you sending out too many emails? Are the topics irrelevant? Is the design unappealing?
Once you know why people are unsubscribing, you’ll be able to make the necessary changes to ensure that people want to stay subscribed to your list. This might mean tailoring your content to certain groups or redesigning your entire email list so that it reflects your brand consistently.
Additionally, if there are fewer people on your list, each email you send out will have a greater effect and those who are receiving your emails will be those who are more interested in what you’re sending.
6. Not testing campaigns before sending them live
One of the biggest mistakes that marketers make is not testing their campaigns before sending them live. This can lead to a lot of problems, such as people not opening your emails, clicking on the wrong link, or unsubscribing from your list altogether.
To avoid these problems, it’s important to test your campaigns thoroughly before you send them out. This means checking to make sure that all of your links work properly and that the formatting looks good on different devices. You should also send out a test email to a small group of people to see how they respond.
If you find that there are any problems with your campaign, you can fix them before sending the email to a larger audience. This will help ensure that your email marketing funnel is successful!
How to fix it?
It’s important to test your campaigns before sending them out. This will help you avoid potential issues, such as people not clicking on links or unsubscribing from your email list.
To do this, send a test email to a small group of people first. This way, you’ll be able to catch any problems that might happen and make adjustments if necessary before sending them out to the public.
This doesn’t mean that you should only send one test email – try testing your campaign two or three times with different IP addresses each time. Different IP addresses are considered separate entities, which means they may receive emails at different times or at different intervals than another IP address would. It’s also a good idea to test your campaign multiple times, from different locations and at different times, because this will give you more insight into how it functions.
7. Automating everything without considering personalization
One of the biggest mistakes that marketers make is automating their email marketing without considering personalization. Automation can be a great way to save time and streamline your process, but if it’s not done correctly, it can hurt your email marketing funnel efforts.
When you automate your emails, you’re sending out the same content to everyone on your list. This can be a problem because people want to feel like they’re special and that they’re receiving personalized content. If they feel like they’re just getting the same thing as everyone else, they’re more likely to unsubscribe from your list or stop paying attention to your emails.
Additionally, automation can lead to fatigue. If people are getting the same content over and over again, they’re bound to get bored eventually. No one wants to read the same thing on repeat; it’s monotonous and will likely put people to sleep!
How to fix it?
To avoid these problems, you need to consider personalization before you automate your emails. Personalization can help ensure that each email you send out is relevant, interesting, and unique. By adding some creativity into your automated process, you’ll be able to connect with your audience more effectively and build a positive customer relationship with them.
8. Relying too heavily on templates
When it comes to email marketing, templates can be a great way to save time and create a cohesive look for your campaigns. However, if you rely too heavily on templates, you’ll end up hurting your email marketing funnel efforts.
Templates are helpful because they ensure that all of your content is aligned and looks professional. However, they can also be a hindrance because they make your campaigns seem impersonal and bland. People want to feel like they’re special and that they’re receiving personalized content, and if they feel like they’re just getting the same thing as everyone else, they’re more likely to unsubscribe from your list or stop paying attention to your emails.
Additionally, if you rely too heavily on templates, you’ll end up cutting some corners. While templates are useful, they don’t always include the most current information – but if you send out outdated content, your readers are more likely to unsubscribe or click away from your campaigns.
How to fix it?
To avoid these problems, use templates sparingly. Make them more of a starting ground than an end-all solution by customizing them so that they suit your brand and help you create compelling content. You’ll be able to save time while maintaining your professional image at the same time!
Instead, try personalizing your content as much as possible. This makes it more relevant to your email subscribers and helps you stand out from the crowd. You can also experiment with different formats and strategies to see what works best for your audience. By taking the time to carefully craft your marketing message, you’ll be able to improve your email marketing sales funnel results!
9. Not tracking results or analyzing data within your email funnel
If you’re not tracking the results of your email marketing campaigns, or if you’re not analyzing the data you’re collecting, you’re going to hurt your email marketing funnel efforts. Without this information, you won’t be able to make informed decisions about how to improve your campaigns and will likely see lower engagement and lower conversions.
The most important thing to do when it comes to email marketing is to track the results of your campaigns. By analyzing this data, you’ll be able to determine which strategies are most effective for your audience and which ones need more work.
Without this information, it’s impossible to know what’s working and what isn’t, so the only option you have is to keep trying new tactics. While this can be effective in some situations, it might not work as well for others, so it’s important to pay attention to your data and experiment with different strategies if necessary.
Mile Zivkovic, Head of Content at Better Proposals, adds:
“I would say that tracking performance metrics accurately is a common issue with marketing funnels. The first thing you need to do is determine your KPIs and make sure you know how to measure them. Pay attention to your click-through rate, traffic, number of new leads, cost per conversion, and the length of your sales process.
Keep an eye on them and make sure to change your KPIs as you reach your short-term goals for a better-optimized performance.”
How to fix it?
To avoid these problems, track the results of your email marketing strategy on a regular basis. Use email marketing tools or Google Analytics to determine how many people are opening your emails and which links they’re clicking. If you aren’t seeing a minimum number of opens or clicks, then you know that something needs to change! Just make sure that every campaign complies with CAN-SPAM regulations.
In addition to tracking your results, be sure to analyze them as well. This will help you see what’s working and what isn’t so that you can make adjustments quickly rather than having to test things for a long time. You’ll be able to improve your email marketing funnels in no time!
10. Bumpy customer journey
If you’re not taking the time to create a good customer journey, you’re going to hurt your email marketing funnel efforts. A faulty customer journey will lead to people unsubscribing from your list, clicking away from your campaigns, or simply not paying attention to your emails. This means that you’ll miss out on potential customers and sales.
The most important part of email marketing is creating a smooth customer journey. This means that you need to take the time to understand your audience and what they’re looking for. You also need to design a buyer’s journey that will lead them through your sales funnel – from the moment they subscribe to your list until they become a customer.
If you’re not doing this, you’re going to run into problems. People will unsubscribe from your list, so you’ll lose potential customers. They’ll also ignore the emails that you send to them, which means that they won’t click through or buy anything.
The top of the funnel is often one of the most prominent issues of eCommerce. Admir Salcinovic, Marketing Manager at PriceListo, notes:
“The first priority for a marketing funnel is earning traffic. The inability to bring in sufficient traffic for an eCommerce website is a Marketing funnel issue. An eCommerce platform that does not bring in enough visitors to the website on landing pages will likely not have sufficient subscribers. Fewer subscribers leads to sales that are Insufficient enough to keep the business above water. As a result, fixing traffic issues should take priority over any other marketing funnel issue.”
How to fix it?
The best way to avoid these problems is by creating a proper customer journey. You do this by taking the time to understand your audience and what they want – as well as what makes them subscribe to your list in the first place! In addition, make sure that every campaign has a clear call-to-action and consistent branding for optimal results!
By following these tips, you can ensure that people continue subscribing to your email marketing campaigns and that each one helps you generate more sales. This will create a positive customer journey, which will improve your email marketing strategies for higher engagement and conversions!
Marketing funnel stages have their own nuances and challenges. Knowing what they are, you can take appropriate action to prevent problems from arising.
Admir follows up with another solution:
“To solve traffic issues, leveraging good SEO practices through blog content is the ideal start. Doing this, more visitors will likely end up on your websites when searching for a topic related to your business. You can also leverage social media to reach your target market. Since most of your target audience are available on popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, you can create entertaining and educative trends, and contents that drive engagement with your brand and increase traffic.”
11. Poor opt-in forms and landing pages
One of the most common mistakes that marketers make is having a poor opt-in form and landing pages. This can hurt your email marketing funnel efforts by causing people to unsubscribe from your list, click away from your campaigns, or simply not pay attention to your emails. This means that you’ll miss out on potential customers and sales.
Common mistakes include using poor opt-in forms and landing pages that are difficult to navigate or don’t match the look and feel of your website. In addition, many marketers make the mistake of not including a call-to-action or asking for too much information from their visitors.
How to fix it?
To avoid these problems, use opt-in forms that are easy to fill out and match the style of your website. Make sure that your landing pages are well designed and easy to navigate, and be sure to include a clear call-to-action so people know what you want them to do!
By doing this, you’ll be able to collect email addresses in a much more efficient way.
“You need to assess if you have a sales page for that particular product or if you’ve sales videos, sales letters, and demos. Hence, build the sales page, and promote it,” comments Cindy Corpis, CEO of SearchPeopleFree.
Conclusion
Email marketing funnel building is hard but with the right tips, you can build one that works. You’ll need to take time understanding your audience and what they’re looking for – as well as how they interact with your brand on different channels like social media or through a landing page. Once you understand this, you can create a positive customer journey that will improve your email marketing strategies for higher engagement and conversions!
You may be interested in: Why Your Business Should Have A Marketing Funnel
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