Are you getting sick of the “how to market your blog by email” articles? Yeah, me too. There’s a good reason for that: there are so many out there! But don’t worry; we’re going to try something different in this one.
We’re going to be talking about common mistakes that people make when marketing their blogs using email the things that people say they do, but really shouldn’t. If you find yourself making any of these common mistakes, this article is going to help you get back on track and improve the way you market via email.
| Takeaways |
|---|
| 1. Segmentation is Key: Properly segment your email list to deliver relevant content to specific audience segments. |
| 2. Clear Call-to-Actions: Use clear and compelling CTAs in your emails to guide readers towards desired actions. |
| 3. Avoid Overloading Content: Don’t overwhelm subscribers with lengthy emails; keep content concise and engaging. |
| 4. Mobile Optimization: Ensure your emails are mobile-friendly for readers who access emails on their smartphones. |
| 5. Test Before Sending: Always test your emails across different devices and email clients before sending them out. |
1. Not Studying Your Target Audience
What Is A Target Audience?
A target audience is the specific type of person or people you want to attract and engage with your blog. For example, if you’re blogging on content marketing and you have an email list that includes potential clients, such as CMOs working in tech companies or marketing agencies, then your target audience would be CMOs working in tech companies or marketing agencies.
How Do I Find Out Who My Target Audience Is?
You can do this by asking yourself: Who would benefit from what I’m writing about? Who has problems that need solving? Who needs information about X topic and how can I provide it for them?
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2. Not Having A Clear Strategy
Don’t think that simply sending out an email each time you have a new post is enough to succeed with email marketing. Have a plan and make sure it’s clear to your readers what your goals are.
If you don’t know why they should be reading your emails, they won’t either. Do you want them to purchase something? Do you want them to sign up for some sort of service? Or do you just want them to keep coming back for more?
Let’s look at an example: You’re writing an email about a blog post on how to make money blogging, but in the process of doing so, all of these other blog posts were mentioned as well and that’s where your opportunity lies! Say one of those links goes directly back out again into the world (and therefore generates revenue).
But if nobody clicks on it…then there goes that potential revenue stream down the drain!
3. Not Having An Email Opt-In Form On Your Website
You should have an email opt-in form on your website.
The opt-in form is the first step to getting more subscribers, so it’s important that you have one. The best place for this is in the top navigation bar, or sidebar if you’re using a blog theme with one.
Make sure that it’s easily visible and easy to use; if someone has to hunt around for your email signup form, they might just give up and leave instead! If possible, make it stand out with something like color or bold text so people can locate it quickly.
When designing your opt-in form try not to be too wordy or complicated; keep things simple and straightforward by describing what signing up will get them (e.g., “Get my FREE eCourse”). You could also mention any additional benefits of signing up (e.g., “Receive my newsletter full of useful tips”).
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4. Only Using A Popup To Collect Email Addresses
One of the most common mistakes bloggers make when collecting email addresses is only using a popup to do so. While popups are great for building lists, they’re not always ideal for signing people up.
If you only use popups, it will take some time before you have enough subscribers to start sending out your emails. This can be frustrating because there is little else that can be done while waiting for more subscribers.
Instead, try adding signup forms everywhere: blog sidebar, the bottom of blog posts, about page, and contact pages as well as in your email signature (if you have one).
5. Writing Generic Subject Lines
Let’s face it: no one wants to open emails that look like this.
What makes you think I want to read about a top 10 list of something I’m not interested in?
But what if you write the subject line so that it actually triggers curiosity, or uses numbers, or uses someone famous’ name?
That’s better. When do you see a subject line like “How To Get Your First 1,000 Subscribers In 30 Days,” your curiosity is piqued: what kind of advice are they giving? Is this something I can use? If so and if they promise such great results—then maybe I should click through and check it out.
6. Not Writing Emails With Intention
If you’re going to be writing emails, then they should be with a purpose. Before you start sending emails out, determine what the problem is and how your solutions will help solve it.
So many of us are so busy trying to figure out what needs to be done next that we don’t have time for reflection on where we’ve been or where we might want to go in the future. But this is crucial for developing a successful marketing strategy: if you don’t know where you’re headed or why, how can you possibly get there?
If this sounds overwhelming, don’t worry! Even small goals are better than no goals at all—and I recommend starting with something tangible like losing weight (which tends not only to make people feel better about themselves but also increase their self-esteem).
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7. Sending Too Many Emails
The last thing you want to do is send too many emails. While it’s important to keep subscribers engaged and interested in your content, you also don’t want to overwhelm them with emails. You should have a goal of sending out no more than one email per week.
You can adjust this number based on how often people are opening up each of your emails and what kind of response rates you’re seeing from various campaigns and offers.
For example, if someone opens up all your emails but never clicks any links or shares any posts, then maybe it’s time for them to go on vacation from receiving emails from you!
But if someone doesn’t open an email for two weeks straight—something that seems unlikely in today’s world—then it may be time for some changes in strategy or frequency before the relationship gets stale altogether.”
8. Failing To Segment Subscribers Properly
Don’t forget to segment subscribers based on their interests, level of engagement with your content, location, and time subscribed.
This is one of the most basic things you should do when setting up your email marketing campaigns. If you’re not doing this already, then you’re missing out on a big opportunity to increase open rates and click-throughs by targeting emails correctly.
There Are Different Ways To Segment Your Audience:
Based on the content they’ve read or watched in the past; a lot of people like receiving relevant information about topics that interest them – especially if it’s from a trusted source like yourself! This is why it’s important to collect data about what people have viewed before so that you can send them more targeted emails in the future.
9. Being Too Sales-Y Too Often
As you’re building your email list, it’s important to avoid being too sales-y. Of course, you want to convert subscribers into customers; that’s why they subscribed in the first place! But if you oversell too often, your subscribers will become annoyed and unsubscribe.
The key is to focus on building trust and a relationship with your subscribers. Provide value with every email—whether that means sharing useful blog content or offering coupons or discounts on products. Use scarcity, urgency, and social proof (i.e., testimonials) in order to increase conversions without turning off potential customers by being too pushy about selling them something right away.
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10. Focusing On Quantity Instead Of Quality
You don’t need to send out a barrage of emails to your subscribers in order to stay on their radar.
A lot of people just send too many emails, and it comes across as spammy. Sending too many emails also risks annoying your readers and driving down open rates, which can lead to an overall decrease in engagement.
Instead, try focusing on quality over quantity this means writing high-quality content that is relevant and interesting for your audience rather than just sending out a bunch of generic newsletters with little value or effort put into them.
If you do decide that it’s time for another newsletter (for example, when you have a new post available), don’t just blast out something vague like “Here’s what I’ve been up to lately!” instead use this opportunity as an opportunity show off how hard you’ve been working!
11. Forgetting To Include A Call To Action (Cta) Every Time
A call to action isn’t just a button that says “Buy now.” It can be an email subject line or a post title. The point of the CTA is to get your readers to do something specific—whether it’s visiting your website, reading an ebook, or signing up for a webinar.
Remember: Your readers are busy, so they don’t want to spend time on emails that don’t directly benefit them. Make sure you’ve got some sort of offer that compels them to click through and act on whatever you’re promoting!
12. Forgetting To Make Your Emails Mobile Friendly
You’re going to want to make sure that your emails are mobile-friendly. This means, first and foremost, ensuring that your content is responsive. You don’t want people who subscribe to one of your lists on their phone or tablet to receive an email that has a video embedded in it—the video won’t play, as it was designed for full-screen viewing and cannot be viewed on devices with smaller screens.
Also, keep in mind that many people now read their emails on their smartphones rather than on computers or tablets (that is why I’m writing this paragraph on my phone right now).
So if the only way they can view the content you’re sharing with them is through an email instead of visiting your blog directly, then they should at least be able to read it comfortably while holding their phone in one hand while they do so!
13. Forgetting To Include Links Back To Your Site In Every Email
Make sure to include links back to your site in all of your emails. This is the best way to make sure that your readers are able to find other posts on your blog and learn more about you. You can also use these links as a way of increasing your chances of getting clicks, which will help increase the amount of traffic that comes into your blog each day.
This also helps with search engine ranking because it makes it easier for Google or Bingbot (or whatever search engine crawls through) to index new posts on your site when they’re published.
As long as you continue adding fresh content regularly, this will ensure that people who come across those old posts in their searches keep coming back over time without having had any reason for doing so other than simply being interested enough in what’s being shared there at any given moment and if that’s not enough justification for why this step matters then nothing else really needs be said!
Crafting emails that resonate with buyer intent is a skill that can significantly impact your sales. Explore our guide on creating a buyer intent email that lands more orders to learn techniques that will turn prospects into loyal customers.
14. Neglecting Social Media In Your Emails And Vice Versa
Social media is a critical aspect of digital marketing, and when used correctly, it can be a powerful tool for driving traffic back to your blog. However, many bloggers focus solely on email when it comes to marketing their blog content. This is a huge mistake!
Email and social media go hand in hand; they’re not mutually exclusive platforms if you’re using one, you should be using the other two (and vice versa). Hopefully, this article has given you some ideas on how to use social media more effectively as part of your overall marketing strategy.
15. Failing To Test Your Emails Before You Send Them Out
It’s important to test your emails for clarity, readability, and accuracy. You want to make sure that there are no broken links, and check for spelling errors.
Also, if possible, make sure your CTAs (call-to-action) are clear and visible. If you have a link with an offer in it that people can’t click on because they’ve been using their phone as a flashlight or as a candle at night you’re going to lose out on sales because of this!
So make sure that before you send out any emails with links in them:
- Test the entire email by sending it out to yourself first (using Litmus or Putsmail). This will allow you to see how the email looks when viewed on different devices like phones vs tablets vs desktop computers;
- Make sure all images work; if they don’t then remove those images from the email before sending it out;
- Check all hyperlinks work correctly by clicking them manually within Litmus/Putsmail;
Conclusion
You’ve learned the pros and cons of email marketing, and how to avoid common mistakes. Email is a powerful way to reach your audience. It can be expensive and time-consuming, but it will help you build relationships with your customers, drive traffic to your website, and increase sales.
You now know what it takes to create an effective email campaign:
- Choose the right offer
- Target the right audience (not everyone!)
- Use a professional tone that keeps things simple
- Write compelling subject lines
- Use strong calls to action in each email
Further Reading
Here are some additional resources to help you dive deeper into the topics discussed:
Common Blogging Mistakes to Avoid: Explore a comprehensive guide on avoiding common blogging mistakes that can hinder your online growth.
Avoiding Email Marketing Mistakes: Learn about the key email marketing mistakes to steer clear of and ensure the effectiveness of your email campaigns.
Blogging Mistakes You Shouldn’t Make: Delve into a collection of blogging mistakes you should avoid to maintain the quality and engagement of your blog content.
Frequently Asked Questions
In this section, we’ll answer some of the most common questions about email marketing.
What Is The Best Way To Collect Emails For My Blog?
You can use a website popup or landing page to collect emails when people visit your site. You can also use popups in email newsletters (or “mailings”) to get more subscribers.
What’s important is that you give people a compelling reason to subscribe something they value in exchange for their email address, like an exclusive coupon code or free access to your new ebook.
How many emails should I send out per month? The number varies depending on what type of business you have and how much time/money it takes for you to write them all up ahead of time (if at all). We recommend aiming for 1-2 weekly emails as a starting point because this allows plenty of time for each one without overwhelming anyone with too much content at once!
Remember: quality over quantity always wins with these things so don’t sacrifice quality just because there isn’t enough time available during one week’s worth either!
You’ve Probably Heard About Email Marketing And How Important It Is For A Business. But What Exactly Is It?
Email marketing is the process of sending emails to your readers with the goal of getting them to take an action (like signing up for a newsletter or buying your product).
It’s also sometimes called “email drip campaigns,” which refers to using automated messages that are sent out over time in sequence—like when you get regular reminders from Amazon Prime days before Christmas telling you what deals are happening on Christmas Eve.
Email automation tools like MailChimp and ConvertKit let you schedule these types of automated messages in advance so they go out automatically when they’re supposed to.
What Is The Difference Between A Blog And A Website?
A blog is simply a website that’s updated regularly with new content (usually in the form of articles). A website, on the other hand, can be anything from an informational site for selling products or services to an online portfolio.
If you’re planning on blogging as your main focus and you’d like to make money off it, then it’s best to start out with your own domain name instead of using WordPress—just keep in mind that this will cost more in terms of time and resources upfront.
How Do I Start My Blog?
There are many different platforms available for building blogs: WordPress (the most popular), Tumblr (best for microblogging), Wix (good if you aren’t tech-savvy), and Squarespace (great design options). If you have no experience with coding at all then I recommend going with one of these because they’re easy to use!
Once you’ve chosen which platform works best for your needs then just follow their instructions from there–you’ll be able to customize everything yourself so don’t worry about getting overwhelmed by all those buttons!
I am a content writer, and I love what I do! Writing makes me feel like the words are flowing through my fingers, and then onto the keyboard, like magic. My experience as a writer has taught me that writing makes me feel good, as well as helps others to feel better too!