Email marketing remains one of the most effective forms of online marketing to date, but if you’re going to be sending your client list emails, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.
One of the most common ways of determining whether your recipients are happy with the emails you’re sending them is to keep an eye on your unsubscribe rate. A recent study by Fluent however, showed that as many as 41% of people never bother unsubscribing.
They simply ignore those emails completely, so a better measure of your email effectiveness is probably to look at things like open rates and clicks.
However, they also found that as many as another 41% do unsubscribe. So if your emails are being ignored, or if you’re getting high unsubscribe rates, take a look at these top reasons people gave:
High Mail Volumes
The frequency with which marketing or promotional emails are sent ranked as the biggest source of annoyance for subscribers. Even a mail once a week was close to being considered “too much” and anything above that, (unless there was a really good reason, like a special announcement or a once-off sale) could lead to unsubscribes or “ignores.”
If you’re going to send mail with a high frequency, make sure your subscribers are aware of it before they even sign up. If they’re expecting it, and still want to receive your mail knowing how often you’re going to mail them, then no problem. If you’re bombarding them on a daily basis though, expect them not to engage much unless they explicitly signed up for a daily email.
Too Much Sales Pitch
Sending sales emails out when people aren’t ready to buy is another reason for people to ignore or unsubscribe. A hard sell email can be annoying enough when you get it once. When every mail is a hard sell, expect your subscribers to run for the hills.
Instead, give your subscribers other reasons to connect with your brand, whether it’s success stories, how things helped people, or whatever is special about your brand or your value proposition.
Not Enough Relevance
It’s hard to come to terms with the fact that the emails you’re spending your time crafting aren’t speaking to your subscribers, but hard as it is to stomach, sometimes it’s just the way it goes.
Recipients are looking for content that’s relevant to them, that can easily be put to use, and that’s original. If your email doesn’t help them fix a problem they have, or fill a need that the experience, then it’s not likely that they’re going to carry on reading about it.
Your content needs to help them accomplish their goals, and that can mean finding out what their challenges are, and offering them solutions.