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    Common Email Marketing Problems & How To Solve Them

    Written By Jason Rowse - Digital Marketing Expert

    Updated: 09/05/2021

    Email marketing records an ROI of over 3800% according to figures calculated by creative agency Imagination, helping cement it as among the most profitable marketing channels for small to large businesses alike. 

    Still, did you know over 20.4% of all emails are undelivered? 

    On top of it, beginners end up making several mistakes that lead to irreparable losses. 

    Read on to discover common email marketing issues and the methods available to resolve them expediently. 

    How Do I Get Subscribers?

    Getting a large number of people to sign up for your email newsletter isn’t a cakewalk. That being said, the following techniques are designed to help your subscribers spot the value in joining your list.

    • Upgrade the subscription process by making it easy for customers to find, navigate, and use the email sign up form
    • Mobile optimization is crucial given over 81% of today’s emails are viewed on mobile devices. You can increase total subscribers by tailoring the message content for such devices 
    • Referrals work when you encourage subscribers to share your newsletter with their friends and family 
    • Incentives such as clearance sales, introductory offers, discounts, gifts, and giveaways are ideal for expanding your followers  
    • Call to action sentences or phrases can transform readers into fans. Moreover, emails with one CTA increase the purchase rate by as much as 1617% according to Wordstream

    How Often Do I Send Emails? 

    Did you know over 43% of customers want businesses to send lesser email messages? The frequency at which your competitor sends email messages might not be the right number for you. The following five parameters will help you determine the right frequency to send emails. 

    • Based on the objective, such as whether you want them to buy from you or explore the brand 
    • On the basis of the customer type, such as increasing the number of direct emails for subscribers with low responses to improve the engagement rate
    • Based on the different campaigns that are designed with respect to the needs of your customers 
    • Based on varied triggers such as ‘added one product to cart’, ‘wishlisted an item’, and so forth to tap into behavioral marketing 
    • Based on the analytical data, a re-engagement campaign can engage inactive subscribers whenever they open or click on your message

    What Are The Best Ways To Customize My Emails? 

    If you’re seeing low engagement or conversions from subscribers, your email content may not be meeting the expectations of your readers. 

    Here are five ways to personalize your email for converting the reader: 

    • Stop using generic language and skip over clichés. Instead, create a personal email that delivers the appropriate tone for the reader  
    • The design should revolve around the brand colors, themes, and characteristics appreciated by your target audience to influence them properly
    • Branding tools like a logo, tagline, or motto look professional when used as the header for business emails 
    • Lack of relevance in your content can trigger readers to unsubscribe
    • Personalization of the subject line is crucial to catch the attention of readers. For example, adding the name of the user to the email subject line increases the open rate by 20% and sales by 31% according to Neil Patel    

    How Do I Follow My Progress? 

    One of the irreplaceable errors that can cost you dearly is forgetting to keep a tab on the performance of email campaigns. Take a closer look at seven valuable metrics that can help identify problems in your email marketing. 

    • If you see a high unsubscribe rate, it means your email marketing campaigns are running poorly. The solution is to work on your sales funnel 
    • A low open rate is an indication that the subject line isn’t winning. Accordinately, you can test different versions to get around this issue
    • When you notice a low click rate, it’s an indicator that your content isn’t resonating with the readers. Try to compare the click rate of your email campaigns with industry standards 
    • A poor active ratio shows a lack of engagement amongst your subscribers, which can be resolved by introducing incentives
    • Marketers who notice low post-click activity must conclude their campaigns don’t match the business objectives. Work on your call-to-action button or sentence in such a case
    • Delivery rates below 95% are a sign that you need to use double opt-ins 
    • A high rate of spam complaints is evidence of irrelevant content or inappropriate segmentation. It can be resolved by enhancing permissions 

    Bottom Line 

    Business owners can increase subscribers by optimizing the subscription process, incentives, and CTA. Determining the correct frequency helps you improve the engagement and conversion rates of your messages. When you personalize the content, ROI increases even further. 

    Get started right away by checking your progress via unsubscribe rates, open rates, click-through rates, delivery rates, post-click activity, or other similar metrics.