13 Common E-commerce Email Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

When you have an e-commerce site, establishing a connection with your customers and target audience is essential. Luckily, you can use your email to achieve this.

In case you do not know, approximately 92% of adults use email. And 62% of them use it almost daily.

However, creating an effective email marketing strategy doesn't just come overnight. You need to put in the time, hard work, and dedication to achieve your desired results.

In this post, we'll talk more about the most common e-commerce email marketing mistakes that you need to avoid.

The most common mistake many e-commerce stores make is not sending welcome emails to their new subscribers. Disregarding welcome emails as part of your campaign strategy is a missed opportunity.

Welcome emails help you establish a relationship with your new subscribers. More so if they engaged with your brand.

Without that "Thank you for signing up" email, your brand can become too impersonal. This can discourage potential customers from being loyal to your business.

People will feel that you are only trying to sell your products to them. When, in fact, what they need is to trust you first before making a transaction.

And speaking of establishing trust with your prospective customers, the best email marketing tools can help you.

According to the data by Constant Contact, 62% of email subscribers open their mail using a smartphone or mobile device.

That's why having a mobile-friendly email design isn't just a thing. It's already a requirement.

If your email isn't optimized for mobile devices, no matter how engaging or relevant your message is, your recipients are less likely to open it.

Remember that what looks great on a desktop won't necessarily look good in a mobile device.

So, before sending them, make sure that you roll out a couple of test emails first to check if your email is compatible with mobile.

Another common mistake when creating your own e-commerce site is skipping CTAs or call-to-action buttons.

Remember that the key to success in your email marketing campaigns will depend on the conversions you generate.

Missing out a CTA may potentially cause you thousands of dollars. The last thing that you want to happen is for your sales and revenue to be compromised.

That's why testing is vital. That way, you can catch these errors and make necessary adjustments where it's needed.

Whenever a subscriber receives an email that says a generic hi or hey there, it feels like the mail is not meant for them.

Chances are, if it doesn't talk directly to them, they will ignore it.

That's why when sending out emails, make sure that you include the person's name. It shouldn't be limited with just their name as well.

Personalization can include anything on the content that you curate for your audience.

When you address them in a more personal tone and a personalized CTA, they will engage with your brand. Check out the ways on how to grow your email list.

Just because someone has subscribed to your email list doesn't permit you to spam them.

Keep in mind that an average user who works in an office reads approximately 121 emails per day.

That's why it's no longer surprising that the number one reason why many people unsubscribe from email lists is that they get too many messages.

If you send them too many emails, they would quickly become annoyed with you. You don't want them to associate your website or brand with those feelings, right?

Your main goal is for people to be happy that they've received a message from you, not annoyed. So, we suggest that you limit your posts at least once a week.

Sending emails to people who haven't signed up in your email list is a surefire way to garner a negative reputation.

There are a lot of repercussions that could happen when you send emails without their permission.

For instance, if you have customers that fall under the GDPR, then getting their permission first is necessary. Violating the regulations of the GDPR can result in costly fines.

Most brands and businesses will often write newsletters that are too long.

Your subscribers wouldn't appreciate it if it would take them a while to scroll past.

These emails will most often be quite long because of your content and CTAs as if cramming everything in a single newsletter.

That's why you must keep your message clear and concise.

If you have several products or offers that you want to talk about, you can break it up in multiple emails instead of sending a lengthy one.

That way, your subscribers could digest the content of your email better. And they're more likely going to follow through with the CTA as well.

Sending promotional content in your emails does have its drawbacks.

• Your audience will either tune you out or unsubscribe.


• They won't purchase your items at the full price because they know that there will be promotion sooner or later.
  

That's why you should incorporate your emails with helpful content. Doing so can help you build a more well-rounded approach.

To keep things fresh, you can use user generated content, downloads, guides, and multi-media.

Keep in mind that every business is different. It's crucial to evaluate your content so that your customers will find it more useful. Apart from that, your brand should aim to provide value as well.

If you think there's no need to include text links in your emails, you're wrong.

As we've mentioned previously, not every email should be promotional. Sometimes, these could be in the form of guides, videos, and a lot more.

In the same way, incorporating text links in your emails allows you to gain the highest number of clicks.

If you're not utilizing an HTML email design, you might want to integrate text links in your emails to receive accurate results.

Remember that your email campaigns will only be useful for people who have signed up on your subscriber list.

It won't matter whether you have excellent content, the perfect CTA, or have a professional design. If you only have 50 people to send it to, you won't get your desired results.

Most email lists aren't built overnight, and it requires your time, dedication, and effort.

That's why prioritizing sign-ups is something that you should also be working at.

Another email marketing mistake that you can make is not testing your emails before sending them.

Before launching your email campaign, you have to test it with your team first. MailChimp, for instance, does not allow you to pre-visualize your content. But this tool also allows you to send your email first to yourself to test.

Also, before sending your emails, here are the most critical elements that you need to check:

• Broken links: Are all links functioning correctly?


• Missing/wrong links: Did you miss out including a link or misplace a link instead?


• Typos: Even if you think you have excellent grammar, you might unknowingly commit a typo.


• Social icons: Most email templates include social icons. So make sure that they are working correctly.


• Images: Did you add pictures, and are they loading correctly?
  

Make sure that you (or anyone from your team) check if everything is working well. Make sure that all images, links, and icons are working.

Validation allows you to send a professional email to your audience.

Mistimed messages are like missing the boat when it comes to timing your messages. Doing so can help you get an optimal effect.

Emails offering promotions can unlock significant revenue, but timing plays the protagonist here.

Similarly, cart abandonment emails not only help you salvage your sales. It also provides you with input to improve your process and decrease your cart abandonment rates moving forward.

Having one clear call-to-action will require little thought from your readers. They could either take action on your email or they don't.

If it's relevant, then they're likely going to take action. Call-to's allows you to generate more website visits, sign-ups, and, ultimately, sales.

However, if you provide several offers in your email, it will require more thought from your customers.

The more complicated your emails are, the more stressed they become. The less they're likely going to buy.

That's why keeping things simple is the key to email marketing. A clear and relevant link to a single landing page makes it easier for customers to purchase.

Working on an effective e-commerce email marketing campaign is crucial for your business' growth. When used correctly, this can help you scale your business, have repeat customers, and generate more sales.

If you don't, prospects could quickly get frustrated and leave your site in favor of your competitors.

So, it helps that you follow the tips that we have mentioned in this post. Avoid these mistakes and make the most out of your email marketing campaign.