📧 5 Mistakes Most Businesses Make in Email Marketing
Fix these today to unlock better click rates and conversions 🎯
From: Just West of Otay Lakes
Hey – It's Luis.
Welcome to Day 22 of the 30-Day Writing Challenge!
The digital marketing landscape is constantly changing. Success brings challenges you cannot foresee until you reach the summit and discover where the next peak is. Focus on the gain, not the gap, and look for the path.
Now, on to today's writing...
Every email is an opportunity to strengthen or weaken your relationship with your audience.
Mistake #1: Not Defining Your Target
Who are you trying to reach?
When planning a campaign, you must always have a specific target. Define your target audience: demographically, geographically, culturally, and spiritually. The job is to identify only those most likely to respond to your message within a market.
Focus on those most likely to respond to your offer.
Mistake #2: Not Personalizing Your Avatar
Create an ideal customer profile before you write a single word.
Next, name an Avatar based on the ideal customer profile. Then, start brainstorming and discussing what they might find interesting or relevant. For example, if you were prospecting for customers obsessed with Japanese denim, you could name your avatar Denim Denny, Indigo Ian, or Selvedge Steven. Then, at your weekly marketing meeting, discuss what you've learned about Denny or ideas for content Denny might find interesting.
Your avatar guides every marketing decision.
Mistake #3: Not Segmenting Your Audience
Not all customers are equal.
After building your email list, segment customers with data. Start by creating a VIP segment of your super customers. Next, create a segment of customers by their average order value. As Noah Kagan says, "Email is the most valuable channel because it allows you to own the distribution and communication with your customers."
Now, you can start sending targeted campaigns to your different customer segments.
Mistake #4: Sending Irrelevant Emails
Turn your marketing into a conversation with your Avatar.
"The more relevant your content is to an audience, the more they will be interested in consuming it, and the more reach you'll get," says Gary Vaynerchuk. Focus on messages that align with your brand and deliver real value to your target audience - every email should serve a clear purpose.
Make every message speak directly to your audience.
Mistake #5: Not Repeating Your Winners
Success leaves a clear blueprint for future wins.
As I wrote in Letter 11, David Ogilvy taught us to "Concentrate your time, your brains, and your advertising money on your successes. Back your winners, and abandon your losers." In email marketing, this means identifying your control campaigns - the ones that consistently perform - and using them as your benchmark. Start with proven performers, spot missed opportunities, and then look for ways to improve upon what already works.
Your best campaigns deserve an encore.
Mistakes are inevitable, but learning from them is optional.
P.S. What's your biggest email marketing challenge right now?