Email marketing is still a very effective way to communicate with and market to your prospects, however, the rules of the game have changed a bit over the years. Email pieces need to be carefully crafted in order to have an impact. Here we explore some of the key reasons your email campaigns may not be bringing the expected results.

Poor Subject Lines

Email subject lines should be short, personalized and include actionable language that entices the recipient to open it. Assuming your email makes it through to your target’s inbox without being caught in a spam filter, your subject line will likely determine your open rates.

A Lack Of Personalization

Personalization goes far beyond including a prospect’s name and company name. Tailoring your message to speak directly to a potential client and their specific pain points will make your messages more engaging.

No Segmentation

Segmenting your lists to fit certain verticals or buyer personas will allow you to send more targeted content, which will result in better open and click rates as the information will be relevant to all those receiving it.

List Decay

Marketing Sherpa’s research shows that B2B data decays at a rate of 2.1% per month. This is an annualized rate of 22.5%. This means over a fifth of your database is useless within a year.  Failure to update your data can result in deliverability issues as well as wasted efforts.

Poor Design

Much like a blog post, images, whitespace and calls to action will greatly impact the success of your email campaigns. High quality relevant images along with a stellar template will make your content easily digestible and more likely to be clicked on.

No Mobile Optimization

Mobile email will account for 24 to 77% of email opens, depending on your target audience, product and email type. With as many as ¾ of your audience reading email on mobile devices, you had better make sure you’re optimizing them for mobile.

Getting Caught In Spam Filters

Your email may get caught in a spam filter for a variety of reasons. It may be for flagged words and language, too many images, images that are too large, open rates and even replies. Segmenting your audience, providing them valuable content and keeping a close eye on your design can help you to avoid getting stuck in spam.

Too Many Or Too Few

The last thing you want to do is inundate your prospects with multiple emails each week.  Conversely, you don’t want to send too few to where your prospects don’t recognize your brand.  Sending a prospect an email every two weeks will ensure you stay at the top of their mind without flooding their inbox.

No Call To Action

Even if you’ve checked all of the above boxes, your email still may not have the desired effect without some kind of call to action. This may be a premium content offer, a free consultation or a free trial of your product. Every piece of content, from blog articles to email pieces, should contain a call to action.