I don’t know about you but I’m pretty selective about who gets in my inbox. So when I start seeing things appear that I *know* I didn’t sign up for it kinda drives me bonkers. I was on a mini-work hiatus and upon coming back was inundated by emails which inspired this post.
I bring you:
3 Signs You’re Doing Email Marketing Wrong
Unsubscribe? What unsubscribe? Exactly.
Holding people hostage to your mailing list is not going to get you anywhere. Especially if they never opted-in in the first place.
It’s practically 2014, if you *still* don’t have an unsubscribe button on your email marketing messages you are doing it wrong.
And I’m not trying to be cute. You really are doing it wrong. As in- it’s not legal.
Automatically adding me to your mailing list.
Handing you a biz card at a networking event is not the equivalent of me signing up to your mailing list.
Please, don’t automatically add people. We have to choose to opt-in.
And.. if you’re going to add me to your mailing list (without my permission) let me at least get off, easily, k? (see point one). None of that hit unsubscribe and then ask me to re-enter my email address and then count from 10-1 backward business. Keep it simple.
Email marketing without an email marketing service is not email marketing.
Say that 5x fast.
See point above. Adding hundreds of people to an email message (don’t get me started on the ones that don’t BCC) and telling them about your latest/greatest widget/blog post/sale/telesummit/FINAL OFFER OMG is *not* email marketing.
Stay classy and sign up for a service like Mailchimp (and it’s free).
Do it right or don’t do it all.
And this.
The Email/Facebook/Twitter/’insert other social media’ Bomber
In the history of mankind has this approach ever worked? This is the offline equivalent of a sleazy-car salesman or the telemarketer who is trying to sell you a device that you can plug in to your outlets to ‘save electricity’. I kid you not.
I mean seriously?! I’ve got nothing better to do than vote for a complete stranger..EVERY DAY of OCTOBER. Why not the rest of the year?!. #lesigh
Don’t be *that* guy. Don’t do online what you wouldn’t do in real life. Unless you are in the business of annoying people, it doesn’t work.
Any other email-marketing faux-pas you’d like to share?
Share your rant..err I mean comment below!
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Ok, I love this. I was just doing a big revamp of my newsletter service and I think that this is an important reminder. I mean it is easy to want to take your entire imported contact list and be like…sweet I have somewhere to start from. But there is much more integrity in doing it the right way.
Thanks, Lisa! I think it really depends on how you do it. You can let your existing list know about the upcoming changes and then let them opt-out. If you’d like, I offer complimentary, 15 min “Spark” calls where we can talk it through. Just send me a message here and we can set it up: http://www.sidekickpm.com/get-in-touch/
Great post! The first time I received one of those newsletters from I don’t know where I thought surely I had asked for it in an out of body moment. Then I got the one with the super tiny text at the bottom that said, “How did I get on this list?” I thought that was polite enough until I clicked the link. Then I was stuck on a big landing page for all sorts of newsletters and magazines, none of which I wanted, and none of which explained how I got on the list in the first place. At first, I could not find the “unsubscribe” option, but after I read through all the teeny tiny text at the bottom, I found a “manage your subscriptions” link that eventually allowed me my freedom. Whew!
I signed up for Mail Chimp. I have the free service, and I was led to believe it was very easy to use. It might be easy for someone who already knows the language of email marketing. I don’t find it easy, but it is doable…eventually. I will be back to your site from time to time. You seem to know your way around this world. I feel lost and unhappy when I get close to anything that includes the word “marketing.” I wish I could market by simply setting up a black hole that would suck in my active seekers so I would not need to find them!
Hi Katherine! I totally share your frustration! Somehow I end up on a lot of those lists!
I have been using MailChimp for several years so am quite familiar with it but agree there is a learning curve esp if you are new to the world of online and email marketing. I’d be happy to help- feel free to reach out with any questions.
Amen! Those services are around long enough where people should know about them. To boot, when I was younger, heh, I had a long list of people I thought were interested, and one time I encouraged everyone who’s inbox was bonkers to unsubscribe and a few people did! It helps a lot
It’s all part of growing up, right 🙂 Yep, it’s better to set them free if they aren’t right for what you have to offer and attract more of the right people. Thanks for your comment!
Someone *finally* said it! The contest bomber is the worst! I almost forgot about that one.
Good points. I’ve never had a problem with most lists – nothing as bad as you’ve written at least.
One thing I want to do is give people who’ve downloaded my books, guides, etc. a chance to join my mailing list. The only way I’ve seen to do this in Mailchimp is to add them to a list, then let them unsubscribe. I wish there was a way to give them the opportunity to subscribe, instead.
Know of a way to do this without sending out hundreds of emails?
Hey Tom! Thanks for your comment. I think that as long as you let people know that when they purchase something you will be adding them to a list then it’s disclaimed uop front and they can opt-in after.
Also, is it possible for you to add a link in your ebooks and guides to encourage them to opt-in?
I like your idea of simply letting people know they’ll receive follow up emails from me. Pretty simple solution to that problem 🙂
AH I too have felt the pain of “what the heck is this and how do I stop getting it?!?” I am pretty new to the whole email marketing thing myself and my list is still quite small but I can’t imagine forcing anyone to be there. That would feel like the very last way I would want to get any kind of message out (its not being read then anyway) I use aweber. Its not free. I have been seeing the mailchimp name come up a lot lately. Do you like it better for any reason? Is it the same thing?
Thanks, Kate! I agree- forcing someone to be there is pretty pointless because they will eventually unsubscribe (if they can!).
I personally have been using mailchimp for a long time and am really familiar with it..that being said I know a lot of people who use aweber and are pretty happy with it’s functionality. That being said, it does help that mailchimp is free when your list is under a certain size which definitely helps.
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Completely agree with these email marketing mistakes.
I also feel that these are the most common mistakes which most of the email marketers make. Sending emails with boring subject is very much common mistake.
I never open any email which don’t attract my eyes. I always ignore or delete such emails instantly.
Email marketers should understand that nobody wants to waste their time in reading boring emails. If you really want to convert them then you must have to send emails with having eye catchy, attractive and promising subject line. Because It is the only line which readers read first.
So taking care of it can improve your skills.
I am glad that you have listed all the major email marketing mistakes here so that we can learn them and can avoid them. Thanks for sharing it with us. 😀