7 deadly sins of email marketing (avoid these)
Jim Hamilton
July 12, 2023
Email is the crown jewel of short-form copywriting.
Studies show it’s the #1 most profitable marketing channel by a country mile.
This is why most companies are willing to lose money acquiring a lead or a customer…
Because they know they’ll make it up on the backend with email.
But the problem is…
Most freelancers and business owners don’t understand the fundamentals of email copywriting or list management.
Today, I’m revealing the 7 deadly sins of email marketing and how to avoid them…
So you can extract more profit from your (or your client’s) email list…
And maximize subscriber lifetime value.
Let’s dive in.
Read time: 3 minutes and 57 seconds
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1) Boring subject lines
Just because someone has opted into your list doesn’t mean they’ll open your emails.
Especially if a free lead magnet is what attracted them in the first place.
Your subject line is the hook…
And you’ve got just 45 characters (not words) worth of real estate to grab their attention on mobile.
So if your subject line is boring, your email is likely headed to the recycle bin.
How to avoid it:
Don’t spell out the name of your newsletter (use an acronym if you must)
Use sentence case or all lowercase (not title case)
Focus on creating maximum curiosity
Use numbers
2) Not disclosing email frequency
Managing expectations is the key to a successful relationship.
If you’re not explicit about how often you email when someone opts into your list…
They may feel tricked or deceived when they see you in their inbox more often than they expected.
This makes it more likely they tune you out or report your emails as spam.
How to avoid it:
Explain how often you’re going to email in your welcome email.
You can even include days and times if you stick to a set schedule.
Bonus points if you add it to your landing page.
3) Not aligning email copy & monetization
There are 3 main ways to monetize your email list:
Ads, affiliate offers, and your own products and services.
And there’s an email copy strategy that aligns best with each one.
For example, a content-driven newsletter like this one is best-suited to monetize with ads.
Less so with products and services or affiliate offers.
Meanwhile, a personality-driven email list like Ben Settle’s or Justin Goff’s is best-suited to sell products and services.
But they’d have a much harder time consistently selling ad space in their emails.
If your email copy and monetization strategies are not aligned…
You won’t get the results you want.
How to avoid it:
Evaluate tradeoffs & payoffs of each monetization strategy
Pick one main objective to focus on
Make sure your email copy strategy aligns with it
4) Not getting to the point fast enough
Email is a short-form medium.
If you waste too much time before getting to the point, readers will abandon you.
Two of my favorite copywriters, Stefan Georgi and Justin Goff, refer to this as “throat clearing.”
Don’t blather on about stuff that isn’t relevant, especially in the lead.
Nobody cares.
How to avoid it:
Make your first sentence as short as possible
If you’re telling a story, start in the middle
Pay off the subject line ASAP
5) Not optimizing visual flow
Over 81% of emails are now read on mobile devices.
And it doesn’t take much to create a big block of text on mobile.
Two sentences is enough to do it.
If you don’t pay attention to the visual flow of your email, then it won’t appeal to the majority of your readers.
How to avoid it:
Focus on single-line paragraphs
Vary your sentence length
Use bulleted lists
Preview before sending
6) Mailing your entire list all the time
Not everyone on your list is actively reading your emails.
And the bigger your unengaged segment gets, the more it hurts your deliverability.
ESPs like Google, Yahoo, and Outlook track your performance.
So if they notice people are deleting your emails without opening or clicking them…
You’ll start to hit Promotions or Spam more often…
Which brings down your opens and clicks even more.
This is why you should not mail your entire list all the time, especially as your list grows.
How to avoid it:
Create engaged segments (30/60/90 days)
Don’t send broadcasts to people who haven’t engaged in 90+ days
Implement a re-engagement sequence for unengaged subscribers
Clean your list regularly
7) Using double opt-ins
A double opt-in is when someone has to click a link in a confirmation email before they can start receiving emails from you.
But guess what?
Most confirmation emails go straight to spam.
So your subscribers never see them… or get another email from you.
And only ~50-60% of the confirmation emails that do hit the inbox ever get opened.
If you’re using a double opt-in, you’re strangling your list growth.
How to avoid it:
Use a single opt-in
Add a checkbox to your opt-in page (optional)
Include instructions on the Thank You page
Prompt a reply to your welcome email
Putting It All Together
Avoid these 7 deadly sins of email marketing to maximize profits:
Boring subject lines
Not disclosing email frequency
Not aligning email copy & monetization
Not getting to the point fast enough
Not optimizing visual flow
Mailing your entire list
Using double opt-ins
Thanks for reading!
See you next week.
Jim Hamilton
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