Adding to the bottom line is the epitome of business. Demonstrating how your work adds to it is the epitome of marketing. Sometimes marketing's positive effect on the bottom line is immediately apparent and easily tracked - e.g., an email message click through results in the direct sale of a product. Sometimes marketing's positive effect on the bottom line is indirect and delayed, making it much more difficult to track - e.g., the viewing of a social media post builds awareness about a product that later results in the sale of that product when the product is encountered again through organic search.

Part of the reason I love email marketing so much is that, when it's fully optimized to get sales, it's easy to demonstrate how email adds to the bottom line. There's that caveat again: when it's fully optimized. If you aren't seeing that your sales-driven email marketing efforts are adding to the bottom line of your business; quite frankly, you might be making one of these five mistakes.

Avoid These 5 Email Marketing Mistakes:

1. You're addressing the wrong person.

Don't assume you know your potential customer. Do the research to truly know your potential customer based on facts, not assumptions. How?

• Interview or survey your existing customers.
• Listen in on inbound sales and customer support phone calls.
• Review data from past purchases, your customer relationship management (CRM) platform, Google Analytics, and/or Facebook Pixel.

After collecting your information, look for patterns and identify commonalities. Go beyond demographics and try to gather intel about what drove your customers to purchase in the first place. You might be surprised, or your assumptions might be confirmed. If you are surprised, this could explain why your email marketing doesn't get sales - it's because you're writing to the wrong person.

2. You're emailing too often (or not often enough).

As marketers, we're constantly looking to maximize response. However, maximum response doesn't necessarily mean emailing at maximum frequency. If you email your subscribers too much, you'll usually see an increase in unsubscribes. What's worse is, if they don't unsubscribe, they can become unengaged. 

Unengaged subscribers can cause internet service providers to categorize your email as graymail, causing email delivery problems and preventing messages from getting through to any inbox.

On the other hand, if you don't email often enough, you could be missing out on valuable sales opportunities.

So, what's the right formula? Unfortunately, there isn't a secret sauce when it comes to email frequency. But, using common sense, suppressing unengaged contacts from your email list, and applying behavioral and triggered-based email marketing tactics can improve your engagement and unsubscribe rates, giving you more opportunities to deliver email messages that get sales.

3. You're talking about yourself.

It's great that you're excited about your business and/or product. However, your sales-driven email marketing shouldn't talk about your business/product. It should speak to your potential customer. 

Stop telling your email subscribers about your business/product and start showing your potential customers how your business/product can make their lives better. In other words, every email marketing message you send should answer the following question for your potential customer: "What’s in it for me?"

For example, let's say you want to include in your email message a short list of bullet points highlighting the features of your portable battery pack product. To tell your email subscribers about the portable battery pack's features, you could write something like this:

• Measures 2" x 3"
• Works with Android and Apple iOS
• Charges via electrical outlet or USB

To show your potential customer how your portable battery pack's features can make life better, you could write something like this:

• Measures 2" x 3" and fits conveniently in your pocket or purse for quick and easy access on the go
• Works with Android and Apple iOS, ensuring complete compatibility with all your devices
• Charges via electrical outlet or USB, so you can power up almost anywhere

By showing your potential customer the benefits of owning your product, you're clearly answering the question of "What's in it for me?". Because, let’s face it: that's the real question any potential customer wants answered. And, if you answer that question convincingly enough, your email will get sales.

4. You're cramming 10 pounds of stuff into a 5-pound bag.

You want to sell more products, right? So you stuff your email messages with more products, right? Wrong. 

Too many choices can overwhelm a potential customer and lead to a kind of buying paralysis. It's what's known as the paradox of choice (from Barry Schwartz’s book, The Paradox of Choice – Why More Is Less). 

Whether this paralysis stems from self doubt or the fear of missing out on all the other options, by limiting the amount of products in your email, you can reduce buying paralysis and increase sales.

In sales-driven email marketing, this logic should be applied to products as well as to calls to action (CTAs). Too many CTAs can be distracting. But one carefully placed (and carefully worded) CTA can streamline choice and direct your email subscribers to buy now.

5. You're neglecting your landing page.

Even the most perfectly executed, sales-driven email has its kryptonite: a poorly designed landing page.

In sales-driven email marketing, your landing page is your point of sale. Don't lose potential customers by neglecting to optimize your point-of-sale experience. Maintain trust with a seamless transition from email to landing page.

• Ensure your page loads quickly and securely.
• Keep continuity in your message and visuals. 
• Design above the fold - i.e., don't force visitors to scroll down the page.
• Don't overwhelm with terms and conditions - i.e., use a simple link to read in full.
• Use only one, bold button to initiate the purchasing process (again, avoid buying paralysis by limiting choice).

Lastly, be sure to test, test, test! You can test anything from button colors to headlines to find out what landing page components work best to convert your email subscribers into buyers.

In conclusion, sales-driven email marketing is an effective way to add to your business' bottom line. However, like anything, there's a right way and a wrong way to go about it. Every industry has its nuances, but by avoiding the five mistakes outlined above, you can improve your email conversion rates and get sales.

Looking to take your email marketing to the next level? Contact the email marketing professionals at THAT Agency today.