The good news is that people open up our e-newsletters (even if it is to tell us we made a mistake) and know how to share or comment using the social media buttons (to get a live response!). Two big wins for email marketing!
The bad news? In our latest e-newsletter (announcing our change from Constant Contact to Hubspot), the personal token (Dear Firstname) didn't actually add people's first names. This meant that EVERYONE received an email that started with Dear Firstname! How embarrassing! We made a checklist to follow so this doesn't happen to us again, and we thought it might be useful for you, too!
Here Are 3 Ways to Avoid Email Marketing Mistakes
- Check the first name code. Even if you duplicate a previous email, draft versions get messed up. Even after everything worked fine in Draft 1, we didn't catch it in Draft 2. The best practice is always to redo the code and triple-check it!
- Make sure people fill in their first names on contact forms. Check all subscription forms and make sure the first name is 'required' to make newsletters as personal as possible.
- Preview and send it to yourself first. Never simply send it out to your list. Proofread for spelling errors; check your links, and confirm your images are linked to articles.
Learn more about Email Marketing Software like Constant Contact vs. Mailchimp? (Here's what HubSpot can do for you too.)
Start Email Marketing Again Using Better Tools To Create a Successful Campaign
Email marketing is still an important part of your content strategy. Being good at email marketing takes some experience and hits and misses (as we've been through!). It's okay if your past email attempts fell short of your goals. You can reset now and move forward with a new campaign with some help from an email marketing specialist.
