Email campaigns are critical to any effective marketing strategy because they keep you in touch with current or prospective customers throughout their buying journey. Recent statistics have shown that 4 billion people around the world use email, and that over 300 billion emails are sent every day!

A successful email campaign will almost certainly improve the bottom line. In fact, studies have shown that the average return on investment for an email campaign is $36 for every dollar spent. With all of those emails being sent, it’s inevitable that some will be ignored or immediately deleted. With this in mind, what can you do to ensure that your emails are being read once you launch the campaign?

Common Email Marketing Pitfalls

There are several common mistakes that will leave your emails unread.

The first is a bad subject line. The subject line is the first interaction you have with a customer or client, so it’s important to get it right. A bad subject line can lead to a client deleting the email, or worse, reporting it as spam so future correspondence lands in the junk folder.

Spelling or other grammatical errors look unprofessional and can lead the client to think your email is spam.

Another common mistake made during an email campaign is assuming the receiver already knows basic information about your company and your products or services. Put yourself in your client’s shoes when crafting the email.

Images can be an effective tool, but too many images can disrupt the flow of the email. Also, many recipients may be reading with the image settings turned off. If this happens, the pictures will be replaced by a white “Alt text” box. Seeing that over and over will look unprofessional and distract the reader from the central point of the email.

Finally, we now live in a mobile world. Sending emails that are not optimized for mobile pages will confuse and frustrate the recipient.

How to Stand Out and get a ROI

Standing out in email marketing starts with a short and effective subject line. Trying to explain everything in one sentence will not work and may look like spam. Make sure the subject is short and sweet while avoiding phrases that look like they belong in the junk folder. Some of these include “Act Now,” “Affordable,” “No Obligation” etc.

Also avoid using all caps in the subject line. Some clients will feel that you are yelling at them and find it rude.

Make sure that emails are personalized as much as possible. For example, the sender should not show up as “Info@athletics.com.” Instead, it should be a person like “John Smith” or “Emily Thompson.” This also includes sending an automatic welcome email when someone signs up for your campaign. This will let them know that you value their participation and willingness to give you a chance.

When crafting the campaign, make sure to segment the audience based on what their needs are. Sending a one-size-fits-all email to everyone could lose business. Instead, segment your audience and send different emails to different groups of customers. Data has shown that readers are 50% more likely to click on a link in an email if it is segmented.

Don’t worry too much about whether you are sending too many emails. While it’s true that there is a limit to how much correspondence a client or customer wants to receive, 61% say they enjoy hearing from you at least once a week. In fact, 38% say they would like to hear from you more than once a week.

Finally, your email should have a clear call to action (CTA). Think about the reason you are sending the email and reiterate it throughout the message and within the CTA. Use buttons or special links to highlight the CTA and do not bury it too far down the email.

A CTA is the best way to grow your business through the email campaign. Don’t be shy with it.