Top Five Mistakes from Emailvision

UK-based e-mail marketing software-on-demand provider Emailvision has compiled a list of what it claims are the top five e-mail marketing mistakes based on its observations of its 1700 clients.

Here is an edited version of the list:

5) Trying too hard—designing an e-mail as if it was a Web site. Heavy use of flash or java script often doesn’t render properly in the finished e-mail and can be complicated to design. It’s better to keep it clean and simple, according to Emailvision, allowing the reader to click through to a Web site.

4) Adding the wrong return e-mail address—either by accident or on purpose to avoid filtering responses. Replies can provide valuable information from problems with the e-mail to inquiries about the product.

3) Missing information – having a comprehensive and segmented database is fundamental for any e-mail marketing campaign to work properly; there is nothing worse than Dear____ because the first name field is not completed, according to Emailvision. Even writing ‘Dear customer’ is preferable.

2) All image and no text—Many ISPs don’t automatically download images so recipients are left with blank boxes. This makes it hard to track response rates.

1) Stopped as spam – this is the number one fundamental flaw and probably the easiest to fix. Words in subject lines such as WIN A GREAT PRIZE will not get past spam filters.

“In today’s economy, return on investment has never been more important as marketing spend is now analysed and questioned by senior stakeholders,” said Nick Gold, UK managing director at Emailvision, in a statement. “Companies can’t afford to be making such simple mistakes and missing potential sales. The fundamental aims of any campaign should be high deliverability, targeted mailing, maximum click-through rates and basic personalisation – don’t let the e-mail be the reason customers go elsewhere.”