Stop Doing THIS In Your Email Marketing

Explicit content warning

12/01/21 • 23 min

2 Listeners

We see people follow bad email practices all the time. And you know what? Doing the stuff we're going to talk about here holds you back from doing better and more effective email marketing and getting the results you want in your business. So are you ready to find out what the top email marketing mistakes you're making (and stop doing these things... yesterday?!)

SOME EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

(3:10) Our incredible Keap offer!

(6:16) Stop worrying about open rates.

(7:07) Why open rates are wrong.

(8:37) Stop using RE: or FW: in your subject lines.

(12:42) Stop making it difficult for people to unsubscribe from your list.

(14:16) Stop letting your subscribers down.

(16:00) Stop using misleading subject lines.

(17:13) Stop adding so many images to your emails.

(19:33) Why emails with lots of images have worse delivery.

(21:21) Subject line of the week.

Stop worrying about open rates

The first of the email marketing mistakes that a lot of people make is paying too much attention to open rates. Sure, this is a metric that all email marketing platforms share with you, and it's an obvious one to check.

But that number is wrong.

First of all, you probably assume that your open rate should be higher than it is. You see 34% and think it's rubbish, but actually, that's a really respectable open rate. So it's important to be realistic here.

But most importantly, open rates cannot be tracked properly, so they're just plain wrong! Some Android devices are already blocking the ability to track open rates, which means your emails are showing us unopened when they probably aren't. And on Apple, they’re being shown as open even if they aren't.

As more and more platforms like Apple iPhone release privacy updates that block that tracking even more strictly, the open rate metric you're looking at gets less reliable by the day. And you can't be improving a wrong number!

So let's go with this - open rates don't matter. Because you can't track them and you can't measure them, you can't work on growing them! It's like trying to follow a map with a blindfold on - you can't see the map or your feet! So pleeeeease stop obsessing over open rates.

(Oh, and by the way, yes you do want people to open your emails, read them, click on the link, and buy. So stick to the best practices that can help you improve your open rates. But forget about the number!)

Stop using RE: or FW: in your subject lines

Okay, everyone needs to stop adding a fake RE: or FW: in subject lines to make it look like the email was a reply or it was forwarded when it clearly wasn't. These things are dodgy, scummy, and dishonest. And by far this is one of the biggest and more damaging email marketing mistakes we see people make.

You see, stuff like this might trick people into opening your emails, but please can we all stick to doing things that are effective and ethical?

Let's remember that you want people to open your emails because they see your name popping into their inbox, they know who you are and are excited to read what you have to say. When our subscribers see emails coming from Rob//Email Marketing Heroes they know it’s going to be a funny, interesting story with a valuable lesson (and an offer) in it.

So let's stop trying to build relationships with people based on bullshit. We want to get people excited, show value, and make sales. But we don't want to lie to them and make them feel ripped off. Because trying to trick your audience into thinking they're already in a conversation with you by mimicking a real, transactional email is the kind of stuff that creates resistance around buying stuff online - and specifically from emails. It's because of email marketing mistakes like these that, as marketers, we all have to work harder to make the sale. And if you're doing this because you see everyone else is, please, just STOP.

Of course, when it's a genuine response and you've started a real conversation with your subscribers, by all means, carry on. But don't place that RE: or FW: there intentionally to trick people into thinking something that isn't true. Not cool.

Stop making it difficult for people to unsubscribe

Years ago, you'd see people adding a huge amount of lines between the end of their email and the unsubscribe link that's automatically generated at the bottom of all your emails. And we see that some people are still doing that. Please stop. If you're doing this, it's one of those BIG email marketing mistakes you want to stop making.

If people want to unsubscribe from your emails, just make it easy for them. Because if you don't let them go, they're not going to suddenly start liking your emails! They'll only get annoyed. And then they'll hit the spam button. ...

SOME EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

(3:10) Our incredible Keap offer!

(6:16) Stop worrying about open rates.

(7:07) Why open rates are wrong.

(8:37) Stop using RE: or FW: in your subject lines.

(12:42) Stop making it difficult for people to unsubscribe from your list.

(14:16) Stop letting your subscribers down.

(16:00) Stop using misleading subject lines.

(17:13) Stop adding so many images to your emails.

(19:33) Why emails with lots of images have worse delivery.

(21:21) Subject line of the week.

Stop worrying about open rates

But that number is wrong.

Stop using RE: or FW: in your subject lines

You see, stuff like this might trick people into opening your emails, but please can we all stick to doing things that are effective and ethical?

Stop making it difficult for people to unsubscribe

Previous Episode

How to Create Urgency For an Evergreen Membership or Course Without Product Launches

We know that human beings buy based on urgency. That’s why sales like Black Friday do so well – because the sale is ending soon, and the opportunity is going away. But does urgency only work if you take a product off the market? What happens if you want to keep your membership or course open all the time and avoid the stress (and all the work) that comes with product launches?

We do that. Our membership, The League, is always open. And today we want to share some strategies to help you create urgency (and make those sales!) without closing the doors.

Ready to find out our best-kept secrets?

SOME EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

(3:55) Why we keep our membership open all the time.

(8:16) Use event-based marketing.

(10:42) Add a limited-time bonus.

(11:25) Increase the price.

(13:30) Include topical bonuses.

(15:06) Create personal urgency.

(18:00) Automate your email campaigns.

(20:10) Use the Complete Email Marketing strategy.

(22:30) How to fix the timing issue in your marketing.

(24:22) Subject line of the week.

Why do we keep our membership open all the time?

In our membership, The League, we don’t do product launches. We don't open the cart for a few times a year and then close the doors again. We keep it open - it's an evergreen product.

Why do we do that?

Because, first of all, it helps take the pressure off doing proiduct launches a few times a year. But also, we strongly believe the reason we’re in business is to help people. Our customers have a problem, and we have the solution. And what would happen if people needed our help when we're closed? That's not very good, is it? Is it okay to tell people you can’t really help them right now because you only do so on your own agenda? In our book, it’s not okay. We don't like doing that because we’re genuinely here to help people when they need help.

But we know that people respond well to urgency. And if you don't do product launches at all and never close the doors to your course, programme, or membership, then what can you do?

You need to make your marketing urgent.

And here's how you can do that.

Use event-based marketing

The first thing you can do is something called event-based marketing. This means creating ‘events’ around your marketing. So you can run campaigns that take the customer on a journey for different types of events. Examples of this could be a 5-day free challenge or a virtual summit where you sell your product as part of it, or a splinter offer, where you take something out of your membership, for example, and sell it as a one-off thing.

Your job is to find interesting and different ways to wrap up your offer to create an event. So for example, if you're running a 5-day challenge, that has urgency built into it because it only runs for those 5 days. And if people miss it, they can’t join until you run it again. Does it mean that after the challenge is over, they won't be able to get into your membership or join your programme? Not at all. That stays open. But the challenge helps you create momentum. When people participate to the challenge, they follow your teachings and advice for 5 days and now feel like joining your programme is the next logical step.

Of course, there are many different ways to create urgency for your evergreen product through event-based marketing. We have over 20 campaigns that help us do this, and they're all available inside The League.

Add a limited-time bonus

Another strategy you can use is to add a limited-time bonus that you give to people who join before a certain date, for example. This could be a coaching session, an extra course, or some cheat sheets – your pick. The key is that these bonuses are only available for a limited time. This allows you to tap into the emotional response that human beings have to urgency. Because if your audience wants to grab this thing you're offering, they have to join by a certain deadline.

Increase the price over time

Something we do in our membership, The League, is to increase the price once we hit certain milestones. We did that when we reached 100 members, for example. When we're about to hit a new milestone we email our list and let them know we're increasing our prices.

We then give them three days to join our membership at the existi...

Next Episode

Membership Retention to Multiply Your Income, with Liz Beadon

Ever wondered why retention is important in your membership? If you're focusing all your energy on acquiring new members, you want to know what our friend Liz Beadon has to say. Having worked with big brands like Virgin and Samsung, Liz is a retention and loyalty strategist. She works with membership and subscription site owners to help them improve their customer experience and retention rate and to grow their business.

If you don't have a retention strategy just yet, you definitely want to know about Liz's framework (it's full of R's!)

Ready?

SOME EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

(3:20) Did Liz meet her husband the day she spilled a drink on him at the theatre?

(4:53) Why is retention important for your membership?

(6:45) How do you know if you have a retention problem?

(8:20) Does retention play a part in your onboarding experience?

(10:42) Step 1 - Receive.

(13:36) Step 2 - Reveal.

(16:32) Step 3 - Refer.

(20:12) Step 4 - Report.

(22:14) Step 5 - Review.

(25:30) Subject line of the week with Liz Beadon.

Why is retention important for your membership?

Running a membership is a great business model - you have lovely members who pay you every month and a regular income.

But none of it is possible if you don't nurture your customer relationships. Because when you have a membership site (or any kind of subscription service) retention is key for profitability and revenue.

When do you start nurturing loyalty in your membership?

If you want to get technical, the process of nurturing loyalty starts with your acquisition methods. You need to make sure you're acquiring the right kind of members.

But in terms of nurturing the relationship, this includes everything from the sales process to that first impression when they hit your membership site and see the welcome area. Liz calls it "a bit of an orchestra of experience to deliver that great first touch". We love that.

How do you know if you have a retention problem?

A lot of membership site owner will mostly focus on the acquisition of new members. But not many know whether they have a high turnover of members. Do you know how many people, month-on-month, leave your membership and cancel their subscription?

There are two different ways that you can look at this.

Your monthly churn, i.e. what percentage of your members leaves every month.
Or (and Liz thinks this is more valuable) your cancellation rate, which is calculated by working out the percentage of people who are still there on month 1, month 2, etc. This gives you a great idea of when you might be seeing an increase in churn and tells you whether you have a retention issue at a specific part of the lifecycle.

Of course, if you find you're losing more members than you are acquiring, you probably need to shift gears and focus on your retention strategies.

Does retention play a part in your onboarding experience?

When people first join it’s important to create a really good experience so they feel they're being guided through a process. However, you want to be careful not to overwhelm your brand new members by sending way too much stuff by email.

You want to properly onboard your members to make sure you're delivering a great experience and at the same time flag anyone who might be at risk of churn. And the best time to do this is right at the start. Because one of the most exciting times of someone joining your membership is the day that they subscribe. But that excitement naturally fatigues over time.

So when onboarding your members, put the most important content at the start of the lifecycle and ensure you deliver a tangible win for your members within the first 2-3 weeks. Because that's the amount of time you have before someone considers cancelling.

Typically, the first month sees a massive cancellation spike, so your first 2-3 weeks are an imperative point of the lifecycle to show the value of your membership. If they don't see value immediately (and either don't use the content or don't understand the membership), they will cancel. This is why thinking about retention in your onboarding process is crucial!

Step 1 - Receive

Liz uses a simple 5-step framework that highlights the checkpoints every membership owner should consider when delivering a best-in-class, memorable onboarding experience.

The first step is Receive. This is all about making sure you're warmly welcoming your members through that initial email, where you include all the key information.

How much information is too much? Keep it as short as it can be but as long as it needs to be. Call out the key elements of the membersh...