We all have that one person we hide from…

Perhaps it’s your crazy ex.

Your co-worker who always pawns off his work on you.

Or even worse…

Your Aunt Donna who always invites herself over to watch her soap operas on your TV (because she doesn't have cable) and helps herself to whatever is in your fridge so she doesn’t have to cook when she gets home.

You laugh now, but you know these people are all too real in your life and there’s not much you can do about them--except maybe arm yourself with some pepper spray or change your locks, but that’s another topic for another day.

Why do I bring these types of people up? Well, because as much as we don’t like to admit it, as business owners, we can quickly find ourselves crossing the line between being a person promoting our content to becoming a crazy Aunt Donna.

And that’s not good for anyone.

Every day I see companies sabotaging their email lists because they cross boundaries they simply shouldn’t.

So today, I’m going to share 5 ways you’re possibly sabotaging your email list so you don’t run the risk of running off your target audience.

Check it out...

Email List No-No #1: Sending Out Too Many Emails

According to HubSpot, “78% of consumers unsubscribe from emails because brands were sending too many emails.”

Are you guilty of this? If so, how many emails should you actually be sending?

Sadly, there’s not really a magic number when it comes to how many promotional emails to send.

The right number actually depends on your brand and your subscriber base.

That being said, here are a few guidelines on how to decide how many emails you should be sending…

• Think about the nature of what you’re offering in your emails. For example, if your offering is more popular at certain times of the year (such as the start of the school year or holiday seasons), then you’ll want to increase the number of emails at that period of time.

• Consider what type of content you are sending people. If you’re only promoting sales emails, then I highly recommend sending no more than 2 emails per week. We’ll talk more about this later!

• Analyze your open rates, subscriptions, and unsubscribes–the data can provide insight into what your audiences email threshold is.

Figure out what’s right for your subscribers and your brand…and the results will follow.

Email List No-No #2: You’re Sending People Super Generic Content

You wouldn’t like it if people referred to you as “employee #2” or friend #5.”

The same concept holds true for your email lists.

People don’t like being treated like just another number. Yet, every day business owners send out unpersonalized, generic content that really provides no benefit to the reader.

When it comes to email marketing, you only have a few seconds to grab your subscriber’s attention and keep him engaged.

So, how do you transform your generic content into something that will actually stand out and hold your reader’s attention? Here are a few quick tips…

• Set up your emails to address people by name.

• Include interesting images.

• Speak to customer pain points.

• Tell stories.

• Add social proof in the form of testimonials.

• Share tips or other valuable info.

Email List No-No#3: All You Do is Sell to People Via Email

Most business owners have a knee-jerk reaction to try and sell with every piece of content they send out to their list.

Stop doing this!

People are sick and tired of being sold too--and I guarantee that if you only sell, sell, sell you’re going to lose your email subscribers.

Instead of selling, try sending out emails that…

• Provide value (tips, tricks, how-to's, etc.)

• Share exciting company news.

• Tell personal stories--people are nosy, they love will learning about you!

Email List No-No#4: You’re Not Providing Value

Ok, ok...so we’ve already kinda hit on this a few times.

But, it’s so important I’m going to say it again.

The emails you send out MUST provide value. You can’t just sell to people all the time.

How do you add value? Here are a few ideas…

• Send out special coupons for loyal buyers.

• Link blog content into your emails.

• Share an eBook, guide, or white paper.

• Give helpful advice.

• Share a heartwarming anecdote.

As Campaign Monitor puts it, “the more emails provide value and interesting material, the stronger the bond between recipient and sender becomes.”

Now ain’t that the truth!

Email List No-No #5: You Email People at the Wrong Time of Day

You wouldn’t wake your partner up at 3 a.m. and ask him/her to do the dishes OR call your employee on a Sunday morning and ask her to complete a big project for you.

At least, I hope you wouldn’t…

Timing is key when it comes to communicating with people. And, if you don’t have the timing right, people will likely ignore you, get frustrated with you, or --even worse-- not even notice you’re talking to them.

When should you send your amazing emails to your list?

According to HubSpot…

• 11 a.m. ET has the highest click-through rate for email sends.

• Marketers who send emails on Tuesdays get the highest open rates.

That being said, I truly believe it’s best to A/B test different times to see what works best for your unique audience.

For the next few weeks, I advise you to test sending your emails out at the times listed below...

• 8 a.m.

• 11 a.m.

• 3 p.m.

• 7 p.m.

Track which emails get the highest open rates, and you should be able to find a time that works best for your audience.

Building an email list can be your greatest asset. Or, it can be a revolving door of acquiring and losing promising leads.

Take these five tips into account, and you’ll find the former to be true.

Best wishes,

Ali

P.S. Need help with your email content and/or strategy? Let's chat! I'd love to lend you a hand!