Email is a great way to connect with potential clients, but you need to answer the question of what to do when email campaign is not working. Ineffective volume, poor targeting, ineffective content, design issues, social proof / trust challenges, and testing or planning can all lead to an ineffective email campaign. In this blog post, I’ll explore each of these problems and what you can do to fix them.
What to Do When Email Campaign is Not Working
When an email campaign is not working, commonly a combination of the following six issues come into play. It’s important that all elements of your email campaign work together, so as to have an effective result (both for you and your subscribers).
The following issues and how to resolve the problem of what to do when email campaign is not working, seem to be among the most frequent issues voiced.
Poor Audience Targeting
One reason your email campaign might not be working is poor audience targeting. To address this issue of what to do when email campaign is not working, make sure you’re segmenting your list and sending relevant emails to each segment.
There are many types of segmentation that can be used in email marketing, including:
- Demographic Segmentation: dividing customers by factors such as age, gender, or income
- Geographic Segmentation: dividing customers by location
- Behavioral Segmentation: dividing customers by how they interact with your brand, such as those who have made a purchase, those who have abandoned their cart, or those who haven’t interacted recently.
You can also better personalize your email:
- Personalized email content is more relevant to subscribers and more likely to be opened and acted on.
- Emails that are personalized based on user data can improve click-through rates by 14%.
- When customers feel like a business knows them, they’re more likely to trust that business.
- Personalized emails improve conversion rates by an average of 18%.
Ineffective Sending Volume
Another reason your email campaign might not be working is that you’re not sending enough emails (or sending too many). To address this issue of what to do when email campaign is not working, is to find the right balance between too many and too few emails, but if you’re on the lower end of the spectrum, it could be causing your campaign to under-perform. Try increasing your sending volume and see if that has a positive effect on your results.
How often you should send email campaigns will depend on a variety of factors, such as your audience, what you’re promoting, and what your goal is. However, a good starting point is to send email campaigns at least once every two weeks.
The frequency with which you send email campaigns also impacts unsubscribe rates. The unsubscribe rate for monthly emails is 0.03%, while the unsubscribe rate for weekly emails is 0.02%.
Email Content Not Effective
If your email content isn’t effective, it could be another reason why your campaign isn’t working. To answer this specific challenge about what to do when email campaign is not working, make sure you’re creating high-quality content that is relevant to your audience and that provides value. Also, consider using A/B testing to test different versions of your email content and see what works best for your audience.
Subject Lines
The subject line of an email is one of the most important factors in determining whether or not it will be opened. In fact, 47% of email recipients open an email based on the subject line alone.
There are a few ways to improve your subject lines:
Personalize It: Add the recipient’s name or other personal information to the subject line.
Use Numbers: List a number or two in the subject line (e.g., “12 Ways to Improve Your Email Subject Lines”).
Create a Sense of Urgency: Use words like “urgent,” “important,” or “time-sensitive” in the subject line.
Make It Descriptive: Use specific and descriptive language in the subject line.
Keep It Short: Keep the subject line to 50 characters or less.
CTAs (Calls to Action)
Call-to-action (CTA) buttons are a great way to get subscribers to take action. However, if your CTA buttons aren’t effective, it could be another reason why your email campaign isn’t working.
There are a few things you can do to improve your CTAs for this “what to do when email campaign is not working” challenge:
Make them stand out: Use a color that contrasts with the rest of your email and make sure the CTA button is a different color than the rest of your email.
Make them actionable: Use language that encourages subscribers to take action, such as “Click here,” “Download now,” or “Learn more.”
Use persuasive language: Use words and phrases that persuade subscribers to take action, such as “You won’t believe what happened next,” “Download now and get 50% off,” or “act now before it’s too late.”
Email Design Issues
If your emails are poorly designed, it could be causing your campaign to under-perform. This can be a significant issue to fix when determining what to do when email campaign is not working. Make sure your emails are visually appealing and easy to read. Also, consider using a responsive design so that your emails look good on all devices.
If your email design is poor, there are a few things you can do to improve it:
Use a template: Use a pre-made template for your email design to make it look more professional.
A couple resources for email templates (on online search will find even more) are:
Make it simple: Keep the design of your email simple and avoid using too many graphics or fonts.
Use a logo: Include your company logo in the email to make it look more branded.
Don’t rely on an all image email, or a text only email, try using the 80-20 rule.
The 80-20 rule is a design principle that states that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. In other words, 80% of the results come from 20% of the work. This rule can be applied to many areas of life, including email design.
Social Proof / Trust Challenges
If you’re having social proof or trust issues, it could be causing your email campaign to under-perform. To address this what to do when email campaign is not working issue, make sure you’re using testimonials, reviews, and social media mentions to build trust with your audience. You can also try adding a money-back guarantee or other type of guarantee to your emails.
Some things you can do to build trust with your audience include using testimonials, reviews, and social media mentions in your email. You can also try adding a money-back guarantee or other type of guarantee to your emails.
You should also leverage transparency by including the following:
- Adding an unsubscribe link
- Including social media links
- Never using a no-reply email address
- Always including privacy information
Testing or Planning is Not Effective
If you’re not testing or planning effectively, it could be causing your email campaign to under-perform. This is a good element to address for what to do when email campaign is not working. Make sure you’re A/B testing your emails and using data from your tests to improve your results. Also, consider using a tool like Google Analytics to track your email campaign performance and see what’s working and what isn’t.
There are a few things you can do to improve your email planning and testing:
Plan your email campaign: Plan what you want your email campaign to achieve and create a strategy for achieving those goals.
Test your email campaign: Test your email campaign before sending it to your subscribers. This will help you ensure that your emails look good and are effective.
Use data from your tests: Use the data from your tests to improve your email campaign. This will help you improve your results over time.
While not directly related to what to do when email campaign is not working, Google Analytics is a great tool you can use to track your email campaign performance and see what’s working and what isn’t. You can also use this tool’s data to help segment your subscribers and target them with more relevant emails.
Conclusion
Email campaigns can be a great way to connect with your audience and promote your business. However, if your email campaign is not working, there are a few things you can do to improve it, in order to answer what to do when email campaign is not working. Make sure you’re sending the right volume of emails, targeting the right audience, using effective email content, and designing your emails properly. You can also build trust with your audience by using social proof and testimonials. Finally, make sure you’re testing and planning effectively to improve your results over time.
By implementing these fixes, you should be able to improve the performance of your email campaign and get better results.
You can learn much more about what to do when email campaign is not working, by visiting our Small Business Email Marketing posts. As well as find out further about Email Troubleshooting.