The document provides 11 reasons why email marketing may not be effective and provides suggestions on how to fix each issue. Some key problems identified include not segmenting email lists, not testing emails, not automating email marketing, having newsletters that sell products instead of providing value, emails not being mobile-friendly, lacking calls to action, emails being too long, using the same subject lines, and not tracking email analytics. The document recommends fixing these issues by segmenting lists, A/B testing, automating triggered emails, focusing on value over sales, making emails responsive, including clear calls to action, shortening emails, varying subject lines, and monitoring email metrics.

1. 11 Reasons Your Email
Marketing Sucks
(and 41 Ways to Fix It)

2. 1. You're not SEGMENTING
your email list.

3. Here's how to fix it:
➔ Segment your email marketing contacts into lists and
sublists based on customer data
➔ Don’t forget to create suppression lists. These are people
you’re not marketing to at the moment
➔ Add checkboxes to forms to gather additional
information—zip code, birthday, interest groups—from your
visitors
➔ Don't forget to be GDPR compliant

4. 2. You're not
A/B TESTING.

5. Here's how to fix it:
➔ A/B test the subject line of your next big email promotion.
➔ Test the next email’s image, offer, or CTA.Only test one thing
at a time.This is a science experiment.
➔ Keep your variables to an absolute minimum to know which
changes mattered.

6. 3. You’re not AUTOMATING
your email marketing.

7. Here's how to fix it:
➔ Map your customer journey to find the “triggers” for your
email marketing.
➔ Move guests through the funnel by delivering the right
message (and the right deal!) at the right time.
➔ Make sure workflows move customers out of one list and
into a new one as they evolve from a lead to a new customer
to a loyal one.
➔ Add helpful reminder workflows. Shopping holiday coming
up? Remind them to grab that gift.

8. 4. Your newsletter is
SELLING something.

9. Here's how to fix it:
➔ Revise your current newsletter. (You do have a newsletter,
right?) Would you read it?
➔ Review delivered, open and click-through rates.
➔ Establish benchmarks and share more meaningful content
to increase those numbers.
➔ If it isn't working, A/B test different subject line styles,
delivery days and times, images, and content.

10. 5. Your emails don't work
on MOBILE devices.

11. Here's how to fix it:
➔ Start using a responsive email template.
➔ Email code is notoriously finicky across platform, software
and screen combinations. Use your email software testing
tool on every email you send.
➔ Remember the red-light reader. Put the most important
information up front and make it large enough to
understand in a 5-second scan.
➔ CTAs should be big enough to tap with a finger. And not too
close together.

12. 6. There’s no
call to action
in your emails.

13. Here's how to fix it:
➔ Review all of your marketing and nurturing emails. Make
sure they have a call to action that aligns with the
appropriate stage in your customer's journey.
➔ Set up tracking links using bit.ly or a platform like HubSpot
so you can test the CTAs across a variety of campaigns.
➔ Test and test and test again. Colors, copy, sizes, and
placements can all affect CTA performance.

14. 7. Your emails have
TOO MANY calls to action.

15. Here's how to fix it:
➔ Audit your emails and double check for too many links.
Narrow it down to one impactful, compelling call to action.
➔ Newsletters get a bit of a pass here, if done right.
➔ Use text-based links and a few choice buttons, and keep it as
easy to read as possible.
➔ Check the language of your call-to-action against the link
destination. Are you delivering on the CTA’s promise?

16. 8. Your emails
are TOO LONG.

17. Here's how to fix it:
➔ Fall out of love with your words! Keep it simple and to the
point.
➔ Read your emails out loud and make sure they're
conversational and quick.
➔ See if you can shorten your message by at least 30%. Now do
it again.
➔ Does the design of the email help a reader scan for
information. Colors, icons, and buttons help guide readers
quickly.

18. 9. Your emails have the
same old SUBJECT LINES.

19. Here's how to fix it:
➔ Pay attention to what gets you to click. Pay attention to what
gets your leads to click.
➔ Test a wide variety of subject lines.
➔ Avoid the Promotions tab and the SPAM folder by keeping
salesy exclamation marks and percentage symbols out of
subject lines. Also, emojis are fun, but too many can trigger
the SPAM police.
➔ Try A/B testing with short, long, personalized and generic
subject lines.

20. 10. You’re not tracking
email marketing
ANALYTICS.

21. Here's how to fix it:
➔ Get familiar with your email software to see what you can
measure.
➔ Set benchmarks based on your average open rates and click
through rates.
➔ Experiment with various elements to try to improve those
numbers every time you send an email.

22. 11. Your emails are
all ABOUT YOU.

23. Here's how to fix it:
➔ Figure out what your guests truly care about. (Open and
click-through rates are a good place to get that information,
or you can ask them!)
➔ Make sure that every email you send focuses on the needs of
the recipient, not the needs of your business. What value are
you bringing? How are you making their day brighter?
➔ With every email, ask yourself: Is this for me, or is this for my
customers?

24. Questions?