Points to Keep in Mind for Error-free Email Automation

Written by: Chris Donald

Published on: 25-01-2019

Chris is Managing Partner at InboxArmy and has more than 25 years of experience in email marketing

“To err is human”

We come across blunders in emails so often. Most of these emails are set as an email automation program. It can get quite frustrating for the marketer when an email subscriber receives such an email and puts it out on social media for everyone to see.

To prevent this awkwardness, here are some points you should remember for an error-free email automation.

  1. Improper planning

Planning an email automation is not a cakewalk. You need to give it enough time and effort with a clear objective in the mind. For every action that the subscriber takes, you need to carefully consider the condition that will trigger the email, and the responder emails on subscriber interaction. You should set the timeframe for the automation and at the same time, keep a close eye on the email marketing metrics. If a subscriber is not opening your emails and not engaging with it, it is time you modify the workflow to send them re-engagement emails rather than the salesy emails.

  1. Wrong name tag

Personalization is the trick that can make or break your email strategy. When done right, it can give a significant boost to the subscriber engagement. On the other hand, if you end up writing the wrong name tag and send an email with “Hi first name”, it is going to disappoint the subscribers pretty bad, and they might end up deleting your email or marking you as spam.

  1. Too many emails

The number of emails you send is an important point to consider whenever you set an automation workflow. If you are sending too many emails with the baseless assumption that it might increase your conversions, you are doing it wrong. Include only necessary emails in your automated campaigns so that the subscriber does not get annoyed with frequent emails.

  1. Irrelevant content

In the quest of automating your marketing strategy and reducing your time and efforts, you should not forget to send relevant content that matches the buyer’s persona and stage of the buyer’s journey. If a subscriber has subscribed to your monthly newsletters and not to your weekly updates, send them emails according to their preferences. Also, remove the unsubscribes from your list so that you do not end up sending emails to someone who is no longer subscribed to your email list. Doing so would hamper your email deliverability and the sender reputation as well. Keep iterating your email automation workflows based on the results you get and do not forget the workflows you have already set.

  1. Incorrect segmentation

Whenever you are setting up email automation workflow, carry out right segmentation so that the emails can be valuable for the reader. Many marketers set email automation workflows without segmenting the lists. Keep in mind that every country observes different Holidays and therefore, you should send only pertinent offers to the subscribers. For example: Mother’s Day is observed on different days at US and UK. Consider all such similar scenarios before setting the automation workflows.

Final Thoughts

Ease of implementation and time-effectiveness are at the cynosure of email automation. Use it to the maximum potential by avoiding these inane mistakes and yield great results from your email campaigns.

About Author

Chris sent his first email campaign in 1995. He’s worked directly with Fortune 500 companies, retail giants, nonprofits, SMBs and government agencies in all facets of their email marketing and marketing automation programs. He’s also a BIG baseball fan, loves a good steak, and is mildly obsessed with zombie movies. For more information follow him on linkedin

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