Mistakes are a common part of the learning process; if you do not make any mistakes, you are not learning or improving.
I have been doing email marketing for more than five years now, and during this time, I have made many mistakes, and I have seen many people make the same mistakes.
Today, I will share the 14 common email marketing mistakes affiliates make so that you can avoid them and at least make new mistakes.
14 Common Email Marketing Mistakes Affiliates Make
When I started email marketing, I did a lot of things wrong. I learned and improved a lot during this time. Here are 14 common email marketing mistakes affiliates make.
Starting late.
I see many people on X or other social media who have a lot of followers and engagement, but if you go to their profile, there is no squeeze page where someone can opt in and join their news later.
This is a huge mistake; it does not matter if you have one follower or 100k followers; build your lead capture page today and start sending those emails.
When you have few subscribers, it is your time to make mistakes and figure out what works and what does not. Start today, and you will thank yourself for starting sooner.
Here are the seven steps for beginners to start email marketing.
Failing to Add Value.
I made this mistake, too; I used to find a product, copy the swipes they provided, load them to my autoresponder, add an affiliate link, and click send.
This is a terrible mistake; yes, we are here to make money, but remember, people on your list are people with real problems who need help.
Be a resource, give them guidance and tips to achieve whatever they want, and then you can recommend an affiliate product as a solution.
Overwhelmingly Promotional.
I see a lot of affiliates who are so desperate to make a sale that all they do is find a product, mail it to their list two or three times a day, and repeat it until people buy or unsubscribe.
This might make you a quick buck, but it is a bad mistake if you want to make money in the long term. People will stop reading your emails, and this will hurt your delivery and your business.
Being Lazy.
Most people are lazy; they do not want to do the work; they take email swipes from vendors and send them to their list without editing or adding their personality.
The problem with this is that if you promote a popular product, most affiliates will probably send the same email, and if your subscribers see it, they will get annoyed and end up unsubscribing from your email list.
I know it is not easy to come up with a promotional email at first, but I recommend that even if you take the generic swipes, you add your own stories so that they can be unique to you.
Don’t be lazy; put in the work and write your emails.
Ignoring Permission-Based Marketing.
I see a lot of affiliate marketers who use software to find emails and send unsolicited promotional emails. Do not do this; it is unethical, and if they catch you, you can get sued and get in hot water.
Please email people who opted from websites and landing pages you own, and always add a link where they can opt out anytime.
Neglecting Mobile Optimization.
Most people use their mobile phones these days, so make sure that the emails you send are optimized for mobile; the good news is that most good autoresponders do this for you.
You can read about the best autoresponders for affiliate marketing here.
Sending Too Many Emails
I see affiliate marketers sending many promotional emails; this is a mistake since people do not want to read your email every two hours; they have things to do.
There is no magic formula; find a balance between sending useful information and sending many emails; if you send an email to your list and later in the day you find something useful, you can send it too.
Lack of Personalization.
Failing to personalize emails can diminish their effectiveness or make them appear spam.
The reader should feel like you are directly talking to them by, for example, mentioning their name and delivering highly relevant content.
Poor Subject Lines.
People are busy; they do not have time to read everything in their inboxes; they will read headlines and decide if they can read the whole email.
To stand out, you need to start writing better subject lines; I found out that subject lines with the results do well.
For example, How I made $208.12 in a single day will work better than an email with the headline How you can make $200+.
The same email and the headline are almost the same but have different results; you need to test what type of headline your list responds to and write more of them.
Poor or Poorly Written Content.
Nothing is more irritating than reading a poorly written email with many misspellings. Do your best to write an email that is simple and easy to understand.
If English is not your first language it is okay, you can always learn and improve. English is not my first language, even my second language.
I proofread my emails before sending them. Also, I use Grammarly to double-check grammar errors.
You can get Grammarly for free here.
Ignoring Segmentation Opportunities.
Most great autoresponders will let you segment your list depending on what links they click, what content they read more, and if they read your emails.
If you want to make more money from your email marketing efforts, keep track of your prospects’ behaviors and start to segment them. This will help you create content that your subscribers like.
Not Staying in Regular Contact.
I have seen affiliates who get subscribers; they send them the first message and then do not send anything to their subscribers for months.
People are busy, and if you do not send them regular emails, they will forget about you and become irrelevant; you need to find a balance between sending many emails and not sending them.
I recommend sending at least one email to your list every week, pick one day, and email them to let them know what is up for the week.
Sending Content That Does Not Directly Apply to Your Target Audience.
People joined your newsletter because they wanted to learn something about a certain topic.
Please don’t start to spam them with emails with content that does not fit into the reason why they joined your email list.
If people joined your newsletter to learn how to trade crypto, send them emails about crypto and not politics; if you want to speak about politics, start another newsletter.
Promoting Irrelevant Affiliates Offers.
I know affiliate marketers who promote every offer they can get a link to. This isn’t good for your business and will make your subscribers ignore your emails or unsubscribe altogether.
Not Giving People a Reason to Subscribe.
I have seen many affiliate marketers with an opt-in form that says subscribe to my list; I was like, seriously, why would I do that?
You need to provide people a reason to subscribe; what do they get? It needs to be clear: if it is a checklist, say that; if it is an audio or a resource, say that, and give people something in exchange for their email address.
Here is an example of my opt-in page.
Not Making It Obvious That You Have an Email List.
Do not hide the fact that you have an email list. Make it clear. Please do not make people search for the opt-in page; include it on your social pages.
Final words
Those are the 14 common email marketing mistakes affiliates make; if you are new to email marketing and need help, don’t hesitate to contact me via X; I will gladly help.