The Top 5 Email Marketing Mistakes Businesses Make (And How To Fix Them)

Email marketing is still one of the most powerful tools in your marketing mix. Done well, it connects you directly with customers, nurtures long-term loyalty, and drives measurable revenue. Done badly, it wastes budget, damages brand trust, and undermines your wider marketing strategy.

Too many businesses try to run email campaigns in-house with limited knowledge, only to fall into the same traps. Below, we break down the top 5 email marketing mistakes we see most often – and how to avoid them so your emails stop underperforming and start delivering ROI.

Mistake 1: Neglecting your email list and failing to segment data

Your database is the foundation of any email campaign. Treating every subscriber the same is a recipe for low engagement and wasted spend. Sending generic messages to your entire list is like shouting into a crowded room – most people won’t listen, some will unsubscribe, and internet service providers (such as Gmail and Outlook) may start marking your emails as spam. By failing to segment and refresh your data, you not only reduce your open and click rates but also risk damaging your sender reputation.

Solution: Building a healthy, targeted email list

The main goal should always be to attract people who genuinely want to hear from your business. You can build a good email list by:

• Using clear sign-up forms on your website
• Allowing in-store sign-ups (if applicable)
• Adding sign-up options to your social media pages
• Starting referral programs

By segmenting your audience, you can divide your main email list into more specific groups, based on what they have bought before, what they are interested in, their location and other core demographics to help hyper-personalise the messages you are sending to them, based on their needs.

Research shows that the more segmented your database and emails are, the better results with stronger revenue and traffic figures, compared to the more generic emails.

Mistake 2: Creating uninspiring emails and unclear CTA’s

Your database could be made of gold, but if you are struggling to grab the attention of your users, you are going to struggle to drive sales. Your subject line is the first thing that users see, which can often be neglected and made too generic leading to lower open rates. Having a boring or misleading subject line, can reduce trust and overall interest since majority of our email inboxes are filled with promotional content.

If you manage to get the user to open the email, and they are met with a simple and generic email and lacks a strong CTA, it might leave people uninspired and unsure of what to do next, wasting a great chance to turn interest into a sale.

Research shows that people need to be told what to do, if you don’t include a clear or compelling CTA, your audience might be confused and see your email as pointless. This results in less engagement and potential missed chances of conversion as the next step isn’t obvious.

Solution: Designing engaging content and clear calls to action

You want to create an email that captures attention from the start and drives immediate action, with a strong subject line that is catchy and concise to grab the attention immediately. By including focus, valuable, simple languages, short paragraphs, strategic visuals to keep readers hooked and prominent call to actions, you can tell your audience exactly what you want them to do next, making it easy for them to convert.

Every user within your database is different, and to find the sweet spot in terms of the subject lines, preview text, landing pages, calls to actions and so much more – you need to be A/B testing. This can help you understand what resonates most with your audience and refine your approach over time.

Mistake 3: Ignoring mobile devices and essential backend practices

When you are at home, checking your emails, what device are you most likely going to be on? A mobile! A significant 60% of emails are opened on mobile devices, and up to 50% of consumers delete emails that aren’t optimised for phones. Ensure that you are looking at how your email will be displayed on a range of internet service providers, devices and if in light mode/dark mode, to ensure that everything is being displayed correctly to avoid any expensive mistakes.

As important as the visual aspect is, many businesses also overlook important backend practices, by not personalising messages enough or taking advantage of the automation capabilities, missing changes to guide potential customers and build stronger relationships without the manual effort.

One of the biggest automations that not a lot of businesses use, is the welcome flow! Which is missing quite a large part of the customer journey, leading to missed engagement and conversion opportunities, especially when a coupon is involved.

Solution: Using mobile-first design and smart automation

• Prioritise responsive design. Make sure your emails look good on any screen size. We partner with Klaviyo, and their new update allows you to review what your email looks like on different ISP’s, devices and even light/dark mode to ensure that in all cases, your email looks great!
• Use single-column layouts for smaller screens.
• Use larger font sizes
• Design buttons that are easy to tap with clear CTA’s

Go beyond just using someone’s name in personalisation. Use subscriber data and consumer information to tailor messages to individual needs. This could include showing different product recommendations based on past purchases or offers specific to a subscriber’s location.

Implement essential automated email sequences to nurture your audience efficiently:

• Welcome sequences: Send an initial welcome email right after sign-up. These emails have a very high open rate.
• Abandoned cart reminders: Send reminders if someone leaves items in their online shopping cart without buying them. The first reminder should go out within 1 hour, with follow-ups at 24 and 48 hours. These emails have high open and click-through rates, and many people complete their purchase after clicking.
• Post-purchase emails: Send immediate confirmation emails, with follow-ups timed based on delivery or product usage.
• Re-engagement emails: Set up automated campaigns to reach out to inactive subscribers after a certain period to try and regain their interest.

Automated emails drive significantly more revenue and save a lot of time compared to manual emails. They allow for consistent, timely, and personalised communication crucial for nurturing leads and building relationships, something that’s hard to do manually at a large scale.

Mistake 4: Inconsistent sending frequency and triggering spam filters

Many businesses struggle to find the right balance in how often they send emails. Sending too many emails can quickly lead to ’email fatigue,‘ causing more unsubscribes and fewer opens. On the other hand, sending too few emails can make subscribers forget your brand and miss important opportunities.

Flooding inboxes with too many messages leads to email fatigue, increasing unsubscribes and decreasing open rates. When people get too much information, they often ignore it or opt out. While not explicitly detailed as a mistake, sending too few emails can also be harmful, as subscribers might forget your brand, leading to reduced engagement.

Triggering spam filters can happen for various reasons, such as using too many exclamation points or all caps in subject lines, being overly promotional, not being consistent with your brand’s voice, using low-quality stock images, or having overly busy designs. Specific ‘spammy’ words in the email body (like “free” or “guaranteed”) can also cause emails to land in the junk folder. This harms your sender reputation and means fewer of your emails reach the intended inbox. A significant portion of all emails fail to reach the mailbox due to deliverability issues.

Solution: Optimising frequency and ensuring deliverability

There are no rigid rules for email frequency – the best approach is to continuously experiment and monitor your audience’s behaviour to determine their preferred timing and how often they want to hear from you.

If you’re using a new email platform or are a new sender, it’s crucial to “warm up” your email sending. This means gradually increasing your email volume to engaged subscribers over time. This controlled method builds trust with Internet Service Providers (ISPs), showing them you’re a legitimate sender. Without warming up, sending too many emails too quickly can trigger spam filters, damaging your sender reputation and sending your messages straight to junk folders.

To avoid spam triggers:

• Always use natural, conversational language in your emails.
• Actively avoid overly promotional or ‘spammy’ words and phrases.
• Maintain strong brand consistency in email design and tone.
• Ensure your designs aren’t too busy and that images are relevant, high-resolution, and properly sized.
• Don’t send emails off two different domains – this will confuse the customer but also the ISP’s

Maintaining your sender reputation also involves regularly cleaning your email lists to remove inactive contacts. Always make the unsubscribe option clear and easy to find, and process requests quickly. Remember, if your email doesn’t reach the inbox, all your efforts are wasted.

Mistake 5: Not tracking performance and adapting your strategy

A common mistake for businesses is the “set it and forget it” approach to email marketing. Without clear goals, regular monitoring of results, and a commitment to testing, businesses are flying blind. They can’t tell what works, what doesn’t, or why. This lack of data-driven adaptation prevents continuous improvement, limits your return on investment (ROI), and means you miss valuable insights into customer behaviour.

The “setting it and forgetting it” mindset means not regularly checking key metrics, not doing A/B testing, and generally being out of touch with how campaigns are performing. It assumes that once an email campaign is launched, it will just keep doing well without any more work. Every successful email marketing campaign needs clear, measurable goals. Without defining what you want to achieve, it’s impossible to know if you’re successful or where to improve.

A big error is not tracking email marketing campaigns, which stops businesses from understanding how successful their emails are and what needs fixing. Key metrics like open rate, click-through rate (CTR), spam rate, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate are crucial. If you’re not seeing the results you want, it means something isn’t working. Without A/B testing, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what’s underperforming or what alternative approaches might work better.

Solution: Implementing a data-driven optimisation cycle

Before launching any campaign, it’s essential to define clear, measurable objectives. These goals could focus on improving open rates, increasing click-through rates, driving specific conversions, or boosting overall revenue.

Regularly monitor the performance of your email campaigns using key indicators:

• Open Rate: The percentage of recipients who open your email. This shows initial engagement and how good your subject line is.
• Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of recipients who click a link in your email. This measures interest in your content and how effective your CTA is.
• Unsubscribe Rate: The number of people who unsubscribe from your lists. High rates can indicate issues with content relevance or frequency.
• Bounce Rate: How many emails didn’t reach recipients’ mailboxes. This indicates list quality and delivery problems.
• Conversion Rate: The percentage of recipients who complete a desired action (e.g., purchase, sign-up). This measures the direct impact on your business goals and ROI.

Use your email marketing platform’s analytics tools for full insights.

Continuously A/B test as a regular part of your strategy. Only test one element at a time – like subject lines, calls to action, visuals, content variations, or even sending times – to figure out exactly what works best with your audience.

Use the insights you gain from monitoring and A/B testing to refine and adapt your email marketing strategy. This ongoing process of measuring, learning, and adjusting is crucial for continuous improvement and maximising your return on investment over time.

Your Email Marketing Strategy

Ultimately, successful email marketing isn’t just about sending email, it’s about building meaningful connections and driving tangible results. By avoiding these top five common pitfalls, it will not only save you time and resources but also turn your email marketing into a powerful engine for sustained growth and stronger customer relationships.

At Talking Stick Digital, we understand these challenges intimately. We believe that with the right strategies and a commitment to continuous improvement, every business can unlock the full potential of their email marketing. We are dedicated to helping businesses navigate the complexities of the digital landscape, turning common obstacles into clear pathways for success and ensuring your message consistently reaches and resonates with your audience.

Looking to find out more around how we can help? Contact the team today!