What We're Talking About. . . The Dos and Do NOTs of Email Automation

Happy Autumn-ation!

Ahhhh email automation, you help us marketers so much. You save us time, effort, and make sure our contacts receive the right info at the right time. Or do you?

That's the trick (or treat!) of email automation: you will get out of it what you put into it. So if you want all the details on successful (and the not-so successful) email automation, here's what we're talking about. . . 

What Not To Do

How To Automate Emails The Wrong Way And Destroy Your Business (7 Mistakes To Avoid) via Flypchart

“If you lack the internal skills and expertise to execute effectively, automating emails can cause more harm than good to your business.”

When automation is done right, it can bring great benefits to marketers. It saves us time, effort, increases conversions, and more. But what happens when it isn't done right? Well, let's just say it's not pretty. Here are 7 of the most serious email automation offenses to be avoided AT ALL COSTS! 

13 Mistakes You’re Making That Will Land Your Emails in Spam via Maropost

“If the ISPs think you're spamming, they'll block your e-mails from reaching your recipients' inbox. And even if you do make it to the inbox, but your recipients aren’t engaging, the ISPs will notice and mark your future emails are spam. Yikes!”

I'd say its safe to argue that a marketer's worst fear when it comes to email automation is for their emails to start being marked as spam. Not only does this interfere with your ability to communicate with your contacts, but it can tarnish the reputation of your company in the consumer's mind. So how do you save yourself from the spam folder? Avoid the following 13 mistakes like the plague!

10 Email Marketing Do’s and Don’ts [infographic] via Campaign Monitor

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so this infographic must be worth a million! Keep this image in your mind to make sure you are on the right track for a successful email campaign! And with that, let us transition into the DO's of email automation!

What to Do

Best Practices for Marketing Automation from 11 Experts via Marketo

“Too many campaigns make the mistake of launching into every detail of the product or service being offered, without first addressing why the prospect might be interested.”

Now that we know exactly what we should not be doing when it comes to email automation, let's talk about some practices that will actually help you to fix past mistakes or to start off on the right track if you're a beginner. Here is some email automation advice from 11 experts to help you get your campaign in good shape! 

4 Steps to Awesome Email Automation via Campaign Monitor

“In 2008, 40% of brands sent a welcome message to their new subscribers. Today 80% of brands send this type of message.”

If you're looking for something a little more in depth, you're in luck! Here we have a complete guide to building a successful email automation campaign in 4 simple steps. Check it out for help with plan creation, selecting a provider, and even setting up workflows! Just remember to avoid the mistakes above!

3 Automated Emails To Boost Your Conversion Rate in 2017 via Mail Bakery

“When you send emails to shoppers who have dropped off your site earlier on in the funnel, you have the opportunity to convert more of those browsers into buyers.”

Time for some examples! Here we see some uses of email automation that can increase conversion rates tremendously. When we think of email automation we may think of promotional emails, newsletters, and things of that nature, but these are a little more out of the box! Learn how you can bring back users who have left your site without converting and turn them into customers!

Bonus: Damage Control

Get Back on the Road After Sending the Wrong Email via Marketo

“At Marketo, we don’t consider marketers battle-tested until they can overcome sending an incorrect email.”

Whoops!!! You just sent out the wrong email!! Now what??? Don't panic; Marketo has your back. These 4 simple steps helped marketers to recover after even some of the craziest email mistakes like sending an email in Russian to English speaking customers (this really happened)!

This blog post is part of Your Definitive Guide to Marketing Automation blog series.

Looking for more help improving your approach to automation? Get Your Definitive Guide to Marketing Automation for guidance on choosing the right lead generation software, the best marketing automation tools, and much more!