Many of our clients turn to us for help with email marketing. Typically, they have tried to do it on their own and are frustrated with their results.  By avoiding the following "deadly" mistakes, you can easily increase the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns.

Mistake #1: Selling, selling, selling

Are you trying to SELL something in your email? If so, good luck. Telecom services are complex and require a long sales cycle, so using email marketing to sell is going to be highly ineffective.

Do this instead: Focus your email marketing to prompt your prospect to take one simple no-risk action. For example, download a free whitepaper, attend a webinar or event, or subscribe to your company blog.

Mistake #2: Having email "Motor Mouth"

If your email is longer than Homer's Odyssey, you're going to get a lot of deletes and unsubscribes. We see this all the time. For some reason, many companies feel they need to spell out every little thing in their marketing emails, resulting in close to zero conversion rates.

Do this instead: Keep it short, sweet and simple. Use bullets instead of long paragraphs, and if more information is necessary, include a button that links to a landing page with more info. Your email is meant to tease, so make sure it doesn't reveal everything or your prospect won't have a reason to contact you.

Mistake #3: Not including a clear, concise call to action

So now that your prospect has read your wonderful email, what are they supposed to DO? Most emails lack this one critical element – an effective call to action.

Do this instead: Decide on ONE clear call to action and display it with a large button prominently in the email. Examples are: "Join Our Free Webinar," or "Download Free Whitepaper," or "Subscribe Today."

Mistake #4: Having a sucky subject line

Your subject line is what will get your prospect to open the email, so it's super critical that you have a good one. Most subject lines are either boring with no intrigue at all, or they come across as spammy. Either option is going to result in low open rates.

Do this instead: Think about newspaper headlines. They always include a little element of mystery, enticing you to read the article. So maybe instead of "Great Meeting You at the Channel Show," (boring), your subject line could be "We Never Thought We'd Do This at the Channel Show." The second includes some intrigue and mystery. It leaves the reader asking, "do what?" and they are much more likely to open the email to find out.

By following these guidelines in your telecom email marketing, you will see drastic improvements. Have you found any tips or tricks to improve your email marketing? Please share in the comments below.