What to do if your email marketing is failing

So, what do you do if your email marketing campaign is failing no matter what you do? The short answer: Get help! For the long answer; just keep reading.

As a blog owner, webmaster of your own business website or an online marketer, email marketing is one of the most effective and proven tools you have at your disposal. It is convenient and simple way to make and maintain contact with clients and customers. This contact allows you to keep them up to date with what products and services you have to offer as well as any other business related updates you may wish to communicate. However, what happens if you are conducting an email campaign and you are not seeing any real results? If your email marketing campaign is failing, there are a few things you can do to remedy this and get back on track to benefit from the rewards that email marketing can bring.

#1 Educate yourself

From YouTube to blogs, Podcasts to ebooks, their is a wealth of freely available information that can help you gain the insight and knowledge you need to run very successful email marketing campaigns. A simple Google search will reveal a whole host of available content. These include tips and guides on design, content, automation and analytics to name a few. This might take some time and effort, but the time and effort investment in educating yourself will always payoff in a big way.

#2 Ask for help from winners

Another way to improve a failing email campaign is to solicit the help and advice of bloggers and webmasters who have had successful campaigns and are clearly winning at email marketing. Try to contact them by phone or send an email explaining your situation and offer them something in return. Webmasters usually respond if you offer a back link. You can also offer them products for free or at a greatly discounted. Sometimes they are willing to help out for free because they know the struggles bloggers and webmasters face.

#3 Ask your customers for insights

Your greatest allies in the search to find out why your email campaign is failing are your customers. Your customers are receiving emails from you frequently and they know what catches their interest and what makes them delete emails quickly. Asking your customers to rate your email campaign isn't as counterproductive as it sounds. It can be done by simply asking them questions about your website and offering them something in return for their honest opinion. You can offer them the opportunity to be entered into a drawing that gives away a free iPod, coupons for a restaurant or a discount on some of the products and services you offer. You'll be surprised at the valuable information your customers can give you and they will feel happy knowing they made a difference.

#4 Use email marketing software

If you are not already using a software platform to manage your email marketing campaigns, then this might be the one thing you should really consider. Email marketing platforms like MailChimp, AcyMailing, Mailigen or Constant Contact are all software platforms designed to not only make it easier to manage your email marketing campaigns but they help to automate the process and provide tools to monitor your campaigns. These functions alone can help you out your email marketing efforts back on track and with all the other features they offer, email marketing platforms are essential for successful email marketing campaigns.

There are both free and paid platforms and the best is to do your research and only when you are sure you know what you want and what each platform offers should you decide on a platform. Using a free platform will have its limitations but will give you the opportunity to learn the ropes and familiarize yourself with the basics. Many paid platforms have limited time or feature trial versions which are a great way to get started.

#5 Hire a professional consultant

If you have looked read the above and feel a little overwhelmed, your best option may be to hire a professional email marketing consultant. A professional consultant can teach you how to run a successful email marketing campaign. Seek out the services of a consultant that has marketing experience, preferably in your niche. Those individuals will have a better idea of what you are seeking and what types of clients you are targeting.

Do your research and find a consultant that has received positive reviews from past clients. You should also be looking for a consultant that has documented their success rates with before and after statistics. A successful marketing consultant should have proof that the website had an increase in sales or visitors as a result of his or her efforts. Be prepared to be extremely open and willing to make significant changes in your email campaign or your website. If you've done your research and picked the right consultant for you, he or she will do everything possible to lead you on the path to success but you can't stand in the way.

Running a website may seem easy, but all bloggers and webmasters know that there are many challenges to overcome. Converting a failing email marketing campaign from failure to success is probably one of the biggest challenges faced by many. The good news is that there are ways to turn failure into success. By educating yourself, hiring a consultant, contacting other webmasters, asking your customers for their opinion and using software platforms to manage your email marketing campaigns, you can turn your failing email campaign into a successful one.

There are many other ways to get your email marketing campaigns producing stellar results and new tips, guides and hacks are constantly being explored. Feel free to ask questions or to share your thoughts in the comments below.

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