Email Marketing: Is Free a Powerful or Spam Marketing Term?

There’s a debate as to whether or not ‘free’ is a powerful email marketing tool or spam in disguise.

According to a post on the 60 Second Marketer, the word ‘free’ is a powerful and effective marketing tool because it taps into an emotional trigger which activates impulses. But how true is this for email marketing? Does the word ‘free’ receive the same reaction from newsletter subscribers? What about people looking at ads on the internet? Are they more likely to click on an online marketing campaign if the word ‘free’ is in it?

Here are six email marketing and online marketing campaign mistakes to avoid.

6 Email Marketing and Online Marketing Campaign Mistakes to Avoid

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Subject lines. Boring subject lines won’t get your email marketing campaigns opened. Boring subject lines used in online marketing campaigns won’t entice potential customers to click your ad.

Attention grabbing headlines such as “A 7-Point Plan That Guarantees Personal Financial Success” or “Only 10 Spots Left for Next Month’s Bootcamp” are great examples of calls-to-actions. You’re telling your customers and subscribers, “The clocks ticking. If you don’t take advantage now, you may not receive another chance to do so.” Know your target audience and stay on top of industry trends.

I attended a couple of webinars from Constant Contact and Pinpointe; both are email marketing solutions providers. During the presentations, it was emphasized that ‘free’ is considered a ‘spam’ marketing word. In fact, Constant Contact has a feature that reviews your newsletter’s spam rating.  Using the word ‘free’ over and over in your newsletter could trigger a spam alert.

Spam words. Using words such as urgent, free, bonus, cash, get paid, home, win, won, and other trigger words may deter subscribers from reading your emails. Do not use these in subject lines! However, these may work for an online marketing Google AdWords campaign.

Broken links. Another email marketing mistake and online marketing mistake to avoid is broken links. This is a particular pet peeve of mine. Whenever I receive a newsletter, I click on the links. If they’re broken, I’ll take the time to email the sender. Test all links before you send out a newsletter or email marketing campaign and you’ll avoid a high unsubscriber rate.

Schedule. Stick to an email marketing and online marketing campaign schedule. For email marketing, analyze data such as how many times your emails are opened, the best time to send out emails, etc. Tweak your emailing schedule because it could result in a higher open rate. For online marketing, review the data in Google AdWords (everyone uses it) and make adjustments where necessary. It’s a good idea to conduct an A/B Test to see which keywords/phrases and content receive a higher click-thru rate.

Be consistent. Post consistently on your website because it builds trust with customers and readers. What will subscribers think when they visit your website and see that the content hasn’t been updated for six months? If you’re running an online marketing campaign to drive traffic to your website, you want to have updated content.

Ineffective website. Spend money on a web designer or learn how to create a website. An ineffective website won’t help your email marketing or online marketing campaign. Make sure your website is clean and not overpowered with affiliate ads. Give visitors a reason to stay on your website.

Whether you’re running a marketing campaign online or through email, pay attention to five email marketing and online marketing mistakes. The work you do today will pay off in the long run.

Related articles

• Email Insider Summit: Email deliverability panel recap (blogs.constantcontact.com)
• Email newsletter tips from the experts (blogs.constantcontact.com)