Let’s face it. Writing mistakes are the absolute worst, especially when they’re in any sort of marketing material. 

When we make simple writing mistakes, especially in our email marketing, they can derail the focus and purpose of your message, impact your reputation with your target audience, and lead to miscommunication.

Before hitting that “Send” button, take the time to review your email for style, accuracy, and writing errors. It is one of the most important things you could do to ensure your marketing message doesn’t get convoluted. 

In this post, we’ve called out 18 of the biggest copywriting mistakes you should avoid when putting together your next email campaign. Take a look!

1. Not Formatting Fonts

If you’ve copied and pasted some text into your email, always format it to ensure consistency. A collection of mismatched fonts will immediately turn your readers off, making your emails appear spammy, amateur, and unprofessional.

Stick to one or two fonts at most if you want to get creative, and make sure they complement each other well. 

2. Misspelling Your Company Name

One of the worst mistakes you can make in email campaigns is misspelling your own company’s name. This may seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how often this happens. Not only does it make you look unprofessional, but it also shows a lack of attention to detail.

Make sure you proofread your email campaigns carefully before sending them out, and if possible, have someone else check them for you. This is particularly important if you’re outsourcing your content creation.

3. Not Checking Your Grammar

Unfortunately, many people fail to check their grammar before hitting send. This can lead to several problems, including your email sounding unprofessional, subscribers not taking you seriously, and confusion or misinterpretation of what you’re trying to say.

Using the right grammar will help to improve your email’s readability and structure. You can use tools like Grammarly or ProWritingAid that will review your email content and check it for grammar issues. 

4. Not Editing Your Emails

In email marketing, many people think they can write whatever they want and ship it off to their email subscribers. However, this is not the case. If you’re not editing your emails before sending them out, your recipients will notice the errors and typos, which will reflect poorly on your brand.  

Every marketing team has a process for creating emails. Add at least one round of editing to that process, maybe even two. Just because emails tend to be a shorter form of content doesn’t mean they don’t require as much time and care as the other pieces of content you’re creating. 

5. Not Formatting Your Email Like an Email

Believe it or not, there is a right and a wrong way to format your email. You may be used to sending emails that look like enormous blocks of text, but in email marketing, this is a mistake. Your email should be easy to read and shouldn’t contain any grammar or punctuation errors.

Here are some tips for formatting your email:

• Use brief paragraphs and sentences
• Include bullet points or numbered lists
• Use clear and concise language
• Avoid using all caps or exclamation
• With image-heavy emails, incorporate an appropriate amount of white space

Your email formatting and email copy need to complement one another. You’ll want your paragraphs to fit well within the email body, so make sure you keep formatting in mind as you craft your copy. 

6. Spacing Out Information

Packing all your content into one giant paragraph becomes very difficult for readers to digest. Not only that, but it also makes your email look quite unprofessional.

Instead of making this mistake, break up your content into smaller paragraphs. Doing so will ensure readers take in the most crucial tidbits slowly so they can fully understand the main point you’re trying to convey.  It can also help you place more emphasis on your CTA, encouraging readers to take the action you want them to and improve your click-through rate. 

7. Not Being Precise

Keep your content clear and concise while delivering your desired message, and all other email elements must supplement it. Otherwise, it’s easy to get carried away with what you’re writing, and you’ll end up meandering all over the place and confusing your readers.

8. Avoiding Online Tools

Thanks to modern technology, thousands of tools exist to automate your everyday tasks, making your life easier and more productive. By avoiding these tools, you’re simply missing out on the benefits of automation and digitization.

For instance, Benchmark Email is ideal for creating perfectly formatted emails for your readers, and our new Smart Content feature, which is powered by OpenAI, the research firm behind ChatGPT, creates compelling email content for you. If you struggle to create content that resonates with your audience, such tools can be quite handy, and you won’t want to avoid using them. 

9. Leaving the Best for the End

Your readers are more likely to skim through your email than read it word-for-word. So, if you save your best offer or most important information for the end, they may never see it. 

Instead, put your most important information and your CTA front and center, grabbing their attention immediately. Then, keep their interest by providing relevant, valuable content throughout the rest of your email. 

10. Not Signing Off

This is a critical mistake that can cost you your subscribers and customers. When you don’t sign off, you’re simply leaving your recipients hanging, and this comes across as unprofessional.

Always sign off your emails, even if it’s just a quick “thank you” or “best regards.” This simple act shows that you value your relationship with the recipient and that you’re interested in hearing from them again.

If you want to take it one step further, there are other email signature ideas that will help you sign off in style and gain some extra clicks. Just make sure you don’t overdo it or create competition with the email CTA.  

11. Getting Too Personal

It’s important to find the right balance between being personal and professional. You don’t want to come across as too stiff or formal, but you also don’t want to get too personal. When in doubt, err on the side of professionalism.

That said, there are certain things you should avoid if you don’t want to come across as too personal. Here are a few examples:

• Don’t use overly familiar language. This includes slang, contractions, and nicknames.
• Don’t share too much information about yourself or your company. Your audience craves transparency, but too much can be embarrassing or cringy.
• Don’t request invasive information from your subscribers. Make sure your email forms and email surveys stick to basic questions relevant to your product, service, or industry.

12. Using All Caps

If you want to come across as aggressive, unprofessional, and generally difficult to read, then, by all means, use all caps in your email campaigns.

Nothing says, “I’M SHOUTING AT YOU!” quite like a block of text in all capital letters. It’s one of the quickest ways to turn off potential customers and damage your brand.

13. Using Too Many CTAs

If you’re stuffing your email full of CTAs, chances are that you’re overwhelming your subscribers and making it difficult for them to take any action at all. When it comes to CTAs, less is definitely more.

Stick to one primary CTA per email, with a secondary CTA if needed. Make sure your CTAs are clear, concise, and easy to spot so subscribers can take the action you want them to without hassle or getting overwhelmed.

14. Not Including a CTA

On the other hand, without a CTA, your subscribers cannot know what you want them to do next. Is your goal to get them to click through to your website? Make a purchase? Subscribe to your newsletter?

Without a clear CTA, it’s impossible for your subscribers to take action, so ensure every email you send includes a clear and concise CTA. 

15. Using Words Your Audience Doesn’t Know

When you’re choosing words for your email campaigns, be sure to use language that is clear and easy to understand. In addition, avoid using jargon or slang that your audience may not be familiar with. If you must use technical or industry-specific language, explain what they mean in simple terms.

This will help ensure that your readers can follow along without being turned off by unfamiliar terminology. Choose your words carefully to ensure that your message comes across loud and clear.

16. Including Too Much Information

If you try to include too much information in a single email, your readers will likely become overwhelmed and tune out. Stick to one or two main points per email, and clearly state what action you want the readers to take. 

Brevity is key when it comes to email marketing. If you’re finding that you have a lot of information to share, then consider crafting email drip campaigns so you can send a series of emails with some information in each. This will ensure you’re sharing all the necessary bits of information without overwhelming your subscribers. 

Write Smarter with Benchmark Email’s Smart Content

AI- generated tools are shaping the modern landscape of email marketing. They’re helping us be more efficient with our email sending, and they’re helping us write better content that aligns with the needs of our subscribers. With Benchmark Email’s Smart Content tool, you’re not only working smarter, but you’re also giving your readers the content they crave. 

If you’re struggling with creating quality email content, don’t make the mistake of neglecting tools out there that can help. To check out our Smart Content tool, sign up for a free Benchmark Email account today.