Bad Email Marketing Examples: What Not to Do

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Email marketing can be a powerful tool for engaging customers, driving sales, and building brand loyalty—when done right. However, when executed poorly, it can lead to unsubscribes, spam complaints, and even damage to your brand’s reputation.

1. Overwhelming Subscribers with Too Many Emails

Example: A retail brand sends 5+ promotional emails per day.

Bombarding subscribers with excessive emails is a surefire way to annoy them. While email frequency depends on your industry, sending multiple emails daily without valuable content leads to fatigue and high unsubscribe rates.

✅ Solution:

• Segment your audience and personalize send frequency.
• Limit promotional emails to 1-2 per week unless there’s a major event.
• Provide value in every email (discounts, useful content, exclusives).

2. Misleading Subject Lines (Clickbait)

Example: “URGENT: Your account will be suspended!” (when it’s just a promo).

Deceptive subject lines may boost open rates temporarily, but they erode trust. If subscribers feel tricked, they’ll mark emails as spam or disengage entirely.

✅ Solution:

• Be clear and honest in subject lines.
• Avoid false urgency or scare tactics.
• Match the subject line to the email content.

3. Poor Mobile Optimization

Example: An email with tiny text, broken layouts, or unclickable buttons on mobile.

Over 60% of emails are opened on mobile devices. If your email isn’t responsive, users will delete it immediately.

✅ Solution:

• Use a mobile-friendly email template.
• Test emails on different devices before sending.
• Keep CTAs large and easy to tap.

4. No Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)

Example: A cluttered email with multiple links and no clear next step.

If subscribers don’t know what to do, they won’t engage. Weak or missing CTAs lead to low click-through rates.

✅ Solution:

• Have one primary CTA per email.
• Use contrasting colors and action-oriented text (e.g., “Shop Now” instead of “Click Here”).
• Place CTAs above the fold.

5. Ignoring Segmentation & Personalization

Example: Sending a men’s shoe promo to a female subscriber who only buys women’s apparel.

Generic, one-size-fits-all emails perform poorly. Customers expect relevant content based on their preferences.

✅ Solution:

• Segment your list by demographics, behavior, and purchase history.
• Use dynamic content to personalize emails.
• Leverage automation (e.g., abandoned cart emails).

6. Hard-to-Find Unsubscribe Option

Example: Hiding the unsubscribe link in tiny font or requiring a login.

Under CAN-SPAM and GDPR laws, you must make unsubscribing easy. If users can’t exit easily, they’ll mark emails as spam, hurting your sender reputation.

✅ Solution:

• Include a visible unsubscribe link in every email.
• Honor opt-out requests immediately.
• Offer preference centers instead of full unsubscribes.

7. Sending Emails with Errors

Example: Typos, broken links, or incorrect discount codes.

Mistakes make your brand look unprofessional and frustrate customers. A broken link or wrong promo code can cost sales.

✅ Solution:

• Proofread every email before sending.
• Test all links and codes.
• Use tools like Grammarly or Litmus for quality checks.

8. Not Optimizing for Dark Mode

Example: White text on a dark background becomes unreadable in dark mode.

Many users enable dark mode on their devices. If your email isn’t optimized, text and images may become invisible.

✅ Solution:

• Test emails in dark mode.
• Use transparent PNGs for logos.
• Avoid pure black/white designs.

Bad email marketing drives customers away, while good email marketing builds relationships. By avoiding these common mistakes—over-sending, misleading subject lines, poor mobile design, weak CTAs, lack of personalization, hidden unsubscribes, errors, and dark mode issues—you can create emails that engage rather than annoy.

Key Takeaway: Always put your subscribers first. Deliver value, respect their inbox, and continuously test and optimize your campaigns.