Email Marketing Challenges: Read Before Launching Your First Campaign

5 Key email marketing challenges

Of course, there are more than just 5 challenges, I categorized them and listed 16 in total in this article. But here, I want to highlight the most critical ones from each category.

1. Poor email list hygiene (make sure to clean your list at least once every couple of months)
2. Domain and email authentication (using DNS records to authenticate your domain is a must)
3. Balancing email length (always focus on one main action your users need to take and don’t be afraid to cut email copy)
4. Mobile-friendliness (you need to ensure all your emails display and work well on mobile devices)
5. Engagement metrics (it’s vital to keep a close eye on opens, clicks, unsubscibes, etc., and optimize your campaigns accordingly)

Email list building and management challenges

A well-curated list can improve engagement and deliverability, while poor management leads to wasted resources and diminished results. Here are some reasons why:

Difficulties in building a quality email list

A low-quality list filled with uninterested subscribers will result in poor open rates and reduced ROI. 

Building a quality email list isn’t just about gathering as many email addresses as possible. The goal is to attract subscribers who are genuinely interested in your product or content. Finding the right strategies to reach this audience is not easy and requires planning.

Also, growing an effective email list takes time and effort. To convince people to sign up, you must provide real value upfront. 

For instance, offering relevant incentives, like helpful resources, exclusive discounts, or valuable insights, can attract the right subscribers. This ensures your list is filled with engaged individuals who are more likely to interact with your emails and lead to better campaign results.

Regulations like GDPR and CCPA have established strict rules for how businesses can handle personal information.

These laws require companies to obtain explicit consent from subscribers before collecting, storing, or using their data. Failing to comply can lead to severe penalties, including hefty fines and long-term reputational damage. 

Additionally, consumers are now more aware of their data rights and expect businesses to be transparent about how their information is used. In fact, IAPP’s 2023 data shows that 85% of consumers have deleted a phone app, 82% opted out of sharing personal data, 78% avoided certain websites, and 67% decided not to purchase because of privacy concerns.

The numbers show that businesses need to clearly communicate their data collection practices, offer simple opt-out options, and securely store personal information. These steps help ensure compliance with regulations, build customer trust, and reduce the risk of legal penalties or reputational harm from data breaches.

Struggles with email list segmentation

Email list segmentation is the practice of dividing your subscriber list into smaller groups based on specific criteria such as:

• Demographics (age, gender, location)
• Purchase history
• Engagement levels (open/click rates)
• Behavior (browsing habits, downloads)
• Preferences (content types, interests)

This allows you to send more personalized and relevant content, which can significantly improve engagement and conversion rates. Campaign Monitor research shows that marketers who segment their email list can increase their revenue by a whopping 760%

However, segmentation can be challenging due to the need for accurate and detailed subscriber data. If the data is incomplete or outdated, it can lead to poorly targeted campaigns that result in lower engagement or even higher unsubscribe rates. 

Hence, it’s important to invest in the right data collection tools to ensure you’re gathering accurate and up-to-date information from your audience. Regularly updating subscriber information helps keep your campaigns relevant and effective. 

Marketers can ensure customer data is up to date by using CRM integrations or email marketing platforms that automate data hygiene. These systems update details in real-time based on customer actions, like purchases or email interactions, without needing customers to manually update their information.

Poor email list hygiene

Over time, email lists can collect inactive subscribers, invalid addresses, or duplicates, which can hurt your deliverability and engagement rates. If your bounce rate is consistently over 2% and your open rates are low, it’s a clear sign that your email list needs attention.

If you keep sending emails to inactive or incorrect addresses, email service providers may start marking them as spam, which can damage your sender’s reputation.

You should regularly clean your email list by removing inactive subscribers, eliminating duplicate entries, and correcting or deleting invalid addresses. This is usually done every 3 to 6 months, but the frequency depends on several factors, including:

• How often you send emails
• Subscriber engagement levels
• The size and growth rate of your list
• The overall performance of your campaigns

Email verification tools and re-engagement campaigns can help recover inactive subscribers or remove them if they stay unresponsive.

Clean email lists lead to higher open rates, improved deliverability, and better overall campaign performance.

Email deliverability challenges

Ensuring your emails reach the inbox is the first step to success. Therefore, addressing deliverability challenges early increases the likelihood that your audience will see and engage with your emails. 

Some of the main issues that can impact email deliverability include:

Not considering email authentication

Email authentication is key to proving that your emails come from a legitimate source. Without proper authentication, your emails might be flagged as suspicious or even blocked by email service providers. 

Protocols like SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) are essential to verify your identity as a sender. They help ensure that your emails aren’t being spoofed or sent from unauthorized sources. 

Failure to maintain a credible sender reputation

Your sender reputation plays a huge role in email deliverability as it’s built on factors like:

• Bounce rates
• Spam complaints
• Engagement levels 
• Sending history

A poor reputation can lead to your emails being blocked or sent to the spam folder.

To maintain a good reputation, send emails to a clean, updated list and avoid using old or purchased addresses. Actually, you must never attempt to send a campaign to a purchased list.

Track your performance by monitoring engagement metrics like open and click-through rates. Removing inactive subscribers, keeping bounce rates low, and sending relevant content will further improve your reputation.

Not avoiding spam filters

Spam filters are automated tools used by email providers to block unwanted or harmful emails from reaching inboxes. They scan emails for factors like spam triggers, sender reputation, and email structure to decide whether to deliver or block them. But remember that we can only guestimate what the filters look for, and email clients keep them a secret. 

Anyway, spam filters can also block legitimate marketing messages. Interestingly, Backlinko 2024 research shows that about 48.63% of all emails sent are automatically marked as spam.

Therefore, avoiding the spam folder can be challenging, but you can improve your chances by creating clear, trustworthy content, using proper email authentication, and regularly testing your emails to avoid spam traps.

Email content challenges

Even if your emails reach the inbox, poor content can lead to low engagement or unsubscribes. That’s why it’s important to craft content that resonates with your audience by balancing personalization with relevant messaging without being intrusive.

Here are some of the factors that make email content a problem:

Issues with proper personalization

Personalization plays a key role in successful email marketing. For instance, Klenty’s 2024 research reveals that personalized subject lines lead to a 35.69% increase in open rates. 

However, personalization comes with challenges — over-personalization can feel intrusive, while under-personalization will most likely fall flat.

Achieving the right balance requires a deep understanding of customer behavior, preferences, and past interactions. Without high-quality, detailed data, marketers struggle to create targeted content that truly resonates with individual users.

For example, some marketers may struggle with integrating data from multiple sources, such as CRM systems, web analytics, and social media platforms. Inconsistent or siloed data can lead to mismatches in customer profiles, resulting in emails that feel disconnected from the recipient’s actual needs or interests. 

This is where the challenge becomes particularly complex. Marketers must ensure that the data they gather is not only accurate but also up-to-date and aligned across all channels.

When done correctly, this alignment improves the effectiveness of personalized email campaigns, leading to higher open rates, increased conversions, and stronger customer loyalty.

Not avoiding spam triggers

Spam filters are getting more advanced, analyzing everything from subject lines and content formatting to the sender’s reputation. Even well-written emails can be flagged as spam for small mistakes. 

Common spam triggers include excessive use of capital letters, misleading subject lines, too many links or images, and the overuse of words like “free” or “buy now.” Emails from unverified domains or with poor sender reputations are also more likely to be filtered.

This is challenging because marketers may overuse these elements while trying to capture attention. The result can be low deliverability, low open rates, and lost revenue.

To avoid landing in the spam folder, it’s important to create clear, professional content that builds trust with your audience. Also, ensure to use trusted email authentication and regularly test your emails to meet spam filter standards.

Not writing compelling subject lines

Subject lines are the first thing recipients see, and they determine whether your email gets opened or ignored. According to 2023 Zippia research, 47% of email readers open emails because of the subject line alone. 

However, writing captivating subject lines is not always easy, they need to be informative, engaging, and concise without resorting to clickbait tactics. 

Always test different subject lines using A/B testing to find what works best. Focus on clarity and relevance. Adding personalization, urgency, or curiosity can improve subject lines, but they must match the email’s content to build trust and increase engagement.

Improper balance of email length and engagement

Emails that are too long can overwhelm readers, while overly short emails may not provide enough value. The challenge is to create content that is engaging but concise, delivering important information without overloading the reader.

Just like MacPaw did in the example I shared above, you must ensure that the content remains clear and valuable, with a strong call to action. Structuring emails with clear headings, short paragraphs, and bullet points can help maintain readability and engagement. And again, always A/B test to see what length works best for your audience, or specific audience cohorts. 

Email design challenges

A well-designed email can boost engagement, while poorly designed ones can drive subscribers away. Addressing key design issues is essential to maintaining a professional and engaging email experience. 

Some of the email design issues include: 

Email template rendering

Email template rendering is a major challenge in email marketing because different email clients and devices handle HTML code differently. An email that looks perfect in one client, such as Gmail, may appear broken or poorly formatted in others, like Outlook or Apple Mail. 

This inconsistency stems from the fact that each email client uses its own rendering engine, interpreting the email’s code in slightly different ways. For example, some clients may strip away certain CSS styles or fail to load images, which leads to an email displaying poorly.

Consequently, the impact on a business can be significant. Poorly rendered emails can frustrate subscribers, leading to reduced engagement, higher unsubscribe rates, and lower conversion rates. 

To overcome this, you need to adopt responsive email design practices that ensure compatibility across different platforms. Additionally, ensure to test your emails with rendering tools across various devices and clients to catch any display issues before sending them.

Poor mobile optimization

Over 50-60% of emails are now opened on mobile devices, according to the Audience Point report (2024). This makes mobile optimization essential for email marketing success.

As such, emails need to be designed to function well on smaller screens, where content that looks organized on a desktop may appear cluttered or hard to read. Limited screen space requires text, images, and call-to-action buttons to be clear and easy to interact with.

If emails are not optimized for mobile, engagement drops, conversions decrease, and unsubscribe rates rise. 

You should use responsive design techniques to adjust layouts for different screen sizes and regularly test emails on various devices to ensure they display correctly and remain user-friendly.

Key techniques for mobile optimization include adding:

• Fluid grids
• Scalable fonts
• Touch-friendly buttons
• Stacked content blocks
• Show/hide elements to prioritize important content.

Dark mode incompatibility

Dark mode compatibility is becoming important in email design, as many users prefer it for comfort and battery efficiency. However, designing for dark mode brings challenges. When email clients automatically invert colors, light text and images may not display correctly, causing readability problems. 

For example, white backgrounds may turn dark, and dark text can become hard to read. Poor design in dark mode can frustrate users, lower engagement, increase unsubscribe rates, and harm your brand’s reputation. 

It’s important to test emails in both light and dark modes to ensure consistency in appearance. Choose colors that remain readable in both settings and avoid using color alone to communicate key information. This ensures that your content is accessible and visually clear, no matter which mode your audience prefers.

Email sending challenges

Even with compelling content, issues can arise that hinder successful delivery. Here are some common issues to pay attention to: 

Issues with email automation

The key email automation challenge is to ensure the messages are relevant and sent at the right time. Poorly targeted or mistimed emails can lead to disengagement and more unsubscribes. 

Additionally, automation can also make emails feel less personal if the content is too generic or not tailored to individual preferences. Subscribers expect personalized communication, and when they get emails that feel automated or disconnected, it can hurt their connection to the brand.

Therefore, as a marketer, you should regularly review and adjust your automation strategies based on customer feedback and engagement data. Testing different triggers and ensuring content remains relevant can help improve the effectiveness of automated campaigns and drive better results.

Poor engagement metrics management

Analyzing various metrics to accurately assess campaign performance can be a challenge. Low engagement can indicate that the content is irrelevant or that the email is poorly targeted, which may lead to higher unsubscribe rates.

But how can you know exactly what’s problematic?

Use A/B testing to see which email element needs your attention, then improve your content, subject lines, or messaging accordingly. Also, segment your audience based on behavior to send more personalized emails, boosting engagement and overall performance.

And don’t forget that sending emails at the right time can also help with open rates. 2024 Coschedule studies show that emails sent during weekdays and mid-morning hours perform better. So, regularly reviewing engagement patterns helps optimize email campaigns, leading to better deliverability and stronger customer connections.

Wrapping Up

Email marketing remains one of the most powerful ways to build customer relationships and achieve great results. However, it comes with challenges that require constant evaluation of strategies, tools, and engagement methods to maintain success.

It’s not just about sending messages. It’s about understanding your audience deeply and delivering value that resonates with their needs. This can mean prioritizing your email list quality, maintaining relevance in communications, and adapting to regulatory changes.

Prioritizing these will help you create successful email campaigns, nurture customer relationships, and drive long-term growth.

If you need help managing your emails while running all sorts of campaigns, check out our video on the best AI tools for the job:

We appreciate you chose this article to know more about the email marketing challenges. To know how to cope with them, read more topic-related articles on the Mailtrap blog!