Small business marketing automation software is like having a trusty robot assistant — when it works, it saves you time and brings in sales. But when it doesn’t? Well, it’s like a Roomba stuck in a corner, spinning in circles and doing absolutely nothing helpful — and maybe even spreading wet cat food all over your tile.
Are your automations quietly sabotaging your success? Let’s find out. Here are 15 common marketing automation mistakes and how to fix them.
1. Forgetting to Publish Changes to Automations
You tweak an automation, pat yourself on the back, and move on — only to realize weeks later that you never hit “publish.” Oops. Automation software doesn’t auto-save changes because a change shouldn’t go live until you’re certain it’s the way you want it, so be sure you hit the “publish” button when you’re done.
2. Not Testing Before Sending
Always send yourself (or a team member) a test email for broadcasts. For an automation or campaign, go through the full process to experience what your lead or customer will experience. Check that emails, links, landing pages, forms, and payment processes work as expected. Not only will you catch mistakes, you’ll also find little ways to improve the customer experience.
3. No Default/Backup “From” Person
If a team member leaves your company and all their automated emails keep going out from their now-inactive account, that’s not just awkward — it’s lost sales. Set a default fallback sender so your emails never hit a dead end.
4. Ignoring Mobile Testing
Most people check emails and browse on their phones. Yet, when you’re building and testing automations on your desktop computer, it can be easy to forget about mobile experiences. If your automations only look good on desktop, you’re alienating a huge chunk of potential customers. Always test on mobile before going live.
5. Skipping the Proofread
Typos make you look bad and autocorrect isn’t always your friend (just ask anyone who’s ever texted “ducking”). Get fresh eyes on your emails before sending them out.
6. Using Spam Trigger Words
Words like “FREE MONEY!!!” or “ACT NOW!!!” can send your emails straight to spam purgatory. Stay updated on which words email filters don’t like and swap them for natural-sounding alternatives.
7. Hiding Your Call-to-Action (CTA)
People are busy. If your CTA is buried at the bottom, they might never see it. Place it prominently at the top (“above the fold”) and make it clear what action you want them to take.
8. Automating Something That Doesn’t Work
Just because something is automated doesn’t mean it’s effective. Review engagement metrics. For example, if your re-engagement campaign didn’t actually re-engage cold contacts last month, sending it again every three months won’t fix that.
9. Taking the Idea of “Set It and Forget It” a Little Too Literally
Don’t let an automation run so long that it becomes ineffective and embarrassingly out of date. Keep things fresh. This leads nicely into...
10. Neglecting Regular Automation Audits
Reviewing and updating your automations is like spring cleaning ... no one looks forward to it, but when it’s done you’re SOOO glad you did it. And unlike your house, which only your family and friends will see, your automations are seen by all your leads, customers, and anyone on the internet who’s curious about your business. So yeah, block some time on your calendar to clean up those automations.
11. Using Only One-Size-Fits-All Automations
Your audience isn’t one giant blob of identical people. Segment your list and tailor your messaging, timing, and offers accordingly. Personalization increases engagement and conversions. In fact, one of the key benefits of marketing automation software is that it can target specific audiences — so why not take advantage of it?
12. Using Only Basic When/Then Automations
Use behavioral triggers to send different follow-ups based on customer actions, like link clicks or inactivity. If you have Keap, this is what it does better than all the other marketing automation platforms out there, so make sure you’re using it to supercharge your results.
13. Making Promises You Can’t Keep
If an automated email says, “We’ll get back to you in 24 hours,” then you better follow through. If that’s unrealistic, change the promise to something you can reliably deliver.
14. Copying-and-Pasting Straight from AI
Go ahead, use AI, but be sure to edit the output for accuracy and to match the tone of your brand. And remove those emojis that announce to the world that you used ChatGPT — anyone who uses it will recognize them instantly.
15. Forgetting to Update Templates
That email template you loved in 2018? It might be feeling a little stale now. Refresh your email and landing page templates every year or so to keep your branding and design current.
Don’t Let Bad Automation Cost You Sales
Smart automations should make you look good, save you time, and drive sales. Avoid these mistakes, and yours will do just that.
If you don’t yet have marketing automation software that can automate your entire sales funnel, check out Keap and sign up for a 14-day free trial.
If you’re already a Keap customer and just don’t have time to clean up your automations, check out our Professional Services — our automation experts can do it for you!
