Donna Duggan on The Biggest Email Marketing Misconceptions – And What Smart Brands Do Differently

Still only emailing your list when there’s a sale? Email expert and Mailchimp Pro Partner Donna Duggan says that’s one of the biggest mistakes small businesses make – and you’re leaving gold on the table.

High costs. Low engagement. Weak sales. What’s holding you back in email marketing might be way easier to fix than you think, says Donna Duggan. An email marketing strategist, she helps small businesses use email more wisely, more creatively, and with a lot more clarity.

One of the first things she does when working with a client? She checks the basics – like email domain authentication and duplicate contacts. That simple step once saved a client £21,000 a year (that’s almost $29,000).

From her beautiful home in Chichester, West Sussex, Donna talks to ZeroBounce about:

• Why a smaller list can be your most powerful asset
• How you can stand out in busy inboxes
• What most small businesses get totally wrong about email
• How one blog click led to a smart automation – and real sales
• One thing you can do now to improve email deliverability.

Read the interview to learn how you, too, could make small changes and see quick wins in your email marketing.

What do you think is the biggest email marketing challenge businesses face right now – and how can they overcome it?

I think the biggest challenge facing email marketers today is staying relevant in increasingly saturated inboxes. I see this a lot with the small and medium-sized businesses I work with, who still use a scattergun approach to email marketing… “one email fits all.” But that’s really turning people off now.

Subscribers expect businesses to at least use their first names. In order to make emails more targeted, my advice would be to start small and look at the data. If there’s a lack of data, try adding one question to your sign-up form. Just that change could significantly improve the emails you send.

What is the easiest action any business owner can take today to improve their email marketing, even with limited resources or expertise?

Love this question! The easiest way to make a change is to clean your list.

It can be as simple as creating a segment of subscribers who haven’t clicked on any of your emails recently. Send one email asking if they want to stay on your list, with a button to click if they do. Send another email as a reminder. Then go ahead and archive those non-clickers.

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A post shared by Donna | Mailchimp Pro Partner (@itsdonnaduggan)

The result? Your metrics will improve, and your monthly email service provider (ESP) bill will most likely go down. A smaller, more engaged list beats a huge, bored list every time!

Could you share a specific instance where a minor adjustment in a client’s email workflow led to notable improvements?

I was working with a gardening company recently that had good engagement with blogs, but their sales pushes weren’t hitting the mark.

We added a step in the workflow where those customers who clicked a blog link started a new automation with a short series that showed the benefits of the product featured in the blog that they’d shown interest in.

At the end of the series, we reintroduced the product, added a subscriber-only discount, and saw an uplift in sales. The magic of sending the right information to the right person, at the right time.

How did you get into email marketing?

I’ve always loved reading and creating stories. I was a Marketing Manager at Decca Records UK in my previous work life. My favourite part of that job was looking at storyboards for music videos and creating visuals for photoshoots.

When I started work again after having my two boys, I found being a marketing generalist was too broad, and that email was the perfect vehicle to combine pleasing visuals with interesting stories.

I think email marketing is storytelling in many ways, especially when combined with brand awareness. I niched down into email when COVID hit and haven’t been disappointed with the stories I’ve encountered.

One of my favourite clients so far has been a Scottish Clan Chief!

What common misconceptions do small businesses have about email marketing, and how do you address them?

Two common misconceptions that small businesses have about email marketing are:

#1. The bigger the audience, the better the results.

#2. You only have to send an email when there’s a sale on.

It’s not about how many people you reach, to begin with, it’s about how well you
reach them.

I always start off by performing an audit for new clients. Deliverability, list health
and segmentation – those are the real drivers of results.

And sales emails? Yeah, there’s a place for them. But I recommend using your audience as well as selling to them. Send surveys out to improve data collection. Your VIP customers will love sharing their thoughts about your brand or service – good or bad! That feedback is the biggest untapped goldmine for small businesses.

When you start working with a new client, what’s the first thing you look at in their email setup? What’s usually the first red flag you spot?

The first thing I check is whether their email domain is verified and authenticated. Then, I move on to check audience size and whether contacts are being duplicated.

I recently saved a client £21,000 a year by identifying duplicate audiences across multiple accounts. It was a crazy amount of money to save.

What advice would you give to small businesses hesitant to invest in email marketing?

I’d say this: email marketing isn’t a cost – it’s one of the best investments you can make to build relationships, repeat business, and resilience. If social media disappeared tomorrow, would you still be able to reach your customers?

Email gives you that ownership and direct connection. It doesn’t rely on algorithms. It scales with you.

Rapid Fire with Donna Duggan

No. 1 email deliverability tip you can give us:
Authenticate your email domain.

Best way to boost your open rates:
Send fewer, better-targeted emails. Subject line matters too, of course, but strategy trumps subject line every time!

An email marketing practice to stay away from:
Buying lists – don’t do it pur-lease.

Your favorite place to work:
In my house, with the view of my rose garden from my window and my dog River sleeping next to me. It sounds a little boring, but I need to work where it’s quiet to concentrate.

What is something you never get tired of talking about?
Books. I love a book recommendation. What are you reading? Connect with me on LinkedIn and let me know?

The one quality you need as an entrepreneur:
Know that you can’t do everything. And that your accountant is your friend.

One thing that instantly elevates an email:
Simplicity & charm. OK, that’s two things. But one of the simplest elevations I’ve seen recently was a cute delivery notification from the refurb tech biz Back Market. It was simple, clean, with the words: “You’ve received a letter – expecto-phonum (sorry, no wizard chess).”

A tool or app you swear by:
I love Loom.

Favorite way to unwind after a busy day:
I take River out or swim in the sea if it’s summer.

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Your guilty pleasure when procrastinating:
Wordle. Or any of the NYT games.

If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing instead?
I’d be a librarian!

Check out Donna’s work at donnaduggan.co.uk.