Email marketing is the number one way to reach your target audience, but only if you play by the Internet marketing rules. Like anything, if you make mistakes, you can alienate customers, lose business or just plain old waste your time. Avoid these mistakes and watch your sales grow.

5 email marketing mistakes you don’t want to make

1. Not having a marketing plan. It’s like going on a road trip without a map. Make sure you have a strategy in place before you launch each and every marketing email. Decide on a theme that matches with your business goals and will help you achieve them. Create articles, promotions, tips, and offerings that are line with the strategy.

2. Gathering emails without permission. In a race to build their list, many email marketers try dumping in emails for everyone they come in contact with. The problem with this is that it can quickly get you flagged as a spammer for emailing people who haven’t opted in to your list. It’s more about quality than quantity. You want to market to people that are interested in your products and services rather than trying to ram it down their throat.

3. Veering off topic. Send emails and include content in your e-newsletter that are of interest to your subscribers. This ensures that you’ll keep your current subscribers happy and attract new subscribers.

4. Too much of a sales pitch. The format for e-newsletters is the perfect combination of information and marketing. Don’t make the mistake of making your newsletter a big fat promotion and lose sight of its true purpose–to share content, position yourself and your company as an expert, and stay in constant contact with your customers and prospects .

5. Off-time launches. If you send your e-newsletter at the wrong time or on the wrong day of the week, it can easily wind up in the deleted folder. Statistically, open rates and sales are higher when you send your email promotions and e-newsletters on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 am. If you have subscribers in different time zones, send between 10 am and 2 pm.

If you play by the email marketing game rules, you’ll be a winner! Avoid making these common email mistakes and you’ll win more sales and boost your business–quickly and relatively easily.