How To Improve Your Email Open Rates
The average person has 1602 unread emails sitting in their inbox. Many of these messages are from brands looking to sell goods and services via direct email marketing. However, unfortunately, it’s unlikely that the recipient will ever choose to open them.
As a business looking to get conversions, this could spell bad news for you. However, it’s easy to boost your email open rates when you know what people want to see.
Here, we’re going to talk about some ways that you can hook people with a subject line and ensure that they actually click on your email messages. Read on to improve email open rates ASAP.
Determine Concrete Goals
Like all marketing strategies, every email marketing campaign should have data-backed goals. You want to create objectives that are concrete, measurable, attainable, and quantifiable.
Getting a certain percentage open rate may be an initial goal. However, you also may want to set goals for conversions.
Getting 15% of recipients to reply to the message or redeem a coupon is a great objective. Having 10% of your emails directly take people to a sales page might be a goal. You also may say that you want to get a certain ROI for your email campaign.
These goals should be based on metrics and analytics from your target market.
You’ll want to track the success of previous email campaigns to determine what is realistic and reasonable. Professionals can use expert tools to see this information accurately. The data will be recent, readable, and up-to-date.
These same experts can give you insights into your target audience. We will help you identify pain points that your consumers face, how you can resolve those issues, and how to convey this to your readers. We also will find the demographics of your target audience so you can best tailor your emails to them.
Fix Your “From” Information
One of the first things email marketers need to do is change their “from” name and “from” email address.
These are the first things that readers will notice when they receive an email from you. People are skeptical of emails when they don’t clearly recognize the sender. This makes sense considering that they do not want to be spammed, scammed, or have malware installed onto their device.
This also assumes that your email would get to a person if you had poorly-constructed sender information. Spam filters would likely activate if they saw a series of random numbers or letters. When your emails get marked as spam, they don’t even have the chance to try and make an impact.
So, how can you choose a “from” name and email address that work?
Ask yourself how people will be able to quickly recognize your business. Many people will simply go with the name of their brand for the “from” name. However, if you personally have a lot of individual authority in your industry, your name may be used instead.
A “from” email address should never be personal. It’s a branded business opportunity, and using a professional name shows that you’re reputable. Plus, your brand name will make your business instantly recognizable, so more people will click on the message.
Send Emails at the Right Time
Timing is everything when it comes to opening emails. About 24% of all email opens happen within an hour after they are delivered. Once a single day passes, your message only has a 1% chance of being opened.
This means that you need to make the most of your sending timeframe.
Regular email rollout is a good choice. Not only does it automate the sending process, but it also lets people know when to expect messages from you. Your best audience members will be on the lookout for your message and won’t miss out.
But when should you automate this rollout?
An assessment of over a dozen studies shows that you’ll get higher email open rates on Tuesdays. In fact, Tuesdays have an 18% open rate, which is higher than any other day of the week.
Open rates also skyrocket early in the day. This is likely because people are waking up and checking their inboxes when they get to work. Automate your messages to go out between 8 AM and 12 PM.
Construct the Perfect Subject Line
Once you know when you’re planning to send out an email, the next step is to optimize your subject line. This is the line that will make or break your credibility and value in the eyes of your audience. It’s the point where you need to make an impact if you want people to read your messages.
The core thing to remember here is that you always need to provide value.
You may have clicked on this article because the title showed that it would help you learn something useful. You may have clicked on it because that title boasts future information that might help you solve the pain point of low open rates.
In any case, you chose to click because of one line. In an email marketing campaign, your subject line is like an article title.
Ask yourself what is in the email for the person receiving the message. Consider why they should open the email. Let consumers know what message you’re trying to send so that they know what value they will receive.
Personalize Your Messages
According to industry leader Experian, personalized promotional messages get a 29% higher open rate than their generic counterparts. Additionally, they have a 41% higher click-through rate.
When you use the person’s first name in the subject line, they feel singled out. They feel valued. They understand that they are personally receiving the message for a reason, and that reason may mean that the message has value to them.
Don’t Be Too Formal
Professionalism is important when constructing a branded email. However, there’s a difference between professionalism and stiff formality. You need to find a balancing act.
Position yourself as an industry leader with facts, figures, and relevant information. Make sure that every sentence helps the reader to understand your message. However, don’t be stiff and formal.
Use slang, contractions, buzzwords, and catchy language. Sound like a human rather than a machine. Consumers want a connection, and being a person and not a robot goes a long way.
Use Emojis for Higher Email Open Rates
Using emojis is a great way to sound like an approachable person. It’s not unprofessional. In fact, studies show that it can do wonders and improve your email open rates!
When an email has an emoji in the subject line, it has a 56% higher open rate than its emoji-less counterparts. Emojis lead to higher conversions, too, since 44% of people are more likely to purchase from a brand that used emojis in advertising.
Enclose Deals and Promotions
Content-wise, your email should include many things once people click it. Data, insights, information, and links to your official website are great choices. Articles related to consumer needs are also an awesome idea if you want to position your brand as an intellectual leader.
However, nothing makes your business quite as appealing as an exclusive promotion. Let people know that these deals only go to your subscribers to make them feel special. They offer a coupon, promo code, discounted product, or free ebook to those who open the email and click a link.
This is a great integrated marketing strategy. It takes people across email and your social media platforms and back to your official website. This multi-channel strategy helps you make a greater impact.
Also, remember that the subject line should make the greatest impact. There’s nothing like a promotion, coupon, or free gift when trying to draw in consumers. Let them know that something free and valuable is enclosed in the message so they click it.
Share Easy-Read Articles
Finally, it’s important that your email is easy to read. Use short sentences and bulleted lists to get your point across. Make sure that your paragraphs are no longer than 3 sentences.
Inserting images and infographics in your article also makes it easy to read and interpret. It also makes the content more shareable. People will be able to read your email more quickly and process the information instantly.
This will let them know that you value their time. They will remember this the next time you roll out your branded messages, which will cause higher email open rates in the future.
Develop a Top-Notch Email Marketing Strategy
Now that you know some ways to improve email open rates, it’s time to get started. While getting more people to click on your messages may sound like a challenge, it’s much easier when you work with a professional.
46Mile’s team can help you generate data and analytical insights about your email marketing campaign. We can then help you tailor your next strategy to your target audience’s needs so that you can better grab their attention.
Contact us to discuss your specific needs so that we can help you create an email marketing plan that leads to brand awareness, conversions, and sales.
