One of the hardest parts about running a successful email marketing campaign is to getting them opened. Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to acquire new customers and build customer loyalty. This is why it’s increasingly popular; low open rates will kill any chance of success.
If you want a boost to your business, follow some of these tips to increase your open rate.
1. Change Delivery Times
Most people are busy and don’t check their email inbox more than a few times per day. Ideally, you want your email to be close to the top of the list when they open it. While studies say that 10:30 a.m. or 5 p.m. are the best times, you must complete some research yourself.
Chances are, your clients will follow different schedules. Schedule different delivery times for a series of emails. Using software that analyzes the emails, determine which time periods result in the highest open rate.
2. Resend Unopened Emails
While this may seem odd, this is a quick and easy way to get more emails opened. Experts suggest to simply change the subject line of the email and resend to recipients that never opened the previous email a few days to a week later.
Since they never opened the first email, they are unaware of the contents. You don’t have to create a brand new email, so less time is taken up. This is a simple way to increase your open rates.
3. Make Emails Mobile Optimized
A majority of your customers are going to view the email on their mobile device. If they are unable to read or open your email, it is going to be deleted immediately.
Ensuring that your emails are mobile optimized is crucial to a successful email campaign.
For emails, a single column design is the best because of vertical scroll. Leave white space for easy scanning. Depending on your clients, text-only emails may work the best. Images are often blocked by email companies. It can make the emails seem broken and not visually appealing.
Not only should your emails be mobile optimized, the website that the links lead back to needs to be as well. If they aren’t able to view the website, you lost out on the sale.
4. Interesting Subject Line
The subject line is the first thing that your client will see. Creating the perfect subject lines take practice as well as trial and error. When writing the subject line, try adding power words or using a sense of urgency to draw in the reader. Lines such as “Last chance” or “Ends Tonight” tend to convince readers to open up the email.
If something important is happening, come up with a fun way to let them know. Emails have to be compelling and short. Keep them to fewer than 50 characters. Smaller subject lines have a higher success rate.
5. Eliminate Spam Wording
Email inboxes are designed to filter out what they think are spam based on specific keywords. The last place you want your email to end up is in the spam folder. Filters are becoming more sophisticated. To avoid the junk folder, don’t make your subject line all capital letters and don’t pace these words in the subject line.
- Sale
- Free
- Deal
- Rich
6. Make It Personal
Email inboxes quickly fill up with junk each day. Some brands or products send non-stop offers and it can be quite annoying. Don’t be one of those companies. Place their name in the subject line to catch their eye.
Have the email comes from a person, not a noreply email address. Put yourself on the line and put that the emails come from you. The emails can be sent back to a customer service representative assigned to handle these times of projects.
Another great idea is to send emails based on their previous purchases. If you sell books, send emails to customers suggesting books in the same or similar genre.
7. Divide Your Email List
Not every client is going to want or need to receive the same exact email. Some subscribers are only interested in coupons whereas others may want coupons and newsletters. It is important to divide your email lists based on the kind of emails they want to receive.
Also, segmenting the list based on things such as age or location can make the emails more relevant. If you send out emails with coupons specifically to seniors, you need to divide the list so young adults don’t receive the email.
8. Building a Relationship
If all your emails are is promotional sales, they will be skimmed over. Use your email marketing to build relationships and trust with your customers. Share a funny story, tell your customers about yourself, explain future goals for the company and even more ideas. Customers will begin to trust your company. Trust builds brand loyalty which is important for success.
9. Review Your Subscriber List
It is a good practice to go through your inactive subscriber list from time to time. An easy method is to simply send an email to those who are deemed inactive through software. You can opt to remain on the list.
Another option it to place these subscribers on a separate list. Don’t send them emails as frequently. If, after two weeks, none of your emails have been opened yet, remove them from the list.
It is a waste of time to send emails to people who have no intentions to open the email and purchase anything.
10. Another Lead Magnet
This is a very effective way to generate a higher open rate. People love to receive an eCourse or video series about a topic that interests them. The topics can widely vary; the sky is the limit with what you could create.
Then, on your website and through your newsletters, clients can select to receive these email courses each day. The idea is that they will open the email each day for whatever purpose you have chosen. This is a tactic to build relationships with clients.
