Increasing
conversions and click-through rates depends a whole lot on the open
rate of your emails. Click-throughs bring about conversions, and this
will happen only when the open rates of your emails are high. For
instance, if your average email open rate is 80 percent, the
click-throughs might be 40 percent and conversions might be 25
percent. Also, your email marketing efforts are wasted if your email
open rate is poor.
Open
rates are noticeably increased when senders are known. Unsolicited
emails have poor open rates.
▪ Subscribers
only:
If you offer an email newsletter on your website you must make sure
you only send it to those who opt-in for it on your website. A great
tool to invite visitors to subscribe is ManyContacts,
a contact form that takes 2mins to install.
▪ Permission-based: If you offer product/service information, make sure you have your customers' permission to send them emails.
▪ Prompt: The sooner you send a promised email to your customers, for instance after a phone call or one-on-one meeting, the higher the open rate of your emails. This is because you are a recognized and expected sender.
▪ Permission-based: If you offer product/service information, make sure you have your customers' permission to send them emails.
▪ Prompt: The sooner you send a promised email to your customers, for instance after a phone call or one-on-one meeting, the higher the open rate of your emails. This is because you are a recognized and expected sender.
Create
Subject Lines that Grab Attention
People
open emails based on a recognized sender and a catchy subject line.
The following are some tips on creating subject lines that improve email open rates:
The following are some tips on creating subject lines that improve email open rates:
Create
Urgency:
Using a subject line with a time-sensitive topic can produce higher
open rates. Here are some examples of urgent email subject lines: One
registration spot left, Last minute free shipping for Christmas, 50%
discount ends tonight at midnight,
etc. These create a sense of urgency and may encourage your readers
to click-through the call-to-action button in your email.
Create
Temptation:
If the email is about a blog or article, use subject lines that
create temptation, such as, Avoid
these 5 mistakes at all costs, 5 Danger signs to watch out for, 3
easy ways to invest money,
and so on.
Provide
a Location:
If you are a local business, you can add your location in the subject
line to entice readers to open your email.
Word
Count:
Keep subject lines concise. An appropriate length is 50 characters or
less, though it could be longer for targeted receivers.
Incomplete
Subject Lines:
Incomplete subject lines create curiosity, as do questions. For
example, The
real reason people gain weight is?,
and, Today’s
special discount on [product name].
A/B
Test Subject Lines:
No matter how smart you think your subject lines are, A/B testing
them is a must. Most email
marketing software providers
have A/B testing so that you can test which subject lines result in
higher open rates.
Avoid
Looking Like Spam:
▪ Do
not use words such as Free, Help, Percent Off, Reminder.
▪ Do not repeat your subject line.
▪ Do not use punctuation signs more than once, for example !!!, $$$.
▪ Do not use ALL CAPITALS.
▪ Do not repeat your subject line.
▪ Do not use punctuation signs more than once, for example !!!, $$$.
▪ Do not use ALL CAPITALS.
A
strategic time to send your emails can be based on the customer
research you did when planning your email marketing strategy, as
discussed in our previous email.
▪ The
customer’s need for the information in the email. For example, if
the customer subscribed to your email newsletter when buying an
electric oven, you could send them information about related
products, such cookie cutters or bakeware.
▪ Depending on the demographics of your customers, send emails when they are available to check their inboxes at work, at school, on the move or at home.
▪ Depending on the demographics of your customers, send emails when they are available to check their inboxes at work, at school, on the move or at home.
The
ideal mail-out times to improve open rates are as follows:
▪ The
highest email open rates are achieved between 8am and 9am and between
3pm and 4pm.
▪ The second highest rates are achieved between 6pm and midnight
▪ Most messages land in the inbox in the morning, which means that emails sent between 12 noon and 6pm tend to have higher open rates than emails sent in the morning, as they will not have as much competition.
▪ Open rates are higher during weekends than weekdays.
Increased
deliverability rates of your emails will enable increased open rates.
Thus, you must avoid spam filters:
▪ The second highest rates are achieved between 6pm and midnight
▪ Most messages land in the inbox in the morning, which means that emails sent between 12 noon and 6pm tend to have higher open rates than emails sent in the morning, as they will not have as much competition.
▪ Open rates are higher during weekends than weekdays.
▪ Do
not use colors in the email body or text, particularly red or
green.
▪ Do not overly emphasize your call-to-actions, like CLICK HERE, and avoid loud colors, large fonts and capital letters.
▪ Do not use bad HTML coding.
▪ Do not trick your readers by using Re: or Fwd: in the subject line.
▪ Do not use a lot of images.
▪ Do not use bulky attachments in emails. Especially avoid attaching these file types: .exe, .zip and .swf.
▪ Do not send unsolicited emails.
▪ Do not overly emphasize your call-to-actions, like CLICK HERE, and avoid loud colors, large fonts and capital letters.
▪ Do not use bad HTML coding.
▪ Do not trick your readers by using Re: or Fwd: in the subject line.
▪ Do not use a lot of images.
▪ Do not use bulky attachments in emails. Especially avoid attaching these file types: .exe, .zip and .swf.
▪ Do not send unsolicited emails.
Final
Tip:
Update your mailing lists frequently and filter out those who do not open your emails. Having a list of people who are really interested in receiving your emails can drastically improve your email open rates.
Update your mailing lists frequently and filter out those who do not open your emails. Having a list of people who are really interested in receiving your emails can drastically improve your email open rates.
For more information or to set up a no-cost consultative appointment, call Custom Technology Communications (CTC) at 414-469-7458, or send an email to dakeup@gmail.com
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