Are your email and client newsletter open rates declining?
You’re not alone.
It’s a discouraging fact that open rates have taken a dive this year. But there is hope! Historically, when open rates go down, they bounce back up, higher than ever. Our Co-CEO David Searns recently shared some great insights with our team on how to increase email open rates. They were so great, in fact, that we wanted to share them with you!
Here are things to look at to help your open rates soar:
- Quality of the list. Does your client list have a lot of outdated info (e.g., people who are no longer at the company)? Cleanse your list of people who definitely won’t open your email for an immediate boost in your open rate.
- Relationship between the recipient and the sender. Do the people you are emailing TO know the people whose names are on the FROM line? If not, they’ll likely scroll right by your message.
- Recipient expectations. These days, we see so many spoofed (and often malicious) emails that we tend to distrust any email we are not expecting. Do your clients expect to receive your emails? This might be an opportunity to have the sales team reach out to clients to:
- Verify the recipient addresses
- Chat about the kinds of email your organization sends (and why those emails are worthwhile)
- Remove addresses of clients who do not wish to receive emails
- Ask clients who DO wish to receive emails to add you to their trusted sender list
- Confirm how often they wish to receive updates. You don’t want to become a pest!
- Relevance of the content. The average businessperson now receives more than 120 emails per day. To get yours read, you want to ensure that the content is relevant to the client…and easy to consume. This means write shorter emails, state the reason WHY you are emailing, show the value and relevance of what you are sharing, and make it easy to take the next step (e.g., a big button to click or a clear link).
- Double Opt-In. Consider using a double opt-in method to confirm that your recipients truly wish to receive updates. If they take action to receive your emails or newsletters, they are far more likely to open them.
- Mobile Optimization. Over 80% of people check email on a mobile device. If they can’t read your email, they might ignore it or delete it. Examine your content on a range of devices to make sure it looks great everywhere.
- Subject line. The subject line is the first thing your recipient sees, and you want to make an impact. Some marketers suggest spending as much time crafting your subject line as you do writing the content! Try these tips for creating a great subject line.
- List Segmentation. Look at your campaigns to see which emails are performing best with which recipients. Then segment your list and send more content in those categories to those who wish to consume it. Personalized, targeted marketing messaging will show your clients you know and care about them and likely increase the chance of them wanting to hear more from you.
- Good timing. Analyze which days and times have the best open rates for your list and make sure you send during your “sweet spot.”
I wish I could share a “silver bullet” that would bring email open and click-through rates back up to where they once were, but the best we can do is to ensure that we are emailing relevant, timely, easy to consume information…to people who want and are expecting the email.
Need help with your email marketing or other branded content?
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Want to learn more about successful email strategies? Download our e-book: Email Marketing: Breaking Through the Clutter
