7 Tips to Increase Your Email Marketing Open Rates
December 20, 2021
Need to increase your email marketing open rates? Here are 7 tips that will help you target the right people with a message they won’t be able to resist.
#1. Segment your lists
The days of doing email “blasts” to large, general audience lists are over. Today, you must do a better job of segmenting lists and sending more relevant content.
For example, if you’re an e-commerce clothing store, you don’t want to send an email advertisement for ladies’ apparel to men. So, you use email marketing software to segment your list, like this:
The more relevant you can make your email content to each person who is receiving it, the better your engagement is going to be. Leverage automation software to help you personalize customer email journeys.
#2. Create attention-grabbing, engaging subject lines
The starting point for your email engagement is the subject line. If it doesn’t catch people’s attention and draw in their interest, then your email is basically white on white. It will go unnoticed in a jam-packed inbox.
The best email subject lines:
- Catch attention
- Resonate with the audience’s needs or interests
- Are short and to the point
Take care with subject lines. You want something that catches attention and is essentially a teaser (a headline intended to get people to click through), but at the same time, you must avoid coming across as spammy.
Avoid overly salesy language, like “buy now” or “free” (these terms will land your email in junk folders).
Sierra Trading Post keeps it to the point:
It’s also effective to use urgency and numbers (such as a discount %) to engage people. Another tactic that works is asking a question that’s pertinent to your audience:
Email subject lines are prime content for testing. Run variations to your lists to discover what types of subject lines your audience responds to. Use the most effective lines on future campaigns.
#3. Make sure recipients recognize you
When you get an email from someone you’ve never heard of, what do you do with it?
Just like everybody, you trash it. In fact, you probably never saw it because it went in a spam folder.
The tips we’re laying out here assume you’re working with permission-based, opt-in email lists. If not, stop emailing and start building your lists.
When you have a list, make sure the email identifies either your brand or someone recipients will know by name.
Sometimes, it’s better to use your brand. However, if you have a spokesperson or other primary people that are more well known, have the email come from them by name. This makes it more personal.
#4. Make sure your domain is verified
You must send your emails from a verified domain address. Otherwise, spam filters will zap them. In other words, you can’t create a fake .com address and use it to send email lists.
We mention this because, sometimes, businesses try to send emails from a false .com to try to sneak content past people. Don’t do it.
Make sure your lists and your domain are legit, or you’re wasting your own time. Spam filters are too effective.
#5. Use the recipient’s name in the subject line
You can always catch people’s attention better when you use their names. The same goes for email.
Today, email automation will dynamically place people’s names or other personal info into the subject line.
This is another trick that helps in the big challenge of catching people’s attention as they’re scrolling through their inbox.
#6. Get your timing right
A major factor in email open rates is the timing of your email delivery. If you send your emails just prior to when someone is likely to check their inbox, you improve your chances.
As JB says in the video, we have success sending our emails mid-week, early in the morning, because that’s when we can catch our audience.
We’ve also worked with an e-commerce business selling baby sleep aids that did well sending their emails in the middle of the night.
At first, you’ll make assumptions on timing email blasts, but as you gather data on open rates, you’ll find certain times tend to do better. Those are your targets.
#7. Provide value
Marketing today is all about providing value first, particularly when you’re doing top-of-funnel lead generation.
Getting people to click through to an email is only the first step. The content of your email must be relevant and useful. Otherwise, you’ll get more unsubscribes than conversions.
Also, make sure the content in your subject line, email and landing page all match. If the subject line says a shopper can save 20%, repeat that in the email body and take them to a landing page with that offer.
Email marketing is effective when you catch the attention the right people with content they’ll value. Make sure to check all those boxes or your results won’t be what you hoped for.
Save time and create an email marketing campaign that works with Marketing 360®’s email marketing software. See our plans and pricing.
Originally published on 4/16/19
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