How effective is your current email marketing strategy? Are you happy with the open rates on the campaigns you create?
If you want to take your email marketing to the next level, you need to know how to to improve email open rates. Thankfully, Sikich has created the wonderful infographic below, complete with 10 easy ways you can boost your open rates and some valuable tips to keep in mind.
Simply put, if you execute your emails correctly, your list will respond how you want them to and you'll be able to effectively nurture them along the buyer's journey. The ROI is awesome - $44.25 for every dollar spent. Consumers who receive email marketing spend 83% more when shopping. Their orders are larger and they also tend to shop more often. Email marketing is cost-effective, versatile, immediate, personal and trackable. It's a no-brainer. All you need to do is make sure your list opens your emails!
1. Use a clean list of targeted, opted-in recipients. 32% marketers say segmenting their email database is one of their top objectives in the next 12 months. Targeting and segmenting will increase your click-through rate (CTR) from 3% to 8%.
Tip: Create buyer personas and connect with them by sending messages tailored to their wants, needs and behaviours.
2. Send from a real person that recipients can reply to.
Tip: Avoid impersonal info@company.com email addresses - they will go straight into the cyber-trash.
3. Write a killer subject line. 64% of people say they open an email because of the subject line.
Tip: Keep subject lines 50 characters or less for maximum impact.
4. Tell them what to expect. What did they sign up for? Before sending your emails, tell your recipients what type of content they can expect and how often they'll be hearing from you. It's only polite
5. Use an attention-grabbing pre-header. This is your next best chance to give your readers a preview of what's inside your email and incentive to open.
Tip: Avoid "can't read this email, view the web version" or other standard language.
6. Display an early call-to-action (CTA).
Tip: Display your CTA near the top so that recipients can see it without scrolling.
7. Optimize your emails for mobile. 38% of all emails are opened on a mobile device, so make sure your recipients can view yours with ease.
8. Don't forget to personalize. Personalized emails improve click-through rates by 14% and conversion rates by 20%.
Tip: Use your recipient's name in the subject line or greeting!
9. Give recipients control over opting in or out, frequency of emails and content they receive.
10. Test, monitor, and analyze. Study the behaviours of your recipients. What time of day do they usually open your emails? What links are they clicking on? What are they interested in? Use this information to improve your emails and open rates.
Bonus Tip: One more thing. Don't forget social sharing buttons! Emails with social sharing buttons have a 115% higher CTR than those that do not.
There, now you have an arsenal of proven email tips to help you improve your email open rates and increase sales for your business.