There is a reason email marketing has been around for so long – it works, if done correctly. No matter how strong your relationship is with your audience, your emails are still fighting for precious inbox attention. It only takes about three to four seconds for a person to decide whether an email is worth opening, so it’s crucial to capture the receiver’s attention right away.
Here are nine simple tips to increase your “open rate”:
1. Change your “from” name
A small change in the “from” field of an email can go a long way. According to Hubspot, emails sent from a company name have a lower click-through rate compared to emails sent directly from a person. Having a company spokesperson send the email can increase the probability of the email being opened.
2. Be personal
Marketing Sherpa did a case study which proved that personalizing emails truly works. With two different subject lines in each, the company tested seven different email campaigns. The result was that the campaign with the personalized subject line had a 17.36 percent higher average click-through rate.
For example:
Email A: 5 Ways to Build Long-Lasting Client Relationships
Email B: [First name], 5 Ways to Build Long-Lasting Client Relationships
3. Be aware of length limits
There are a variety of formats emails are viewed in, but as a general rule of thumb, keep the subject line to 50 characters or less. A related issue to be aware of is that many mobile email tools cut off subject lines at 25 characters – and these days 66 percent of emails are opened on mobile devices.
4. Avoid using four-letter words
In the email marketing world, four-letter words like help, free, percent off and reminder tend to trigger a spam filter. Using these words can land your email in junk mail folders instead of inboxes.
5. Make the most out of the pre-header
The subject line, together with the accompanying text that fills up that line, is known as the pre-header. Make sure to keep your subject line to a maximum of 50 characters, to use this space to your full advantage. This leaves you with approximately 50 more characters to make a compelling case to your reader by using a call-to-action to trigger a response.
6. Don’t put too much into the “best days/best times” to send emails
While there is no single best time to send emails, you can track patterns in your customers’ behavior to identify the optimal times to communicate with them. This collection of case studies shows a few consistent trends. For example, not surprisingly, email open rates tend to drop off on the weekends. But while emails sent Tuesday through Thursday have the best open rates, they also compete with the highest volume of emails sent.
7. Invest in good content
Once you have gotten customers to open your email, it’s important to keep their attention. Bad content is one of the main reasons people unsubscribe from 25 percent of emails. Content must be engaging and worth your readers’ time. Just because you can get them in the door doesn’t mean they will stay. Good content leads to brand loyalty and increased referral business.
8. Make use of the power of negativity
Tabloids do so well because they are the kings of controversy, so don’t be afraid to be a little negative yourself, in your pre-header text. For example, an email was sent to a group of newsletter subscribers with two different subject lines and version B below was the clear winner.
Version A: 5 Content Marketing Tips to Help Your Business
Version B: 5 Content Marketing Mistakes (and Why They Hurt Your Business)
9. Use numbered lists
Numbered lists – like the one in this post – catch readers’ attention because it is easy to skim the headers and grasp the content quickly. Our brains are wired to like classification systems. We like knowing the length of something before we begin reading it.
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These hacks are simply put together to take advantage of how the human brain works. But perhaps the most important tip to keep in mind is to be genuine. Make sure to inject a human quality to your emails so that your customers can always find something to relate to.
Written by Branndon Stewart.
Originally posted on entrepreneur.com