Getting Your Emails Opened More Often
This is a summary of an article written by Martin Lieberman, Constant Contact Managing Editor. Read the full article at Constant Contact’s Learning Center.
In these days of increasingly more emails in one’s Inbox, competition for them being read is at an all-time high.
You can have the greatest, most relevant content in your emails, but if no one opens them, then it all goes to waste.
Here are five ways to ensure that your emails will be opened and read by your customers:
1. Segment your mailing list and send more targeted emails.
Larger lists tend to have lower open rates because it becomes difficult to please everybody, and those who aren’t interested just won’t open your messages. Think about ways you can break your mailing list up into smaller, more targeted lists. You know that when you get an email about something you are truly interested in and that is relevant to you, you are more likely to open it.
2. Improve your subject lines.
A good subject line will get an email opened. Lead with a benefit that lets the receiver know what’s in it for them. Make it interesting, and try to pique the reader’s curiosity. You want the reader to feel compelled to find out more.
3. Test your sending times.
Look at when people who do open your emails are doing so. Is it in the morning, midday, or at night? Try splitting your list in half. Send to half the people at your normal time, and to the other half on a different day or at a different time of day to see if one results in a higher open rate.
4. Check your “from” name.
Most emails that are quickly ignored or deleted are those with an unrecognizable “from” name or address. Use a name that your receivers are most familiar with in your “from” line.
5. Evaluate how often (and what) you send.
Sometimes the reason why people don’t open emails is because they simply get too many of them. On the other hand, it could be you’re not sending them often enough and recipients are losing interest in between the times when they do hear from you. Consider asking those on your mailing list how often they want to hear from you.