Email marketing is one of the best ways to reach out to your customer base. It’s virtually instant, readily analyzable, and nobody has to pay for the postage. Fully 97% of small businesses use email marketing, according to eMarketer. Unfortunately, a recent study by the Email Institute found that the average open rate for a marketing email was only 27.2%. How can you improve your marketing email open rate?
We’re assuming that you’ve already weeded out the bad data – the false email address and blank fields we talked about in an earlier post. Now it’s time to put those leads into play. These three tips can help your message make it out of the inbox and onto your customers’ screens.
Nobody likes receiving unsolicited email. The same Epsilon-backed Email Institute study mentioned earlier indicates that email open rates nearly triple – skyrocketing from 27% to 75% – when recipients simply opt into an email list. So your simple first step: let them choose to be contacted.
There are several reasons why you need to craft a strong subject line. First, you don’t want your message to be flagged as spam by the email program’s filters. Secondly, you don’t want to trigger the spam-alert in your recipients’ heads. So it’s a good idea to avoid catchphrases like “Free!!” and “Reminder!” in your subject line. And lay off the excessive use of exclamation points and symbols; at best, you’ll look untrustworthy and unprofessional. At worst, you’ll be back in the spam bin.
Because emails are currently free, it’s easy to see them as throw-away marketing. This can lead to skimpy preparation. Bad idea. Take your marketing seriously; don’t forget to utilize A/B testing to sift out poorly-performing messages. If your customer base covers different industries or different segments within an industry, consider customizing your message and subject line. Then test again, using a small segment of your contact list as the proving ground. Whichever version gets the highest open rate will be the obvious choice for your large-scale attempts.
Your emails don’t have to languish unread in spam folders or be instantly deleted. Use these tips and a little forethought, and watch your open rate improve.
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