The Top 5 Ways Increase Your Email Open Rates!

Email is the holy grail of marketing. It's a timeless source of advertising that brings one of the highest returns on your investment than any other digital marketing strategy out there. It all starts with the methods you use to make your audience WANT to open your emails - every time! Here are five simple steps to help increase your email open rates. 

1. Attention Grabbing Subject Lines

The subject line is the #1 thing that your customer uses to decide whether or not to open your email. Your subject line has to instantly grab their attention and make them want to know more. That means you need to add a little mystery! Allude to the possibility of solving a pain point or anything that will get their attention.

Read through your own emails and see which ones to see what subject lines got your attention and made you want to read more. Unless you’re emailing in very high volume, it’ll be difficult to truly split test emails to see what works best. However, if you find that one email performs better your typical, try to see what was done differently and if you can use that approach for your next campaign.

2. Personalize

There are two types of personalization in email marketing that can help with open rates.

1. Personalizing the sender. It’s typically recommended when you send emails that you send from an actual person’s name and email, vs. a generic company name and “no reply” or “info” email address. People will be more inclined to open an email they believe is coming from an actual person.
2. Using the customer’s name in the subject line. Always use a personalization token to input the customer’s name in the subject line when possible. An email with a personal approach is more likely to be opened than a generic mass email that appears to be spam.

3. Avoid Spammy Word

There are two types of spam emails. The first is the type of spam that is SO spammy the email provider won’t even let it get to an inbox. Google and other email providers have sophisticated methods of determining if any given email is spam or not. If the email provider deems your email as spam, your customer will probably never see it. The second type of spam is emails that make it to the inbox, but never get opened by the recipient due to poorly written subject lines.

You can avoid email spam filters by avoiding emails that use an ALL CAPS subject line, by limiting the number of links your email has and by avoiding certain trigger words, such as: sale, free, deal, etc. Spend some time getting creative with your email subject lines and avoid using generic promotional words in your email campaigns.

4. Make Sure Your Emails Are Formatted For Mobile Devices

According to Hubspot, about 74 percent of all Smartphone users check emails from their phones. Therefore, if your email message can be easily read from their phone, your email open rates and user engagement will increase. Don’t know where to get started? Constant Contact has some great tips on improving mobile friendliness.

5. Always Provide Quality Content

You work hard to build your list of email subscribers. However, if you are not providing them with quality content that contains valuable offers and information they want to read, then you’re missing the point. Use the 80-20 rule. Eighty percent of your emails should be informational and only twenty percent should be solicitations and offers.

The Bottom Line

If done correctly, tour email campaigns can be one the most valuable, high ROI tool in your marketing arsenal. Before getting started on any email campaign, take some time to learn some tricks of the trade of the most successful email marketing campaign strategies and always, always, always double check before you hit send.