5 Ways to Get More People Reading Your Emails
Ahhh… the ultimate question. How can I get more people opening up my emails?
It’s something every business owner or marketer struggles with at some point, and now that we've talked about how to increase your email subscribers, it’s time to talk about engaging them. It’s a constant balancing act between investing time in your email marketing strategy and feeling like it’s not making enough impact.
Well, first thing’s first. Let’s talk benchmarks. As of 2018, the national average open rate for emails across all industries was 24.88%.
So, what does that tell us? Basically it gives us some more realistic view on what we can expect our open rates to be. It gives us a better idea on how to track if what we’re doing it truly working.
So, now the meat and potatoes, how can get more people opening our emails and increase our own open rates.
Start with your list - Having a large list can be REALLY tempting. Seeing those big numbers can give you a great ego boost. Here’s the thing though, if they’re not opening your emails, then they’re just an empty number. And while that number may make you feel good when you look it, it actually could be hurting you in the long run. Continuing to send emails to people who aren’t opening them can actually be a trigger to mail carriers like Google and Yahoo who may end up sending your emails directly to spam. What I like to do is at the end of every quarter scrub my list of anyone who hasn’t interacted with an email of mine in the past 90 days. While it may hurt to see them go, it opens up space for those who actually want to hear from me, and helps ensure that my emails get through to them.
Make sure your email is mobile compatible - With all the cool templates out there it can be tempting to overly design your email campaigns. But here’s the deal, over 60% of emails are opened on mobile phones, and if they aren’t easy to read on a phone, chances are your email is just getting deleted, or even worse, not being delivered at all. Think about streamlining your email format (studies show plain, simple text actually works the best), or check in from time-to-time to see how your emails are showing up on mobile devices.
Time it perfectly - Readers are more likely to open an email within the first hour of delivery. So it’s our job to optimize that delivery day and time to reach as many active readers as possible. Studies show that Tuesday and Friday are your best days to send emails, with Wednesday and Thursday close seconds. Further more, a majority of people open emails up after 12pm (with a peak around 3pm). Of course, all of this should be specified to your audience so start with these best practices and play around a little to see the best day and time for you specifically.
Change who your email is sent from - this can actually make a HUGE difference! Research shows that changing your “from” name to your personal name, rather than your business name, can increase open rates by as much as 35%! Of course, this has to make sense for you and your business - but it may make a case for showcasing more of “you” in your business. People buy from people.
Up your subject line game - Now this is the big one. Your subject line can completely make or break an email campaign. Here’s some best practices to help you shape an open worthy subject line:
Keep it between 6-10 words. Too much longer and it can get cut off
Personalize it if you can. Most CRM platforms let you easily add in names to your emails or subject lines. Some studies have shown an increase in open rates by almost 20% just by adding in the reader’s first name.
If you’re giving away free content, or linking to a video in your email make sure you mention it in your subject line.
Tease their interest. Make readers want to know what’s inside by peaking their interest without giving it all away. Stay a little cryptic, or get them questioning what you're talking about. They’ll open your email to find the answer.
Avoid exclamation marks and question marks sometimes. Overuse of them can trigger spam filters and keep your email from getting delivered.
Consider an emoji. Some recent studies have shown a small increase in open rates when a sender used an emoji in the subject line. It’s always worth a try - plus they add some color and fun to an inbox.
If you’ve been struggling with your open rates, take a crack at those tips above over the next few weeks, I can guarantee you’re going to start to see an increase!
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