Email Marketing
E-mail is still the most popular method of sharing information despite its meteoric rise of late. In recent research they found that 46 percent of shares came via e-mail, 33 percent from Facebook, 14 percent from other channels such as Digg, del.icio.us, LinkedIn, etc., and just 6 percent from Twitter.
We will assume that if you are an Intergage client that your email is coming from a clean address and that you are clever enough to have created a good mailing list and so I am going to focus on improving the effectiveness of your email marketing by improving your ‘open rate’ for this post. So what are my top five tips for improving your ‘open’ rate?
1. Identify SPAM
As the majority of the business world now uses email on a daily basis, we all have a fairly good idea of what SPAM looks like. You may be able to remember the ways in which the nature of SPAM has changed. Five years ago you may have received emails from shady Nigerian businessmen and Viagra companies. Nowadays, you are more likely to receive advanced ‘phishing’ emails from banks and false signup requests. The trick is to learn from this.
Avoid using terms in your email that over zealous SPAM filters dislike. Avoid the use of wording such as ‘Special discounts’, ‘free’ and references to sexual medicines as this may cause some SPAM filters to block your email. If this happens, your email will never be opened.
2. Create a subject line that sells
There are two items that your potential reader sees before they click the magic ‘Open’ button – the ‘From’ address and your email subject. The subject line is hugely important.
How do you write a good subject line? It’s all about getting into the mindset of your reader. Like you, they may receive many emails each day. What do you think attracts them to open your email over any other? Be sure to be succinct and really sell the relevance of your email within the subject line. If you’re not sure how to best sell the topic of your email, is your email message really newsworthy enough to be sending?
If you have clearly defined segments to your email campaign and readers who will have different preferences, why not target them with individual subject lines that appeal to their specific needs or requirements. Targeting to segments in this way can significantly improve your ‘open’ rates.
Finally, don’t lie – ensure that your subject line is a truthful representation of the email content. If the reader opens the email and finds that the subject line has been misleading they will likely never open one of your emails again.
3. Personalise your ‘From’ field
Readers are more likely to open an email from someone that they know. Be sure to send your emails from the same contact or department within your organisation. This will not only bring a more personal feel to the email but will also give the reader a clear indication of the topic of the email if various departments within your organisation undertake bulk email campaigns. If your brand is well-known, include your brand name within the ‘from’ line to increase familiarity.
4. Ensure adequate testing
Why not send your planned email to yourself or a trusted colleague first? Seeing the email arrive in your own inbox can drastically change the way you perceive it. Would you open this email yourself if it were sent to you? What encourages you to open an email and is it missing from the email now on your screen in front of you?
5. Pre-set despatch time of Email
Some times of the day are busier than others. The attention we give to emails might increase as our workload decreases and vice versa. By careful when timing the point at which you send your email, you can target your readers when they are likely to be most perceptive to your message. You wouldn’t send an email advertising your Christmas card business in January, would you?
It is generally accepted that just after lunch is the best time to send an email to get a response. On which day of the week it is best to send an email is a contentious issue. We would recommend that you avoid Monday and Friday as workers are either extremely busy (Monday) or slowing down for the weekend (Friday).
Everyone I have spoken to has a different opinion and so the best recommendation I can give is to test it for yourself. There is a school of thought that the best day varies between Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as email marketers realise one day is better than the others and all send email on that day. Over time therefore, other days become free and then these days become the best day on which to send an email – it’s an ever-moving target!