When someone mentions the
term “email marketing campaign” many people would often think about
having email opt-in forms on their blog or even customized landing pages
hoping to increase the amount of subscribers on their list. When people
start analyzing a strategy that is NOT producing any results, they
often look at the wrong metrics. For example, 9/10 people would often
think it’s the landing page, content or actual message which wasn’t
clear enough, but they couldn’t be more wrong. Many top players in the
industry will tell you that once you have a handful of subscribers and
are ready to start an email marketing campaign,
the most important thing is having your email messages opened. You’d be
surprised how many email marketing campaigns fail as soon as you press
the “send” button. Think about it this way…
If your average open rate is 20%, that
means 70% of your email subscribers are not viewing your email messages.
This also means that you’re losing 70% potential profits you could have
been generated through your subscriber. The good news we have enormous
resources in the form of data that shed light on the “optimal” email
message actually get opened and produce conversions. Let’s look at the
“5” most important factors which will increase your open rate.
Optimal Sending Time
If you schedule your email to be sent at
the right time, you’ll be surprised how it can dramatically increase
your open rates. For example, several email service providers (ESP) have
done studies in the past calculating the optimal time to send out
emails. It’s been proven that 8PM-12AM is the best time to fire out any
campaigns you have planned for your subscribers. If you think about it,
this is the time that people have arrived home from work, had dinner,
spent time with their family and have some spare time to hop on the
computer. 8PM-12AM is when people don’t need to rush through emails and
engage with the content within each message. During work hours 8AM-5PM,
people are more likely going to open work related emails and skim
through the rest opening only the ones which they feel are important
enough.
Image by mailermailer.com
A few important things to keep in mind
before sending your next email campaign: First, obviously implement the
time shift discussed above so that your email lands in the inbox between
8PM-12AM. Next, keep the time difference in mind when sending emails to
people in located in other countries.
Right Days of the Week
When choosing the right days to send
emails there are a few things to consider. First, sending emails is not
about what’s convenient for you but when the customer is most likely
going to check their inbox. Statistically, it’s been proven that sending
on weekdays is the optimal time to reach the recipients with most of it
having to do with how accessible email accounts are to people. For
example, on weekdays people are at work and/or in work mode so
continuously checking their emails. Weekends, on the other hand, people
tend to be more recreational enjoying family time, shopping and trying
to make the most out of days off.
Let’s get to the statistics…
Image by GetResponse
The time to send emails is from Monday –
Thursday since it’s the beginning of the week. It’s also the days that
people are back at work logged into their email accounts skimming
through the weeks work. However, for optimal performance, it’s
recommended that you send between Tuesday-Thursday for the following two
reasons:
First, people are done going through
most of their emails and have organized their inbox that typically
happens on a Monday as it’s the beginning of the week. Monday people
tend to skim through quickly and only read those which standout (work
related, personal and other business interests). Tuesday to Thursday
people most likely pay more attention to every email that comes through
increasing the open percentage of your emails.
Secondly, you fall into the days that
have shown the highest CTR. GetResponse analyzed 21 million messages
sent, and CTR was the highest from Tuesday to Thursday. Much of the
increase in CTR has to do with the recipients having cleared their inbox
of junk, spam or anything that looks unresourceful earlier in the week.
Email Regularly
It’s a great way to increase brand
awareness and not scare people away. The last thing you want to create
is email inconsistently because that will scare people away. For
example, once someone opts into your newsletter they expect to get
updates and not implementing a regular emailing frequency will make
people forget about your newsletter. When someone forgets their on your
list, it increases the chance that they’ll mark your email as spam when
you send a follow-up. Keep brand awareness and open rate high by sending
frequent updates to your list. Make sure to send them high-quality
content in each email, so they gain substance out of your newsletter.
Implementing this strategy has never
been easier since many email service providers streamline the entire
process. You can easily setup an auto-responder sequence that sends
periodic emails once or twice a week. Once this sequence has been setup,
it’s automated, and you don’t need to worry about it unless you’re
adding more emails to the sequence.
Personalize Your Emails
Emails that have been personalized with
the first & last name of the recipient in the subject lines have
performed 6X better than others. There was an Experian study which analyze the data of 24 billion emails, and the results were amazing:
- Even though the most common approach in sending mails is using the first name, mails with the last name had a slightly better open rate.
- Mail subject lines with the first and last names had the highest open rates.
How do personalized emails make a difference?
There are many reasons however being
able to cater directly to the person helps. Next, there is a
psychological aspect which involves “special” or “personalized”
treatment that has triumphed the way we interact in society. It’s the
same factors which would determine the amount of the tip you’re going to
leave for the waiter or waitress at a restaurant. When emails are
personalized, it’s a way of showing respect and builds comfort that
translates into an email being opened by the recipient.
Image by CrazyEgg
Personalizing your email messages is
very easy since it’s an option provided by ESP’s however make sure you
add the right code into the message. Next, you need to ensure you
collect the first & last name during opt-in. Without having this
information, the “code” will not be able to pull out the right data.
Another good trick is to personalize the
sender name changing it from the company name to your personal (sender)
name. It’s creating a one-on-one platform for communicating which again
builds a level of comfort between you and the recipient.
Another strategy is to use first &
last name followed by a personal question. Since time, we have been
programmed to respond to questions so would automatically want to
respond to an email that throws out a question. Make them short and
right to the point, for example,*full name*, How are you doing?
- *full name*, Your ready to get started?
- *full name*, Want to increase blog traffic?
- *full name*, Ready to make some money?
- *full name*, Looking for a new credit card?
- *full name*, Paying too much for insurance?
Provide ONLY The Best
One of the best ways to increase email open rates is by establishing a reputation of providing “high” quality content.
Many times people will open emails and find low-quality content that
will deter them from opening emails in the future. It’s not important to
send your subscribers a follow-up each time content is published so
take your time finding content which is useful and provides substance to
your readers. This builds your reputation as someone whose emails are
worth reading and can provide problem-solving information.
I’ve been part of several email lists
which bombard me with useless information and after 2-3 follow-ups I’ll
unsubscribe from the list. I’ve also been on email lists which send 2-3
follow-ups per month, and their content blew me away and I’m still on
their list today. It’s important you understand why people joined your
newsletter in the first place which is because they read useful
information on your blog and are hoping you keep providing top-notch
content. It’s important not to disappoint them so provide only the best
to your subscribers, so they stay loyal subscribers and returning
visitors.
Wrapping Things Up
Start implementing these strategies
right away and analyze how they improve your open rates. Without a
strategy to increase your low open rates, your going to lose out on the
opportunity to convert your subscribers into loyal readers or
sales. Over the next month, start analyzing data until you achieve an
optimal open rate. The good news is, once you find something that works
you simple need to scale to achieve the highest possible results.
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