How to increase open rates on your email campaigns

How to increase open rates on your email campaigns

Like many businesses, you probably utilize email marketing to keep in touch with your customers and promote your products or services. But if you want to increase open rates because now they are low, you're not getting the most out of this powerful marketing tool.

Most email users have a love-hate relationship with their inboxes. They love when they find an email from a sender they want to hear from but hate wading through the rest of the junk. Having a high open-rate for your email campaign is essential if you want your message to be seen and heard.

There are several reasons your open email rate might be low.

You may have heard the following many times: "Write beautiful content that engages the reader from the subject line,” or "avoid complex writing,” "Keep your language simple, your message clear, and your content visually appealing."

None of these options are rocket science, but you might find yourself lost on where to start with a truly successful email campaign even with these guidelines. But don’t worry, there are many ways to improve your open rates! 

Continue reading for a helpful list of ways to increase your email open rates.

Preliminary Groundwork: Define your Audience

If you want to write about things that will get people excited to read about, you need to know your audience and what they are looking for. Defining your audience requires you to do it before launching any email campaigns.

After all, no matter how great your email content is, it won't do any good if nobody opens it. If you can't match the user’s interest, there is no way you can make them open it.

Especially with a clear target audience, Email marketing can be a great way to improve your business's bottom line. You can increase your open rate and get more clicks from your subscribers by following a few tips.

So, what else can you do to make sure more of your subscribers will open your emails?

Here are a couple of tips:

• Write like a friend.

  The best way to get people to open your emails is to feel like they're coming from a friend. Write in a conversational tone and avoid sounding too marketing-ese.

• Keep Subscribers Intrigued

  Do your subscribers still want to hear from you? It's essential to stay relevant and ensure that your subscribers still want to hear from you. If they're not interested in what you have to say, they're not going to open your email

• Use a solid platform to avoid spam filters
  

  One of the best ways to avoid the spam filter is to use a full-featured email marketing tool like those hosted by Hubspot or Active Campaign. These tools will help ensure your email lands in the inbox and doesn't get caught by the spam filter.
  
  

• Avoid common spam trigger words
  

  Avoid common spam trigger words in your subject lines, like "free" or "win." Also, avoid using all caps or excessive exclamation points - this will make your email look spam!

• Use an engaging subject line

  Make sure you're using an interesting subject line. Your subject line is the first thing recipients will see when they receive your email, so it's essential to make a good impression. Keep it short, sweet, and to the point.

• Don’t over-use images or videos
  

  Avoid using too many photos or videos in your email. While visuals can help get your message across, too many can make your email look spam. Stick to a balance of text and visuals that will appeal to both—recipients who like to skim emails and those who prefer to read them in full.

• Create quality content
  

  Focus on creating quality content that provides value to your recipients. Whether you're sharing industry news, tips and tricks, or promoting a product or service, make sure what you're sending is something your audience will find helpful. One such tactic is to share statistics and data that catch your readers’ eyes and bring legitimacy to your brand. Additionally, no one wants to feel like they're being sold to, so avoid coming across as too sales-y in your email content. 

• Maintain the integrity of quality
  

  Next, once you have finished, take a look at the content of your emails and think, are you providing value to your subscribers? Are you sharing exciting information or helpful tips? If not, it's no wonder they're not opening your emails! Make sure every email has something valuable to offer, and you'll see your open rates improve in no time.
  
  

• Utilize list segmentation
  

  Consider segmenting your list so that you're sending targeted emails to specific groups of people. This way, you can ensure that every email is relevant to the recipient, which will improve your chances of getting opened and clicked. You may also want to try one-to-one email marketing to engage personally with high-interest contacts.

• Take risks
  

  It’s a good idea to avoid controversial or divisive messaging. But you can still have fun and think outside of the box with your email marketing. You can arouse your subscribers' curiosity by using an exciting subject line. Try to address pain points that your subscribers may have. You can also make them laugh by adding a bit of humor to your subject line.

  Follow these tips to improve your open rate and avoid those dreaded spam filters, and you'll be on your way to writing great content that gets opened, clicked, and shared.

• Stay in touch with Inbound AV for more tips.
  

  Looking for more guidance on how to increase open rates by practicing Inbound marketing strategies to up your marketing game? Inbound AV posts weekly blogs and social media content with how-tos and best practices on marketing. We also have a monthly newsletter with the latest news from the tech and marketing world!