5 tips to increase your email campaign open rates

People might have their mobile phones glued to their hands, but they are also hyper aware of what they give their time and attention to. For instance, you might immediately reply to a text message received from a certain person but completely ignore a communication from someone different. And while businesses have the ability to now reach their customer base 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, they have to measure whether or not their methods are effective. In short, companies need to know how to improve their email campaign open rates.

A business with a modest subscriber list can actually make a lot more in sales if their open rate is higher than that of their competitors. Read below to find out the five main things that make mobile web users actually want to open and read their emails.

1. Effective Headlines

There is absolutely no getting around this one. It is the first thing that mobile web users see when they get a ping, notification, or otherwise hear their phones buzzing, chiming, or ringing. Most times, they don’t even need to go to their inboxes to see the title of the email and who it was sent from. Businesses only have a split second to make an impression and thereby entice readers into clicking and reading the body of the email. If your business is sending out tons of emails but nobody is reading them, the issue might be with your headlines. On the other hand, headlines can simply be changed up a bit to improve open rates. The title of each email sent has to be clear, it has to make sense, and it needs to make readers want to learn more. If you’re serious about writing a compelling subject line for your email you should also try A/B testing different subject lines to see which performs better. You can then apply your findings to future campaigns. 

2. Timing

It should be pretty obvious that an email sent out at 2AM has less of a chance of being read than one sent at, say, 9AM or Noon. The main problem for businesses wanting to send out emails at the right time is that their customers are not all based in the same time zone. In this case, you really have to rely on the law of averages. A company in California that operates in Pacific Standard Time should send out emails according to their hours of operation. Ideally, emails need to be sent at a time when consumers are most likely to be sharp as well as available. So, sending a communication late at night could be as ineffective as sending a promotion late Saturday afternoon when most people have already made plans for the weekend.

3. Passing the Spam Test

These days email providers are filtering and even pre-sorting emails for the benefit of web users. Email personalization can help to keep your communications out of the dreaded spam folder and in the main inbox. Using an online tool such as SendinBlue helps automate this process. Most of the time when an email communication ends up in a recipient’s spam folder, they end up never seeing it. This is because no one actively checks there, unless of course they are expecting to receive an important email. So, in order to pass the spam test, you have to be certain that email providers don’t suspect your company of sending unsolicited communications. Your headlines should be unique and your email address has to point back to a trustworthy IP.

4. Relevance

Another way to improve open rates is to send emails that are relevant to your customer group. Sending an email that is either of no interest or benefit to subscribers won’t just prevent them from opening emails; at some point, they are going to consider unsubscribing altogether. So, if you don’t have something important to tell your email subscriber list right now, wait until you do. In this case, absence can make the heart grow fonder as well as pique customer curiosity.

5. Frequency of Mailings

There is no time, rate, or frequency of mailings that is perfect for all companies. In addition, you have to get to know your customers in order to find out what they prefer. What is important is that you listen. If data shows that your consumers respond best to bi-weekly mailings, stick to what works. Realize that every email you send lands in your customer group’s inbox and that consumers in general enjoy their privacy. By giving you access to a space reserved only for select companies, you should absolutely be aware of the great position your business is already in. Respect this privilege by being mindful of the number of emails sent.
When a mobile web user sees an email from a company that has an interesting headline and it is sent at a time that is convenient, it will likely be read. For the headline to be interesting, it has to be unique and engaging. Moreover, mobile web users don’t like to be bombarded with emails so sending out a communication once is generally enough. If the customer signed up for email updates, then he or she will be tempted to take a peek.