Building a large email list is important, but you also need your subscribers to open and read your emails. Are you sending great emails but your subscribers aren’t opening them? The good news is that re-engaging your subscribers is easy.
Email opens take up to five hours per day according to Adobe. To capitalize on this, make sure your subscribers trust the value your emails will provide. Study your audience’s demographics and tailor your content to them.
Let’s look at some reasons why people may not open your emails.
High Bounce Rate
Your bounce rate tells you how many of your emails never made it to the inbox. This usually has to do with the email address you use, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a problem. You don’t want a high bounce rate because those are emails your subscribers will never see.
iOS 15 Update
Apple and Apple Mail users will benefit from iOS 15’s privacy controls. Users can mask their IP address in iOS 15 so marketers can’t see if (or where) they’re opening emails. Granted, users must be Apple and Apple Mail users to use these features, but that doesn’t mean Gmail won’t offer something similar in the future.
If you’re still unsure how to track your email marketing’s success, look into other email KPIs you should be tracking.
Focus on an Engaged List
Examine your email list and how people got there. Are they keen on your wares? Educative links clicked? Look at your data, see what works, and do more of it. If they subscribe, send them a follow-up email with a coupon code for a product they like. If they want to learn more about your services, why not send them a newsletter with helpful links?
Ensure that everyone on your list has agreed to receive emails from you. People don’t open emails from unknown brands, or worse, if they feel duped into subscribing. The EU’s GDPR law passed in 2018 means that adding subscribers to your list without their consent is illegal.
If your email marketing tool provides analytics on non-engaged subscribers, consider segmenting your list to separate them from those who consistently open your emails. Run a special campaign to re-engage at-risk subscribers. If they still don’t respond, consider removing them. Quality over quantity.
Deliverability Issues
There are numerous issues that could impact your deliverability, and you should try to avoid them all. If you ignore these issues for too long, you risk being blacklisted; this will label you as spam and make it difficult to improve your deliverability over time.
Also, if your email deliverability is low, your email open rate will be low as well.
A low open rate is discouraging. The good news is you can fight it. Getting your subscribers to open your emails is simple.
Use the Buyer’s Journey
Consider how you respond to brand emails. Do any of them stand out? Was there one you were more likely to open than another? Examine your customer data to see what resonates. In that case, how can you use it to ensure that your emails are meeting their needs?
Keep a buyer persona in mind — who are you trying to reach and why? Who are they and where are they based? Do they prefer to buy online or in a store? Knowing this information will help you target your emails better.
Make Your Subject Lines Attractive
Adobe found that only a quarter of brand emails were interesting enough to open. So make your email subject lines short and catchy. Instead of “Check out our new sale,” say “25% off everything on your love list!” Try asking a question in the subject line or enticing them with a newsletter-only deal or discount code.
Run A/B tests to see which subject lines resonate best with your subscribers to learn more about their interests. Also, keep your subject line under 50 words to avoid confusion.
Customize Emails
People are more likely to open emails if they are addressed by name. If your email marketing software allows personalization, include the recipient’s first name in the subject line. “Get in on our weekend-only 15% discount!” works better than “Check out our new 15% off promotion!” Set a promotion deadline to create urgency.
“Marketers’ data about me is wrong,” said 25% of Adobe’s respondents. This emphasizes the importance of having accurate data when sending out newsletters to consumers. Nobody wants a birthday promotion with an expired code or the wrong birthdate.
A catchy subject line and perfect timing can always work, but you need to keep in mind your audience and their preferences, says Marina Retziou of Moosend. Finance and hospitality have different types of catchy subject lines. A personalized message and a segmented list will always work.
Want to ensure your emails are read? Write catchy, fun subject lines to create urgency and grab customers’ attention. Experiment with different subject lines and have fun!