One of the first things people do when they get online is check their email accounts. Some do it first-thing in the morning, while others run to it whenever they need a break from work. This shows what a powerful tool email can be for reaching your customers. However, it’s one thing to get your messages into their inbox and another to get them to open them. If they’re not clicking on the links inside, your marketing strategy isn’t working.
Here are some tips to increase your response rate:
1.) Personalize Your Messages
One of the most important things you can do is use their first name in the message. Everyone is attuned to the sight and sound of their own name. You’d be surprised how a simple personal touch can boost the success rate of your campaign. If you use it in the subject line, more of your recipients will open their messages. If you use it within the body of the message, you’re more likely to hold their attention and get them to click through it.
2.) Keep a Clean List
Your campaigns will be much more effective if you’re able to maintain a clean list of subscribers. There are tools and software available that you can use to verify the validity of addresses in your list. This allows you to focus on those that will actually receive your emails.
On a related note, you should always make it easy for your recipients to unsubscribe. Run a search for unsubscribers before each campaign and add them to an exclusion list. Clear out any outdated email addresses and check your delivery reports frequently.
Be aware that third-party monitoring services will “blacklist” you if your low deliverability rate leads them to believe you’re nothing more than a spammer. The cleaner your list is, the less likely it is that the ISPs will either block you or route your messages to the junk folder.
3.) Get to the Point
Once you get your subscribers to open your emails, the last thing you want is to lose them. Get to the point quickly so they won’t think they’re wasting their time. All it takes is one poorly-written email to leave them with a bad impression.
4.) Offer a “Secret Discount”
Everyone appreciates a good discount and your campaign emails will seem a bit more personal if you extende a special offer to a select group of subscribers that happens to include them. The trick is not to give away the actual percentage of the discount until they’ve clicked through the message. Let their curiosity guide them, instead. Although this might seem to contradict the previous tip about getting to the point right away, there’s a difference between getting their attention right away with the prospect of a discount and giving them all the details.
5.) Provide Contact Information
Don’t give your subscribers the impression you’re hiding from them. Always provide customer care contact information, in case they have questions. You can either include an email address and phone number, or a link to your company’s customer care page.
6.) Use a Strong Subject Line
The first thing your recipients are going to see is the subject line and it will largely determine whether they open your email or not. The objective is to provide a clear and strong reason to open it that grabs their attention without being deceptive. Be direct and state your intention (such as a benefit, matter of urgency or call to action) in as few words as possible. Also make sure your company’s name is in the “from” field, rather than a person’s name, department name or email address.
7.) Pay Attention to Your Subscribers
If you don’t keep a close eye on your subscribers, you’ll begin losing more of them with each campaign. Every recipient who unsubscribes does so for a reason and if you want some insight as to why, you’ll have to put yourself in their place. Are you emailing them too often? Are you customizing your emails so they don’t all get exactly the same message? Are you keeping them interested? Imagine yourself on the receiving end of your email campaign and ask yourself the tough questions.
Increasing your subscribers’ response rate isn’t rocket science. On the contrary, it comes down to some simple guidelines that are often overlooked. Don’t ever let your subscribers feel like they’re just numbers. Address them by name, tell them right away why you want their attention and give them a good reason to open your emails. Keep this up while maintaining a clean list and you should notice a significant improvement.
