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Open Sesame!
7 tips for improving your open rates
There are no magic words you can use to get everyone on your list to open your emails, but there are steps you can take to get more people to open them. In this article, we'll look at how open rates are recorded, what the standard rates are, and things you can do to boost your rates.
How and When Is an Open Recorded?
An open is counted when a small 1" by 1" image known as a web beacon (invisible to the eye) is downloaded. When this happens, the sending server records that the email has been opened.
Open rates do have their challenges. Sometimes opens are counted when they shouldn't be and other times they aren't recorded even when the email is opened (perhaps because images are disabled or the email is viewed as text-only). While they aren't 100 percent accurate, open rates are an important metric and a good indicator of the success of your email campaigns. They serve as a relative measure from email to email, providing you with a benchmark to measure future campaigns against.
What's a Good Open Rate?
Open rates vary by industry. The research firm Marketing Sherpa releases an email marketing study each year based on a survey of several thousand marketers. Their 2007 Benchmark Guide reported that open rates for some industries were as follows: Consulting, 20 percent; Religious, 33 percent; Restaurant, 22 percent; Retail, 26 percent; and Nonprofit, 19 percent.
7 Tips for Improving Your Opens
If your rates are low, if you've seen a drop over time, or if you are doing well but want to do better, there are a number of ways to rejuvenate your email marketing and get those rates up.
1) Check your "from" line
As basic as it is, I would be remiss not to mention the "from" line. I still get emails from businesses that put a person's name in the "from" line instead of the name of the business or organization. People are getting more junk now than ever before. If they don't recognize the sender, they won't open the email.
2) Work on your subject lines
You may find that open rates are high on some campaigns and low on others. In this case, the hero or the bad guy is most likely your subject line. You may have a newsletter full of amazing content, but if you don't put it in the subject line your readers will never know. Look at the campaigns that got high open rates. What can you learn from those campaigns? Did they have compelling subject lines? Do you see patterns or themes that you can use in the future?
3) Revisit your promise
Start with asking yourself: "Why did they join my list in the first place?" What was it that you promised to give them? How are you doing delivering on that promise? Make sure you are communicating what your readers want to know about instead of what you want them to know.
4) Re-engage inactive list members
Segment out your members who haven't opened your emails for the past six months and create some special communications just for them with the goal of getting them to re-engage and open your emails.
5) Offer choices
People love to have a choice. They might not want to get everything you send. Let them sign up for the types of information they are most interested in. This does mean that you have to send more than one type of email. Here's an example of three offerings: 1) a newsletter with helpful tips; 2) emails about sales and promotions; and 3) announcements about upcoming events.
6) Change up your content
If you wrote a great subject line that describes your topic in an accurate and exciting way and you still got a low rate, then your readers are sending you a message. They aren't interested. Look at the messages that got higher open rates. Those are the topics that the people on your list want to know more about.
7) Ask your readers
Send them an online survey letting them know that you want to improve your communications and need their help. Take the opportunity to understand what types of content they are most interested in. Get their feedback, make changes, communicate those changes (even in your subject line), and start winning back the hearts of your contacts.
Your contacts are on your list because they want to hear from you. Your challenge is to understand what information they want and to give it to them. By taking a closer look at your open rates and understanding what they mean, you can take action based on what you learn. The results will be more opens, a stronger connection with your readers, and overall better results from your email marketing efforts.
