With around 144.8 billion emails crisscrossing the ethereal space of the planet, emails still remain the most chosen for business communication.
But with so much of noise, how to rise above it? How to ensure that your communication gets the eyeballs it deserves? With so many emails, the probability of your email getting snagged as a junk or spam mail folder is very high.
If you survive this, and someone actually opens your email, they don’t actually click through.
So when you have already started to think that you cannot get this right, WAIT. Here we intend to give you 10 sure-fire Email Marketing tips that will lead to better Email Open and Click-through rates.
1 Head and Abide by CAN-SPAM Rules
This is the single most important rule of Email Marketing. Now CAN-SPAM stands for Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And M This act that was passed in 2003, establishes the rules for commercial email and messages. It gives the recipients the right to opt out from receiving the communication and in case of violation, it also outlines the penalties. In a nutshell, there are a few points that you need to take care of:
- Need to clearly mention “From,” “To,” and “Reply to” in an accurate language that states your identity unambiguously.
- Include a valid postal address in every email.
- For every email that you send, you need to give the recipient a clear and obvious way to unsubscribe or opt out from receiving the email.
- Do not sell or transfer any email address to any other mailing list.
- Do not use deceptive subject lines backed with misrepresented content.
We strongly recommend that you once refer to CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business.
2 Personalize without Using Actual Name
Now, this is a bummer. “Dear <insert name> – NO. This practice is not as effective as it may seem. In fact, sometimes it spooks off the recipients. An average Internet user is aware of cyber security concerns about phishing, pharming, identity theft, credit card fraud, etc. So a mail lending in the inbox from an unknown sender, makes the recipient think of when and how you have obtained the mailing ID. In real life, intimacy is earned, and jumping the gun by forcing familiarity too soon might arouse suspicion. To read more on this refer to Dear [insert company name], personalized emails don’t impress customers.
3 Sender – A Real Person
If the email has a real person’s name as the sender, the open rate increases. This is because recipients tend to trust a personalized sender name and email address more than a generic one. In the era of SPAM, a recipient is quite wary of opening emails from unknown senders, and using impersonal sender name does now auger well.
4 Subject Lines – Makes you or Mars you
A subject line of 60 to 70 characters is referred to as the “dead zone” by the Marketers. However, a subject line that is more than 70 characters has proved to be engaging for readers in clicking through the content, and a subject line less than 50 characters have been high on the open rate. So if you wish to boost clicks (response), go long. If you wish to boost open rate, keep it short. To balance, avoid 60 to 70 character zone for subject lines.
5 Preview Text Clincher
There is a very high possibility that your email will be handled by an email client like Outlook, iPhone Mail app, Gmail or Thunderbird. These clients will display the first few lines of the text from the email body, along with the subject line – Preview Text. Use the preview text to provide a short and clear synopsis in less than 50 characters.
6 Email ought to be Mobile Ready
A sizable chunk of emails are handled using hand-held devices like mobile. So if your email does not look funky on the on a mobile, wave bye-bye to your business. In other words, design responsively to make sure that your email looks swashbuckling, no matter where it is read from. Here are a few tips:
- Increase the font size to improve readability.
- Format the email in a single column template.
- Make Call-to-Action button stand out and easy to tap. iOS guidelines suggest the buttons at least 44 pixels wide and 44 pixels.
- Take into account the usage patterns and apply ergonomics. Most of the users use the thumb to tap and scroll. So if you keep the tap-able elements in the middle of the screen the accessibility will increase.
7 Whip up the Inactive Subscribers
You have a huge mailing list, with almost two-thirds of its members are inactive. So this means that once someone joins, they are less likely to respond to your follow-up emails. So now what? Try and re-engage them.
8 Keep your emails short
With the inboxes bursting at the seams, a long and windy email is a sure shot ticket to anonymity. People generally like short and to-the-point emails. Such an email will also help the recipient to quickly skim through the message and prompt a quick follow-up action. Write emails like you were conversing. If the email has to be long, break it up into meaningful paragraphs, peppered with visual breaks. This will make the long email more bearable to your reader.
9 Clear Call-to-Action button
As I have already stated above that most of the recipients will only scan your email. So if you have a clear Call-to-Action (CTA) button, smack in the middle – easy to spot and click – it will work.
Just placing a CTA is not enough. Many email clients block images like CTA, by default. So unless your recipient has white-listed you, instead of your CTA, all they might see is a blank rectangle. Don’t lose heart, there is a way through. If you set an image’s Alt text, your recipient will know exactly where to click to take action.
10 Social Sharing Friendly Email
To extend the shelf life of your email by adding social sharing buttons. Many email tools come with templates that have built-in social network sharing buttons – just fill in the destination URL.
The last and un-numbered tip that should be implemented at all costs – send a test version of your email before you shoot the real one. Believe me, this will save you from shooting yourself in the foot.
In the jungle of emails that wiz through the ether, if you send compelling offers to the right segment with proper care and eye for detail, you can increase the open clicks and generate leads.
What are you best email marketing strategies, tell us.
