How to Compel People to Open and Read Your Marketing Emails
by Carrie Hinkel on May 2nd, 2008
Anyone with an email address knows how overwhelming and annoying all those junk emails can be. Sifting through an inbox and trying to decide what’s click worthy and what’s junk has become an annoying daily chore. It’s no wonder that click rates are down – consumers have grown tired of the same old subject lines and have become programmed over time to delete, delete, delete.
But, don’t worry; email marketing doesn’t have to be pointless. When done right it can truly be effective. It’s getting your emails to stand out from the sea of junk that’s the seemingly tough part. Incorporating some of these tips into your next email campaign can help to increase both your click rate and your response rate:
Use a branded “from” name – Your marketing email’s from name should reflect your company or brand name, not the message contained within the email. If you want people to read your emails, then you’ll need to get them to trust you – and that means giving them a straightforward answer as to who is sending the email. Even tags like Specials, Weekly Tips, or Discounts added to the from name will make most recipients think twice about opening your emails.
Include a call to action in the “subject” line – If you want people to open your emails, you’ll need to give them a reason to. Some of the most successful email campaigns contain a powerful and tantalizing offer or teaser in their subject line. For instance: “50% off and free shipping – one day only!” or “Kids titanium bike – $59 and it ships free!” Give people a reason to act; don’t expect a “10% off all housewares” subject line to get anyone excited.
Use a “time is of the essence” strategy – Hyping up a big discount in your email’s subject line is one thing, but unless you give people a reason to react now, you could be missing out on a huge percentage of clicks. A tantalizing subject line may very well grab someone’s attention, but if it doesn’t require an immediate response it might end up being buried in a sea of other emails – inevitably to be forgotten about. So, before or after your call to action, give readers a reason to click. Something like “3-day sale”, “24-hour sale”, “One-day only”, etc.
Don’t over punctuate in the subject line – Punctuation can be a good thing in subject lines – especially exclamation points and question marks. But don’t go crazy. An overly-punctuated subject line is a red flag to most spam folders, meaning your readers will never end up seeing your message. So, try to keep an “at most” limit of three punctuation marks per subject line.
Inside the email: get to the point, quick – Okay, if you’ve followed all the above tips and are lucky enough to have someone click open your email, what now? Email readers make decisions very quickly on whether or not they close and delete and email. In order to give your message a fighting chance, you need it to be short and concise. Give readers more information about the teaser in your subject line and then give them the opportunity to click onto your website.
Email marketing is abused so much, each and every day, that inboxes are jam-packed with worthless scam emails. In order to make your emails stand out, you need to be upfront and honest about who you are and what you have to offer your readers.
Very helpful
Nancy
April 26th, 2009
at 6:19 am
Very useful guideline for all of us who are exploring marketing e-mail.Adds more fun to online business.
Leonard Dabydeen
May 17th, 2009
at 1:38 am