We know it’s tough when you have big dreams of a successful email marketing campaign and, just like that, reality hits in the form of a 2% open rate. Email marketing doesn’t have to be complex or expensive to successfully engage your audience. A number of different factors could be negatively impacting how many people are actually reading your emails. Here are six of the most common:
1. Know your recipients—and make sure they know you!
If you want to blast an email out to hundreds of unsuspecting users, the chances of a successful click-through rate are going to be slim. More than ever, email providers make an effort to block their users from seeing unsolicited emails. As a general rule, make sure you’re sending emails to recipients who are expecting to hear from your company. If they’ve made a recent purchase, submitted a form on your website, or had a similar interaction with your company, absolutely send them an email! If you purchased their email address with hundreds of others and they’ve never heard of your company, hold off on hitting that send button. If it looks like spam, smells like spam – it’s probably spam. Which means that email blast you just sent to hundreds of unsuspecting users, likely ended up in hundreds of junk folders.
2. Would you want to read it?
Some may consider this the golden rule of email campaigns: send unto others as you would have them send unto you. If that email isn’t anything you would want to open or read, that’s a good indication that you should make some edits. Whether it’s adding a witty subject line or including an offer they don’t want to miss, if it would make your message more appealing for you, it will probably do the same for your audience.
3. Optimize for mobile.
You wouldn’t send an email that only half of your audience could actually read, would you? Well, with nearly 50% of emails being opened on mobile devices, it is critical that you set that message up for success by optimizing it for mobile. Regardless of what program you are using, there should be a quick option to optimize, and if there’s not, my suggestion is to say goodbye and send them back to 2003.
4. Personalize!
Think of this like introducing yourself to someone in person. You wouldn’t walk up to someone, shake their hand and say, “to whom it may concern.” It isn’t always possible, but as much as you can, try to make your email a personal interaction. Emails with a personalization token, such as someone’s first name, are 26% more likely to be opened.
You also wouldn’t walk up to that person and introduce yourself as “No Reply.” So, make sure you send that email from an actual email address at your company. Not only does that increase your chances of that email being read, but it also gives your audience an easy point of contact at your company.
5. Check, double check, repeat.
Misspellings and grammatical errors lower your credibility and discourage recipients from continuing to read your email . It’s also important to check your formatting and make sure your email looks good on both desktop and mobile devices. Finally, make sure to have someone else proofread your email it before you send it. You may be overlooking errors that another person could notice right away. So, whether it’s a coworker, friend, mother, stranger on the street, let someone else read it!
6. Let them go.
Break ups are hard, but sometimes you just have to let go. In a much less dramatic way, emails are the same. It is best practice—as well as the law—to give your audience the option to unsubscribe.
Email marketing, if done correctly, can have a tremendous impact on the return on your marketing investment. It can also be a fun way to express your company’s creativity and sense of humor. If you would like to know more about how to enhance your email marketing or other aspects of your digital marketing campaigns, schedule a free consultation with Blue Frog!
