So what is it about an email that makes your readers want to open it? Most likely it is because it is relevant to them.  You can spend hours putting together a beautiful email campaign with great graphics and useful content, but if your recipient never opens it then it really doesn’t matter.

 The most important element is the ‘Subject Line’ 

Those few words that are included in the subject line of your email are the key to having your subscribers actually read your email or moving it to their trash folder.  We only have a few seconds to capture someone’s attention in both our Web sites and our email campaigns.  If we don’t give a lot of thought to how we craft those few words then all of our effort and time is being wasted.

If you start every email to your subscribers the same way they will soon become blind to your subject lines and ignore them all together.  For instant, if you start each one with the words “Special Offer” try switching it up to make them more compelling.  “Save Money on Your Postage Fees with XYZ Postage Machine”

Finding the right words to entice an open is critical.  Include these two bulleted points in each subject line and you are on your way to crafting a compelling email campaign.

1 - Clicking Trigger – what is going to make someone click to open. (Save money would be the clicking trigger from the example above.)

2 – Benefit – what is in it for me. (Postage fees would be the benefit from the example above.)

The next element is ‘Segmenting Your Lists’ 

When communicating to current and potential clients, creating relevant messages that speak directly to your recipients is the key to maximizing conversion and retention rates. Relevancy is a must and if your messages are not specifically targeted to your recipients your efforts will result in little to no conversions. Segmenting your lists is a critical aspect of email marketing. Refining your messages to a specific group allows you to communicate exactly what your products and services will accomplish for these individuals.  

Segmentation is one of the most powerful tools you can use to increase open rates. Target them with the subject line as well as the content - a good open rate for a segmented list is around 33%.

The last element is ‘Your Graphics’

Even though we have stressed the importance of your subject line, what is actually in your email is just as important once you get them to open your email.

If you use the same images all the time, users may assume that the content, like the images, isn't changing, and therefore isn't relevant.  Over time, this can cause a decline in open rates that is hard to get back. Changing your images is something that you can do to ensure that your emails are perceived as fresh and new.

Until next time;

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