Email marketing is one of the most effective and powerful strategies for boosting your company’s bottom line. One of the most essential pieces of the puzzle is ensuring your target audience is opening your emails.
That’s why optimizing your email open rates is so important. When it comes to email marketing, open rates matter. They are a vital indicator of how well your message resonates with your target audience.
In this blog, we’ll discuss the importance of email open rates and how you can employ game-changing strategies to boost your open rates.
Let’s get started.
How to Boost Your Email Open Rates?
According to the article by Audience Point, the average email marketing open rate in 2023 is 21.33% across all industries.
Email open rates also provide insight into how effective your email campaigns are and can help you make improvements for even better results.
Let’s see how you can optimize your open rates.
1. Don’t Use Long Subject Lines
When writing an email, it’s important to remember that the subject line is the first thing that the recipient will see. As such, keeping it short, concise and relevant is critical.
47% of email recipients open emails solely based on the subject line.
Using phrases like “4 words that will revolutionize your email open rates” or “A must-know trick for higher open rates” can be a great way to grab the reader’s attention and get them to click.
Using a personal touch and addressing the recipient by name can also help make the email more eye-catching.
Check out how simple and short TCC’s newsletter subject lines are.
It’s important to note that subject lines should be kept to 50 characters or less, as studies have shown that shorter subject lines have higher open rates.
Ultimately, the goal is to create an intriguing and succinct subject line that will make the recipient eager to see what you have to say.
2. Emails in Plain Text
You can drastically increase your email open rates by sending plain-text emails instead of HTML-rich emails.
Plain-text emails are more likely to be delivered to the primary inbox instead of the spam folder, as it is easier for email filters to recognize plain-text emails as legitimate.
You can also ensure that your plain-text emails are branded correctly so they look professional and inviting to the reader.
Additionally, using plain-text emails can provide a more personal touch to your communication, as it makes it seem like you are writing a personal note to the reader. By sending plain-text emails, you can show your readers that you value their time, as plain-text emails can be read quickly and easily.
According to reports, personalization results in an average email open rate of 17.6%.
3. Organize Your Email List
Your email list is something you should always keep updated and clean. If a certain email address has not interacted with your emails in a long time, it’s time to clean that out of your list.
An email list filled with inactive or duplicated emails can have an effect on your open rates.
It’s also important to ensure that your list is segmented. Use segmentation to personalize emails for different audiences.
Knowing exactly who you’re sending emails to and what they’re interested in will help you boost open rates. You can also use segmentation to make sure you’re not sending the same email to an individual more than once.
Curious if marketing lists are a worthwhile investment? Check out our blog to find out: Are Marketing Lists a Worthwhile Investment?
4. Use Double Opt-in
You’ve worked hard to build your email list, so you want to make sure it is full of engaged, interested subscribers. A double opt-in process helps you do that. When a user signs up for your emails, they get sent a message to confirm their subscription. The potential subscriber clicks on a confirmation link in the email, and only then are they officially added to your list.
Using a double opt-in process helps you maintain a clean list of active subscribers and dramatically reduces the number of spam complaints.
This, in turn, gives you a better reputation with email service providers and can help you avoid the dreaded spam folder.
Plus, it builds a relationship with your subscribers, letting them know you value their consent. Double opt-in is a great way to ensure your emails make it to the inbox and get opened.
5. Test Emails For Gmail’s Promotion Tab
If you want to increase the open rates of your emails, you should regularly test them against Gmail’s Promotion tab. If your email falls into the Promotion tab (of your Gmail inbox), it’s likely to be overlooked by a busy customer scrolling through their inbox.
To prevent this from happening, use the Gmail tab tester to see where your emails end up and adjust accordingly.
You may want to use different subject lines to see what works best to keep your emails out of the Promotion tab. This will help to ensure that the emails you send are more likely to be opened.
6. Consistent Sending Times and Days
If you’re sending emails out at a different time each month, it’s no surprise that your open rates are suffering as a result. To increase your open rates, you should create a schedule for sending out your emails. Your subscribers will become familiar with the schedule when you send emails on the same day and time.
Check out the weekly consistency of TCC’s newsletter emails:
9 – 11 AM is the best time, while after 6 PM is the worst time (in the recipient’s time zone).
According to the Moosend report, emails are best sent on Thursdays, when revenue per recipient is highest, and on Saturdays, when revenue per recipient is lowest.
This way, they’ll be more likely to open it when they see it arrive in their inbox. As an added bonus, this improved consistency will also help with the overall reputation of your email marketing campaigns with email ISPs.
Bonus #1: Send a Welcome Email
Welcome emails can be a great way to get your subscribers excited about your content and ready to open your emails. This is especially true if you offer something of value in the welcome email, such as a coupon or a free download. When someone signs up for your email list, you should send them a welcome email that shows them how much you appreciate their subscription.
This email should include a brief introduction to your business. A thank you for signing up, and a link to any content or offers you promised in the initial sign-up process.
By sending this kind of email, you can guarantee a higher open rate than other marketing emails. Plus, it’s a great way to start a relationship with your new subscribers.
Bonus #2: Implement A/B testing
A/B testing is a smart and user-friendly approach that involves creating multiple versions of your email campaigns, each with slight variations in content, subject lines, or calls-to-action.
Why is it so powerful? Well, A/B testing lets you gain real insights into what truly resonates with your subscribers.
By analyzing how different versions perform with a portion of your audience, you can fine-tune your approach to perfection.
Imagine crafting catchy subject lines, tailoring personalized content, and designing captivating emails that leave a lasting impression. With A/B testing, you’ll have the tools to make informed decisions that nurture meaningful connections with your subscribers, leading to enhanced engagement and higher email open rates.
Final Thoughts
Boosting email open rates is vital for successful email marketing.
Continuously monitor and adjust your strategies to establish meaningful connections, drive higher engagement, and achieve remarkable business outcomes.
Remember, email marketing is dynamic, and staying attuned to audience preferences is key to sustained success.
Embrace these proven strategies and revolutionize your email campaigns today.