This document provides tips and best practices for improving email open rates. It discusses email marketing statistics and industry averages for open rates. Some key golden rules for success include having an email strategy, using recognizable "from" names, testing subject lines, and keeping content concise, clean, and easy to follow. Examples are given of good subject lines that achieved above average open rates. The document concludes with an action plan encouraging marketers to review goals, templates, and email list growth.
1. Improving Your Email Open Rate:
When Clear & Concise is BETTER
Heather S. Delphin, brand strategist
heather@thinkcreativegroup.com thinkcreativegroup.com
2. The Facts & Stats
Email Companies
Industry Averages
Golden Rules for Success
Examples
Action Plan
Questions
Overview
3. Marketers who plan to increase investments in digital marketing:
75.2% say their allocations will increase steadily as 2014 approaches
18.4% say their allocations will increase greatly
58.4% plan to reduce or keep their offline marketing budgets flat
39.4% Marketing executives cite email marketing as their company's
top-performing advertising channel in 2009
Facts & Stats
10. Best Practices
• Have an email strategy – stay inline with your overall marketing strategy
• Keep a marketing calendar
• Use a recognizable "from" name
• Send your emails between Tuesday – Thursday, 9:30am – 3:00pm
• Become a trusted sender – only use OPT in email addresses – offer a confirmed of opt in
• Send useful, helpful, relevant and compelling content
• Give tips and insight
• Keep an idea pad at hand
• Test your subject lines
• Spell check and have a co-worker proofread with a fresh set of eyes
• Test send the email to yourself or co-worker
Golden Rules
11. Best Practices
• Keep navigation of your website on the top of all emails
• Clean and simple
• Easy to follow flow
• Show clear hierarchy of the importance of the content
• Add hyperlinks to related material on your website
• Check the plain text version to make sure it translated correctly
• Link to specific pages on your website
• Track your result and adjust where necessary
• Allow people to sign up for your e-newsletter through your website
Golden Rules
12. Don’t
• Let the subject line be an after thought
• Wait till the last second to slap a subject line on before you send
• Use Red text
• USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS
• Send incomplete information
• Use excessive punctuation
• Excessively use of "click here" especially in all capital letters
• Excessively use of $$, and other symbols
• Send a misleading (or missing) subject line
• Use Spam-like words: Guarantee, credit card, etc.
• Put all of the content directly into your e-newsletter
Golden Rules
18. • CLIENT: FUZION Medical Aesthetic
Boutique
• SUBJECT LINE:
Dr. Goodkind on Ct Style
this Thursday at 12:30
• SENT: 1,092
• OPEN: 326
• OPEN RATE: 30.21%
• STANDARD: 29.88%
! ! ! !
!
Examples
19. • CLIENT: Santa Energy
• SUBJECT LINE:
Rebates available -
for a limited time only
• SENT: 5,741
• OPEN: 3,011
• OPEN RATE: 53.36%
• STANDARD: 23.86%
! ! ! !
!
Examples
23. Take Action
• Get in the game
• Review your marketing goals for 2010
• Review your current email template
• Plot out an eblast marketing calendar
• Use your assets
• Decide what company is the best fit
• Grow your email list
What you can do today