How to Improve Your Email Open Rates

What is an Email Open Rate?

An email is only technically “opened” when the user clicks on a link in the email or enables images in your email to be displayed. The open rate is calculated by taking the number of users who open the email and dividing it by the number of emails sent that did not bounce. There are average email open rates specific to your industry, but the average open rate across all industries was 22.15% in 2019.

Effective Email Marketing

While email marketing offers high engagement rates, the key is to stand out from the crowd. Of course, your email campaigns will only be effective if they are being opened by recipients. Be sure to track your open rates so you can see what’s working and what’s not. Are you looking to improve your email open rates? Try these tips.

Create Compelling Subject Lines

The subject line of your email is a huge factor in whether or not the recipient opens it. Your subject line should truly describe the content in the email, so the recipient knows what they are about to read. Lastly, aim for a subject line of about 50 characters.

Test Subject Lines

Use A/B testing to determine which subject line will get the most opens/perform best. 

Humanize Your Email

People connect with people. The “from” field of the email should contain a human’s name instead of the name of your company.

Clean Out Your Email List 

Your list may include email addresses that are no longer valid or weren’t valid to begin with. A clean email list full of email addresses that are active and receptive can improve open rates.

Choose the Best Send Day & Time 

The optimal day and time to send your email depend on your industry, so do some research. Generally speaking, emails get better open rates on weekdays. Do some testing to find out for yourself what day and time is best to send your emails.

Set Expectations 

When users sign up for your emails, let them know how often you will communicate with them as well as what types of messages you’ll send them. By setting expectations, they’ll know to look for and will be more likely to open your emails.

Optimize for Mobile 

These days, users multitask, checking emails on their phone while doing other things. Optimize your emails for mobile devices so you don’t miss out on potential customers. 

Find What Works for You

These tips can improve your email campaign open rates, but don’t get frustrated if you don’t see an improvement right away. It can take some testing and experimenting to determine what works best for your business and subscribers. If you’d like more tips on how to develop a successful email marketing campaign, contact the ADVAN team today!