1. Why bother about Open Rate, anyway?<\/a>
2. Up-to-date Back-end<\/a>
a. Qualified Subscriber List<\/a>
b. Segmented Subscriber List<\/a>
c. Anti-SPAM Approach<\/a>
d. Timing & Frequency<\/a>
3. Relevant & Efficient Front-end<\/a>
a. Optimized Envelope <\/a>
b. Efficient Design & Layout<\/a>
c. Quality Content <\/a>
4. In Conclusion<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Why bother about Open Rate, anyway?<\/strong><\/span> Open Rate and Click Through Rate (CTR), which is the number of people who click on the link in your email, combine to form the most important metrics used to measure success of an email campaign. Give this read from mailchimp<\/a> a glance to know more about email marketing metrics and benchmarks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Open rate is a top of the funnel<\/a> metric. If no one opens your email, other metrics like CTR will definitely suffer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A strong, up-to-date backend is the secret sauce to directing consistent, relevant, and high value email content to the right consumer at the right time. <\/strong> Single opt-in obviously gets you more leads but the double opt-in gets you more qualified ones. Those who shared their interest through your subscription form, and in the interim you sent the confirmation link, did NOT lose that interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the battle of quantity vs quality \u2013 choose quality. Successful Digital Marketing is not about numbers. It is about ensuring you or your clients get good return on those numbers.<\/strong> No matter how good you are, you will have a few people lose interest in or value from your offerings. It\u2019s a good idea to periodically remove inactive subscribers \u2013 those that haven\u2019t shown any engagement for 6-months or more. A few ways to gently nudge your sleeping beauties:<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Check if they want to update their contact details How does it impact your email open rate?<\/strong> – Helps prioritize groups that have historically given you a higher ROI \u2013 that, my friends, is what Digital Marketing strategy is about<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Helps send emails in accordance with the funnel stage your subscriber is in <\/p>\n\n\n\n How can you segment?<\/strong> – Ensure your recipients have actually opted-in to receiving your emails; double opt-in safeguards you against SPAM filters<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Place a tiny section in the email that educates subscribers about how to whitelist your emails, add you to their address book, and if needed – how to opt-out<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Send emails from a safe IP address that has NEVER been used to send spams <\/p>\n\n\n\n – Use verified domains and keep the code clean<\/p>\n\n\n\n – steer clear of \u201csalesy\u201d language and excessive use of words like rich, wealthy, cash, mortgage, casino, win, act now, click now, limited time, open now etc <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n – avoid too many URLs, ALL CAPS, exclamations!!!!!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s a fun fact for you – Campaign Monitor<\/a> in its study revealed that emails sent on Friday saw the highest open rate and its close cousin Saturday was the worst. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A question that plagues marketers and small businesses about email marketing is about the right frequency of emailing customers. Too many may make you look like a spammer and too few may disengage. To know what\u2019s best for your campaign, take note of these\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Make a schedule to ensure have a steady, consistent and productive campaign<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Ensure it allows you to send at least one to two emails per week so you don\u2019t run the risk of losing sales opportunities <\/p>\n\n\n\n – Unless you have very strong content that is delivering high value, do not send emails every day or alternate day \u2013 that too will lead to lower engagement levels<\/p>\n\n\n\n A simple tweak to test what subject line works or what timing is great for your users could significantly increase your open rate. That\u2019s why A\/B diagnostic tool must be a part of your email marketing strategy.<\/strong> a. Optimized Envelope <\/span><\/strong> Read more about optimizing envelope content here<\/a>. In the meantime, here are a few musts you shouldn\u2019t lose sight of. <\/p>\n\n\n\n – Use merge tags to personalize the \u201cTo:\u201d field of your campaign
Of the many good people who have subscribed to your email updates, only a few will actually open it. Even fewer will open it regularly. Some emails, in fact will bounce and stay undelivered. The percentage of how many of your DELIVERED mails get opened is your Email Open Rate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Up-to-date Backend<\/strong><\/span>
The backend system of your email marketing campaign is like the foundation of a building. A passer-by doesn\u2019t see it, yet forms a quiet opinion about it. At the most basic, the backend support of your email campaign requires you to work on 4 components \u2013 quantity and quality of your subscriber list, navigating through SPAM filters, and the timing and frequency of your email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ctc-digital.com\/ctc2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Picture-1-1.png\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ctc-digital.com\/ctc2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/1logo.png\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
a. Qualified Subscriber List<\/span><\/strong>
Amongst the first decisions you make about your subscriber list is about how you want them to confirm their interest in your content. Through a single opt-in or a double opt-in. Former is when the user fills a subscription form and gets added to your list. In the latter, you follow up the form with a confirmation link in the email. A link they must click before they\u2019re added to your list. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ctc-digital.com\/ctc2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/2-1.png\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Take their feedback on what\u2019s working and what\u2019s not – incentivise it. Throw in a goodie – gated content, limited period offer etc
– Craft that one win-back email campaign\/last ditch effort<\/p>\n\n\n\n
b. Segmented Subscriber List<\/span><\/strong>
Fact check \u2013 Segmentation of subscriber list means classifying your customer database into smaller groups and adapting contents to their profile, interests, and implied needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Ensures your emails are relevant to the groups you\u2019re writing to. For example, if running a campaign to promote a Life Coaching business, your email marketing content to entrepreneurs should be VERY different from that you send to corporate professionals <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the most basic level, you can start with geographic, demographic, and psychographic classification. The foundational exercise of spending a couple of days interacting with your targeted consumers and crafting that buyer persona\/s<\/a> will go a long way in making this quick and dirty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ctc-digital.com\/ctc2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/3-1.png\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
c. Anti-SPAM Approach<\/span><\/strong>
For that email to be opened, it needs to move past the SPAM gate keepers. Doing a few basic checks and sticking to some proven best practices are an absolute must. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
d. Timing & Frequency<\/span><\/strong>
The best day and time to trigger emails for a student who is in classes from 9am to 3pm is very different from the one you should choose when targeting a middle-aged working professional. So, what\u2019s the best way of getting the timing right? Get clear about what a day in the life of your buyer persona<\/a> looks like. When do they wake up? What do their commute time looks like? How late do they stay up at night? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Relevant & Efficient Front-end<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most important part of the front-end that gets your subscriber to click on that email is your envelope. A 2019 Litmus study<\/a> revealed that the 3 components of your email envelope combine to convince your subscriber to open that email and give it a gander. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ctc-digital.com\/ctc2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/7-1.png\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Keep your subject lines short but powerful – employ personalization
– Consider including numbers, whenever you can realistically – they draw attention
– Don\u2019t build unwanted hype by using deceptive subject lines or spammy pre-header texts<\/a>
– Consider including Call the Action in your pre-header
– Do A\/B testing<\/a> of your shortlisted subject lines & pre headers <\/p>\n\n\n\n