Email Marketing Best Practices

Increase your Open Rate
There are any number of ways people measure their success at email marketing ? the fact that it is so measurable in so many different ways is one of the greatest strengths of the technique. One of the first metrics to emerge at the dawn of email marketing was the open-rate. How many of your recipients are opening the email that you send in order to actually GET the marketing message?

Email marketing has the power to help you sell products and services but you can't get any results if your emails aren't read, and your emails can't be read if they aren't opened. Ergo, your open rate is incredibly important. It's the first step in the journey to email marketing success. If people don't even open your emails, you?ll never accomplish your goal, whether that goal is to stimulate a conversation, to educate, to create brand awareness, to sell, to invite or to complain.

You know you'll never get 100% of recipients to open my emails. Everyone's time is too short and inbox too full, so I rarely concern myself with the actual open rate itself. I do, however, get worried or elated if my open rate changes from campaign to campaign. An increasing open rate tells me I'm hitting the mark, a decreasing open rate points to a problem.

What is an open rate and how is it calculated? An open rate is intended to show the number (percentage) of people who actually opened your email and looked at it. We'd all like to think that if someone opens our email it means they actually read it, but we can't make that leap of faith. We can say for sure, though, that if it isn't opened, it will never be read.

Open rate may be calculated differently, depending on the system doing the math. It could be the number of emails opened divided by the number of emails sent, or it could be the number of emails opened divided by the number of emails received. These formulas will give different results. Some systems count the number of times an email was opened (some people may open the same email a number of times), others count the number of people who opened an email, regardless of how many times someone opens it. These calculations would also produce very different results. The important thing is to use the same calculation consistently and watch how the open rate changes over time.

What influences your open rate?

Many things can affect your open rate, things you may not be able to control. 1. The source of your list: Rented lists tend to have lower open rates than house lists, but a house list that has not been used in a while will have a lower open rate than an active one. 2. Your audience: A recent user survey showed that business-to-business (B2B) email campaigns generate higher open rates than business-to-consumer (B2C) campaigns. 3. Your email format: As a rule, email delivery systems can only track open rates on HTML emails. People who get your email in plain-text format for whatever reason - because you send only a text version, or they requested text only, or they have an email client that cannot read HTML - will not be counted in your open rate calculation, but may, in fact, have opened your email. 4. The email client used by your readers: When your email is viewed in the preview pane of a client like Microsoft Outlook (the most popular email client today), it will be counted as an open. The recipient does not actually need to click to enlarge the email, and it doesn't matter how long your email stays in that preview pane. (This may be why B2B marketers get higher open rates - their readers are more likely to use Outlook.) If your readers use a Web-based email reader like Hotmail, they usually have to click on the 'from' field or subject line to open the email. This is counted as an open and is probably easier to justify as a "true" open. 5. Your recognition factor: The 'from' field is the most important factor motivating consumers to open emails. People are more likely to open an email from a sender they recognize.

How can you improve your open rate? There are things you do have control over that can help you increase your open rate: the 'from' field, the subject line, and the timing. 1. Customize your 'from' field for maximum recognition. Take advantage of the customizable 'from' field in most email delivery systems and make it work for you. Here are some tips: a. Got a brand? Use it. Will the recipient recognize the name in the 'from' field? It may be the only name they see in their inbox, so don't send your newsletter from sales@mycompany.com. If you work for a company with a great brand name, consider using the company name to leverage that brand. If a person in your company has a great brand name, use it. I always open the emails I get from Jeff Bezos (CEO of Amazon). If your readers are people with whom you have a more personal relationship, consider using a person's name.

b. Keep the 'from' field the same over time. If you're just starting out, your open rates may be low because you're unknown. As you develop email relationships, keep the 'from' name the same over time so you can benefit from the brand you've built thus far. This should improve your open rate.

c. Know what's happening in the spam world. Right now a lot of spam comes from female names - usually just a first name, no last name. People often delete email from unknown women more quickly than any other mail.

d. Customize the 'from' address, not just the name. While most email delivery systems will let you customize the 'from' field, some email clients (like AOL) display only the actual email address from which the campaign was sent, not the name. Use your 'from' name in the email address as well - some email marketing software will do this for you automatically.

2. Spend time on your subject line. In the recent survey I mentioned earlier, 35% cited the subject line as the main factor in determining whether they would open the email. It makes sense: other than the 'from' name, the subject line is often the only thing people see in their inbox.

Connect with your reader. Subject lines that have one or more of these attributes tend to generate better open rates: - a subject line that is tied to the context of the relationship between sender and recipient - a subject line that tells the recipient something they want to know - a provocative subject line that arouses curiosity - a subject line that speaks to an emotions-based need

a. Experiment with your subject line. Try different subject lines and see what works best. I read the other day that putting a number in the subject line of an email message can greatly increases readership and response rates. "Top 10", "Save 10%", "3 Great Ideas", etc.

b. Be consistent. Yes, I know this contradicts what I just said about experimenting, but consider putting a common element in all your subject lines,you?re your newsletter name - then this month's subject. It's another way to be recognized - not all readers start with the 'from' field, and when they are flying through their emails, deleting all the junk mail, they may delete yours accidentally if they don't see a recognizable word.

c. Avoid 'promotional' words or phrases. "Special offer", "Free", "Limited time", "Buy now" - these are certain to get trapped by a spam filter or deleted by the reader (accidentally or not) along with all the real junk mail with those words in the subject line.

d. Keep your subject line short and snappy. Two reasons here: (1) many email clients limit the subject line to about 30 characters anyway, and (2) it's just good marketing sense to make your point in as few words as possible.

e. Know your readers and tune your subject line to them. Industry standards convey that most men prefer subject lines that communicate news or compelling information, while most women prefer discount offers. Leverage current market research to fine-tune your subject line.

f. Send your email to yourself. Send an email to yourself and pretend you are one of your readers. How does it look in your inbox? Would you open it?

g. Make it easy to 'white list' your emails. Consider including a common word, perhaps your newsletter name, in square brackets [Splash] at the beginning of your subject line so readers can use a filter based on that word, or clear your emails with IT or their ISP, to avoid sending your emails into the spam bucket.

3. Timing is (a good portion of) everything. While timing is only one factor influencing your open rate, it definitely makes a difference. Think about it. Publishing in the middle of the night means your message will appear in a very full inbox in the morning along with many more messages, mostly spam. Publish too late in the day, and the reader might be anxious to clear his desk and his inbox in order to leave. Most consumers like to get email offers on weekends, and some professionals like to read their email at home in the evenings when its quiet. Bottom line: Experiment, use common sense, and ask your readers what time is best for them.

What's a typical open rate? A marketing professionals survey recently showed an industry open rate average of less than 20%, and many marketers report that open rates are declining. B2B open rates, however, are in the 37% rate with many B2B marketers reporting rates of 30% or higher.

Just remember: email is an ongoing conversation, not a one-time, one-way speech. Keep sending appropriately, spend time on your 'from' field and subject lines, and watch how your open rate changes over time. Pay attention to trends and you'll find your own way to higher open rates.

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