How to Increase Your Email Open Rates

There are a few factors that will impact your email open rates, and some of them are as simple as the Subject line and time of day you send your emails. Below we've outlined the most important aspects of these factors. Remember, your results will vary from the industry average. In addition, your open rates may not match those of your European or North American counterparts. To improve your open rates, start by evaluating your email lists.

Subject lines

One of the best ways to increase email open rates is to make your subject line more personalized. By using the recipient's name in your subject line, you can increase your email opens by 2%. Another way to increase your open rates is to use more compelling messages in your subject lines. For example, if you're promoting a Presidents Day sale, you should send a series of emails to your subscribers reminding them to buy a set of chairs or tables before the sale ends. This strategy is especially effective if you're using a CRM to manage your emails.

One of the most effective ways to increase email opens is to leverage the fact that humans are naturally greedy. If you know your customer persona well, you can create subject lines around their needs and pain points. This will spark their interest while giving you a chance to gain their trust. If you want to know more about this strategy, check out our free ebook: How to Increase Your Email Open Rates

List quality

Email engagement rates are highly dependent on the quality of your email list. High-quality lists consist of subscribers who opted-in to receive your emails. Such subscribers are more likely to read your emails and click the links in them. Also, they are less likely to unsubscribe if they were given the choice to receive them. To ensure that your email subscribers are happy with your content, use double-opt-in forms. This ensures that all subscribers have provided valid information, have not subscribed by mistake, and have given their correct email addresses.

An open rate of over thirty percent is considered high quality. However, a higher open rate does not guarantee you a high click-through rate. If your email list contains inactive subscribers, your open rate will suffer. Another key factor in the open rate of your email is the quality of your subject line. While the content of your email may be great, your subject line must be appealing to compel the recipient to open and read it.

Click-to-open rate

The average click-to-open rate for an email campaign is 18 percent. Understanding how to harness this data can help you deliver more targeted content and measure the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns. In fact, a study by the Technical University of Denmark showed that attention spans are deteriorating around the world because of the overwhelming amount of information. As a result, focusing on a particular product or brand becomes increasingly difficult.

Another way to increase click-to-open email open rates is to add a preview text to the subject line. This text should be short and easy to scan. Avoid merging different sections of the email. Use bullet points and other formats to highlight key points. Finally, structure the subject line in an orderly fashion and arrange images in a consistent order. The more people click on the CTA, the higher the click-to-open rate.

Time of day to send emails

When sending emails to your list, you can increase the opening and click-through rates by using different times of the day. Research has shown that Tuesdays are best for email engagement, especially for emails that are sent within a two-week period. Thursdays, on the other hand, were the second best days for email sending. The best times to send emails for newsletters were Wednesday and Thursday, though Tuesdays aren't the only days to consider.

When it comes to timing, the answer depends on your audience and niche. If you're targeting a younger, tech-savvy audience, consider sending emails on Friday evenings, as they're more likely to check their emails over the weekend. Similarly, weekend emails could work for those in cold climates or for industries that tend to attract a younger crowd. However, if you're sending to a more traditional audience, consider sending your emails on weekdays, preferably during the day.

Optimizing for mobile screens

There's a growing trend among marketers of optimizing email for mobile screens. Email optimization for mobile screens has been a rarity just a few years ago, but that number is now an anomaly, as eighty percent of email readers now check their inboxes on their phones. Not only does email open rates increase on mobile devices, but nearly two-thirds of email readers report deleting emails that aren't mobile-friendly. While optimizing for mobile is a good idea, many businesses still struggle to find the resources to do so.

In order to increase your open rates on mobile devices, you must format your emails for the screen size of your recipients. You can test email open rates on multiple screens to ensure your content is optimized for mobile. Time your emails accordingly, as mobile users are the most responsive to time-sensitive emails. Remember that three out of four people check their email inbox frequently, but desktop users check it less often. Optimizing email for mobile screens means the recipient gets a more personalized experience, and that makes your email more effective.