9 Email Marketing Hacks for Explosive Open Rates

Subject line magic

Time to grab some attention! By crafting amazing emotive grabbing headlines you will encourage people to click through and engage with your content. Pland to spend some time to focus on this as it’s the first thing people see and is the gateway to your products and services. Use some of the great free headline tools out there to test different options and ensure you get the best one which is fully optimised e.g AIOSEO. Let’s start to add to that magic – here’s a checklist to get you started:

1. Be clear and specific – it should clearly state what it is, make sure you highlight the benefit or benefits for the reader – keep it really straight forward and don’t use flowery language.
2. The Headlines or Title is a Call to Action (CTA) so make sure you use action orientated words e.g. discover, learn, unlock, start now, find out more, buy now
3. If you have a database of people’s names and it is relevant to the content, then use this in your subject lines – the more people feel you are talking to them directly, the more likely they are to click through.
4. Can you add a bit of curiosity and intrigue to your subject line – try and lead your reader into the content by hinting at what might be inside. Think about what would encourage you to click and create multiple ongoing testing options.
5. Remember to test on mobile and tablet device e.g, keep your subject lines short and punchy to fit mobile screens. 
6. Ask a question which provokes an answer – one that is related to the content within your email.
7. Putting numbers in your subject line can make it more impactful e.g. 5 Secrets …7 Top tips – odd numbers work harder than even numbers.
8. Use Emotion to appeal to the emotions of the reader, this creates a deeper connection with your audience
9. Test, Test, Test the more your test the more you learn. Start A/B testing with subject matter lines and see which ones work best.

The Power of Segmentation

Know your database well. If you have a clear idea of the audience you are targeting then segmenting your data will be easy. Divide your subscriber list into targeted segments based on preferences, behaviours and demographics. Remember, tailoring your content to the most relevant audience will drive the most traffic and build the strongest engagement. Think of ways to segment your audiences and test one at a time so that you gain clear and actionable results which you are confident are accurate. Easy ways to segment are:

• By geographical location – local, international, regions
• By demographics – age, gender, personal attributes
• Behaviour – web activity, email engagement
• Interests – you may have some data on the types of content your audience enjoy receiving from surveys or email responses 

Optimise your designs for mobile

50% of all searches start on mobile devices so it is critical to optimise your designs which can be easily read on mobile devices. Think larger, cleaner fonts, clearly written. Remember accessibility is an important factor so don’t be afraid to use dark fonts on a white background and avoid text on coloured backgrounds. When you finish drafting your email – a great tip is to send it to yourself first of all, then you will see what it will look like to the receiver and be able to make any final tweaks before sending.

Should you include interactive content?

Be wary of including interactive content as it will not get through the firewalls and spam filters. Many organisations now have these set to high for cyber security reasons and do not want you to include any links which could breach their security. If you want to increase engagement within the email then include a short poll or survey, this can, if not overly done, increase ready open rates and engagement.

Create a great story

Like any good communication, your emails should tell a great story and fully engage the reader. Think of how you would develop a story if you were writing it for a book – you would start with a beginning, middle and end, this creates a flow for the reader and makes it much easier to read. Combine this by using short paragraphs and bullet points – remember people are busy and often scan documents rather than read them so make the top points stand out in sub headlines and bullet points. Take a look at these additional key areas to include and you will be well on the way to developing a great email:

• Personalise where you can and if you are automating any part of your email process – always test before sending – there is nothing worse than receiving a half baked attempt at personalisation so use it sparingly throughout the text or once to avoid any slip ups.
• Remember, less is more, going back to the point about mobile user, keep the design clean, simple and focused and more importantly readable – clean fonts and a decent readable size. 
• Build trust with proof points, if you have them, add in some testimonials or quotes from users.
• Test, test, test, – you can never do enough testing to make sure it is readable, optimised and relevant to your audience. Testing thoroughly will ensure your best chance for maximum open rates.