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What’s a Good Open Rate for Email Marketing?
Before we get into all the nitty-gritty ways to make your email shine, let’s cover some prerequisites. One of the best ways to measure your email marketing campaign’s success is to track your open rates.
The definition of an email open rate is the percentage of subscribers who open your email out of the total number of subscribers in your send list. The average open rate for email, according to Campaign Monitor, is 17.92%. According to MailChimp, it’s closer to 21.33% when looking at averages across various industries.
Average Email Benchmarks
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- Open Rate: 17.9%
- Click-Through Rate: 2.7%
- Unsubscribe Rate: 0.17%
- Bounce Rate: 0.7%
Source: Campaign Monitor
Make sure to look specifically at the averages in your industry. They could be quite a bit higher or lower than these general averages.
12 Ways to Craft Your Marketing Email Like a Pro for More Engagement
These email marketing tips are just smothered in our secret sauce. The fact that we’re willing to share them with you says a lot. You better take advantage of it before we change our minds.
1. Personalization Matters
Do you enjoy being addressed as “Sir or Madam”? What about the all-too-common “Hello there” or “Hi friend” greeting?
Not sure about you, but I like being addressed by name in my emails. It makes me feel like an equal human being.
I kinda start feeling all warm and fuzzy when someone I follow and admire calls me by name and acts like she’s my friend. I’m much more likely to listen to what she has to say, especially when the email is actually from her and tailored for me.
If I receive an email from some random company sending me random content, *delete*.
I know I’m not alone on this. In fact, it’s 26% more likely that someone will open an email with a personalized subject line, which leads us to our next point.
2. Take Your Subject Lines Seriously
Subject lines are arguably the most crucial piece of a successful email campaign because they affect everything: your open rate, click-through rate (CTR), unsubscribes, and conversions. It’s vital that you get them right.
Here are some tips:
- Peak interest and curiosity (be a little mysterious).
- Grab your readers’ attention.
- Build up some emotion.
- Show value.
- Make a big claim (as long as it’s true).
- Don’t be spammy (“free” or “!!!”) or too pushy (ALL CAPS or demanding something).
- Keep it short (around eight words is good).
- Use action words.
- Add some urgency.
- Ask a question.
- Insert your recipient’s first name (when appropriate).
- Add some emojis.
- Put the most important part at the beginning (for mobile users).
3. Use the Preview Text
Preview text is the other part people can see before actually opening the email. It’s your chance to hook them and get them to click. In the preview, you can summarize your email content so readers know if you have something that interests them.
Some tips for writing preview text:
- Keep it to around 60 characters.
- Place the most important part at the beginning.
- Make it engaging and enticing.
- Include a call to action.
4. Write Compelling Copy
The first step is to get your email recipient to OPEN. Next, you want them to READ what you sent. You can do that by writing engaging copy that captures their attention. Use vivid language that connects with your target audience. Make sure it flows logically. Be concise but thoughtful.
If you’re not a writer, consider hiring a copywriter or content writer to draw in your readers and get them to take a specific action. It can make all the difference.
5. Keep It Short and Sweet
Make your message as short as you can without trimming out the good stuff. Your recipients are busy people, and they receive over 120 business emails on average every single day. The fact that they choose to open and read yours is amazing! Thank them by getting your message across as conveniently as possible.
Stay focused and be intentional in the body of your message.
6. Make Content Scannable
Especially for longer emails, make sure you break up your content with headers, bullet points, numbered lists, links, and CTAs. You want those who don’t read the whole email to understand what it’s about. That way they can still take your desired action.
Your readers should understand your intent within a few seconds.
7. Tone is Everything
First off, you need to talk to your recipients like you would in person – like you’re having a casual conversation with a friend. Speak directly to your subscribers using “you” language. Be friendly and keep it positive. Get on their level by talking in a language they understand. Also remember to be inclusive, friendly, respectful, and thoughtful.
All these pointers will help you come off as authentic and direct. There’s no time to beat around the bush in email.
Speak to YOUR target audience in whatever tone they’ll appreciate and connect with best.
8. From, A Real Person
The more personable you can be in your email, the better results you’ll see. Many businesses send emails from [Company Name]. We encourage you to take it a step further and change the “from” field to your name (e.g., “Martha from BingoMarketing” or “Henry, Marketing Maniacs”).
And make sure people can reply to you directly (“no-reply” emails stink). Then close with your name or a personal signature. Maybe even throw in a little photo for good measure. People like to see they’re getting emails from real live humans.
9. Choose Optimal Send Times
Your send time is one of the most significant factors in getting people to open your emails. You could send the best darn email you’ve ever written and get fewer opens than ever before if you send at the wrong time.
To find the best times to send to your readers, you’ll have to track your emails. Ideal times vary by industry and individual company. But there are very general times and days that work better for businesses than others.
Here are some hints:
- Send Fridays for higher open rates.
- Try Tuesdays for a higher CTR.
- Send early in the morning (4 a.m. or 6 a.m.) so it’s the first thing people see in their inbox.
- Avoid sending around lunchtime and dinnertime.
- Account for time zones.
- Avoid weekends when possible.
Give your readers the right expectations, and then make sure you deliver. If you say you’ll send them an email once a week or every Friday morning, then you better do it, doggone it! If you say you’ll send monthly mail straight to their inboxes, they will expect to hear from you regularly.
Be consistent for the best possible engagement.
10. Offer Real Value
Your emails should add value to your readers’ lives. Truly! Throw in some facts or data they’re interested in reading. Add an exciting stat or case study. Don’t forget to back it all up by linking to reputable, original sources.
11. Be Responsive
For goodness sake, answer when people reach out to you – and be prompt about it! If you take too long to respond, you could miss out on a potential lead, client, or customer.
If you respond quickly, people will respect you. You’ll give your business a good name and start building a grand reputation. Go ahead and pat yourself on the back. You deserve it.
12. Segment Your Lists
Another way to make emails more personal (you see how that keeps coming up?) is to segment your email lists.
Maybe you have one group that’s already invested in your company. They’ve been loyally following and buying from you for years. Then perhaps you have another group who just found your website. They’re intrigued but not quite ready to hand over their hard-earned cash.
It’s time to split your email list. You can send the first group emails that fall near the bottom of the sales funnel, like product descriptions and viable solutions to their problems. The second group needs more top-of-the-funnel information. So keep it educational, friendly, and helpful to build trust with them over time.
Sending emails to segmented lists can boost your open rates and CTRs. It can also help you grow your revenue by 760%. We’re not making this stuff up.
Boost Your Business with Epic Email Marketing Tactics
If you need help spiffing up your email newsletters, campaigns, sales emails, or workflows, we’d love to help! Like we said before, we love email marketing. We live and breathe the stuff so you don’t have to.
Wanna work with one of our email gurus? Book a free consult with our team. We can’t wait to show you the ropes!
