The first and foremost data that indicates the success of an email campaign is the open rate. So, if you are a digital marketer worried about the open rate of your campaigns and are wondering how to increase email open rate, this article is for you! In this blog, we will be discussing the best practices that have been tried and tested by our email marketing team and have proven successful in increasing open rates.

So, buckle up. Let’s begin!

How is the Email Open Rate Calculated?

Let’s first start with the basics. The email open rate is the percentage of recipients who opened an email campaign. Simply speaking, the open rate is the number of open emails divided by the number of subscribers. A higher open rate means that more people are interested in what you are offering.  

Moreover, the email open rate is calculated on the basis of unique opens only, multiple opens are not included in the metrics. Bounced emails are also not considered in the calculation.

So, based on these metrics how can you determine the success of your campaigns? While there is no pre-set average email open rate for email marketing, an open rate between 17-28% can be considered a success. However, the average rate varies according to the industry.

If you are struggling to reach that number and are looking for some effective tips on how to increase email open rate, keep reading. Here are some practical and simple tips that you can start implementing in your email marketing strategies right away.

12 Tips to Increase Email Open Rate

Keep Your Email List Fresh

Over time, email subscribers might go stale. Some people may lose interest in your brand, or some might have just changed email accounts. So, it is important to keep the list fresh and filled with engaged subscribers. Someone who has not engaged with any of your emails in the past 6 months can be considered an inactive subscriber and can be removed.

But before removing them, try to send a win-back email campaign and check the click to open rate to see the engagement.

Use the First Name in Subject Lines

Subject line is the first thing your email recipient notices, and therefore it needs to be catchy and engaging. In fact, 47% of email recipients open an email solely based on the subject line. We have noticed that using the first name in the subject lines has a dramatic effect on the average email open rate. Apart from using the first name, if you can further personalize an email using other demographic information, make sure you utilize that.

Keep Your Mobile Users in Mind

According to eMailmonday, mobile email accounts for 26 to 78% of all email opens (depending on your target audience, product, and email type). This means that you simply cannot afford to ignore your mobile users and make your email mobile friendly. This means going for responsive formatting, loadable media, and smaller subject lines. Also, keep the formatting simple, and use larger fonts, and larger CTAs.

Use a Friendly Tone in the Content

Your corporate content production team might be used to creating pieces of text following a professional tone. However, in your email campaigns make sure you write content as you would write to a friend. This will appeal to your subscribers and get them to open your emails and further increase your email click through rate.

Segmenting Your Email List

Segmenting your email list is one of the best ways to increase the relevance of your emails. According to Mailchimp, list segmentation can increase average email open rates by 14%, and it leads to a 100% higher email click-through rate compared to non-segmented emails. You can divide your audience based on their purchase behavior, or based on demographics, interests, etc. Once you have these segments, it is much easier to personalize your email campaigns and engage with your audience.

Watch Out for the Spam Filters

Before drafting and sending your email campaigns, you need to watch out for the spam filters. ESPs will use spam filters to protect their users from unwanted emails. If you notice that you have a very high bounce rate, try sending emails from a different IP address or email address. And always ensure that you are not sending bulk emails from your official domain. Because if the emails sent from your domain are blacklisted, it will not only affect your average email open rate but also your online reputation. It will cause a major setback to all the search engine optimization and search engine marketing efforts that you have made so far.

Perfect Your Timing

Timing has a major effect on your average email open rate and average email conversion rate. It is not possible to identify the perfect timeframes immediately. The best way to find out is to perform some A/B tests to identify which timeframes performed the best and explore those options in the future.

Build the Email List Organically

If you want to increase your average email open rate, you need to ensure that you are building your email list organically. This means that you should only add those people who are interested in receiving your emails. The best way to achieve this is to add a sign-up form on your website or blog where people can voluntarily opt-in to receive your emails. You can also use social media marketing to promote your email campaigns.

Follow A/B Testing for Everything

If you are still confused about how to increase email open rate, here is your answer – keep testing and keep trying. Use A/B testing for everything. From subject lines to time durations, sender names, IP addresses, email content, and pretty much everything. But don’t just stop at testing, analyze the performances. This will help you understand what works and what does not. You can thus use your findings to refine your future campaigns and improve your average email open rate and average email conversion rate.

Keep in Mind the Interests of Your Subscribers

Taking into account the interests of your viewers will enable you to create more relevant and targeted content, which will increase your average email open rate and email click-through rate. This is particularly important if you have a variety of products and services and cater to a wider range of audience. The more relevant your content is to the audience, the higher the open rates will be.

Write Catchy Subject Lines

To ensure that your email stands out amidst the sea of other promotional emails, you need to make the subject line catchy and attractive. Using the usual email marketing terminologies might filter them out as white noise. To stand out from the crowd and increase email open rate, you need to get creative. Some suggestions include, enticing curiosity, inserting numbers, using an informal tone, or going for a joke.

Gather Feedback From Unsubscribers

It is not possible to avoid unsubscribes. However, you can utilize the feedback you receive from them and work on your shortcomings. There are several reasons why someone leaves your email list. Just ask them what went wrong and make changes to your email marketing strategies accordingly.