Improving Open Rates of emails?

You may want to start off my testing the subject lines of your emails. Start with a control (baseline percentage), then A/B test to see if you can increase your open rate percentage against the control.

The other thing you may want to do is survey your list and ask them what they want (try offering something of value to get more surveys back).

Find a really successful site in your niche, sign up for their list, and see how they do it. Don't copy but take some ideas and model yours after what is working.

I'm with Aweber and they are perceived to have the best open rate compared to other companies. Has anyone had any experience with them or others?

Aweber is not cheap so I'm looking to move somewhere else since I"m looking to build a list of many thousands. =D

The subject line of your e-mail is the 80% of your success/failure in your open e-mail rate.Try to think as a consumer/user and NOT as an Internet Marketer.Which e-mails would you rather open as an Internet user?The ones that draw your attention or the ones that have something for you(a gift maybe).Right?

So split testing would be the only way to try to figure out your problem and find a solution.



Dimitris

I tend to find that once your list starts to realize you're giving them great content and not a spammer, your open rates increase over time. Give them really awesome content for free, make your emails look professional and don't sell too much towards the beginning and you'll start to increase the open rate. Also, I've found that writing subject lines as if you're writing to your best friend also help, rather than "Here's The Secret To Doubling Your Open Rate Kevin" ... which looks like a typical marketing email. Oh, and also don't use autoresponders much, keep your emails fresh and send broadcasts. Yes, it's not "autopilot lazy marketing" but it creates a better rapport with your list!

Thanks,
Mark

Open rate stats are generally flawed, I prefer to track click-throughs and conversions.

Having said that, there are a few things you can do to increase open rates.

One is, writing better headlines. A good headline will have a mix of curiosity and promise, it should stand out from the rest of the inbox, it shouldn't be unbelievable or misleading, etc.

Another is - build trust. When subscribers know and like you, they're more likely to open your emails and take action..

Hope that helps!

One thing that help is personality. You gotta be you and be real. This way you're not just another drone like all the millions of people who mail and your readers will actually look forward to reading your emails.

Another trick I do as well in my auto responder series is what I call the "Cliff Hanger" method. Basically warm your reader up for your next up and coming email.

I always do this in the "P.S" part of the email and I use similar techniques you would use to write email subject lines i.e. massive amounts of curiosity and a benefit of some form.

Basically your reader will presell the crap out of themselfs and wonder what you got on offer next time you mail them therefore looking forward to your next email!

There's a couple of things that really work for me anyway.

Hope it helps

James Scholes

Oh!... One more thing.

If you're book is like 60 pages long then split it up into a 20 part auto responder series. It would be more digestable for your readers as their are getting it in more bite size chunks.

James Scholes

Remember that individuals are more drawn to a CAUSE than anything else. Does your newsletter have a 'call to arms' to support a CAUSE?

For example, link to a petition to end internet censorship. It's relevant, because we're all on the internet. You can even post the petition on your blog.

"The internet is under attack, and so is your ability to use it freely!"

Then link to your blog petition.

Attention is the new currency of the digital age. People nowadays are exposed to thousands or more ideas every day, and not all of them are going to grab their attention. Why should they care about what you have to say?

The first question you must ask yourself is whether you're certain you understand their interests. If your appeal to their interests doesn't work, consider doing a little more research on your target market. We all hate to be wrong, but sometimes scrapping an approach and working on a new one is necessary. No one gets it right on the first try every single time. And that's okay.

Also, don't assume that your target market is always logical. Sometimes, we commit to brands and/or products not for their primary function, but for how they make us feel. Take digital media and online advertising/marketing for instance - a lot of people see it as beneficial because of its ability to track results. Logically, metrics and its reduction of risk is the primary reason why spending on online advertising/marketing has increased so much. But consider this - why does the marketing associate care about metrics? Because at the end of the day, showing the boss a report with discrete numbers and measurable results is preferable to trying to explain, without any concrete proof, why that print ad you ran in XYZ magazine is driving sales. So while the board likes it due to metrics and its subsequent reduction of risk that makes the firm more attractive to blue-chip investors, the marketing associate has an interest in going digital because it makes his life easier, not necessarily because it's better for the firm in terms of financial reporting. So when you're trying to convince that person to go digital, the appeal should not be one of metrics, ROI, trackability, and future investors. It should be one that highlights how much easier it will be to justify ad expenditures and such to the boss. It should be one that highlights how it might make the employee indispensable - a lynchpin if you will.

Make sense?

You may want to read a Creed for Email Marketing located at Squidoo.

If you send helpful, on topic, engaging emails to the right group of individuals at the right time, then open rates should go up.