Email open rates are dropping. This isn’t according to some trend or study, this is according to you, the online business owner who I hear asking, “what can I do about my low open rates?”
While email is and will continue to be the preferred method of communication for business and promotional purposes, getting your subscribers to open all your awesome emails is another story.
If you are on my email list, you’ve heard me go into great detail about what you can do to perk up your open rate. This week will be no disappointment either – we’ll be delving into your email copy and some techniques to getting people to not only open your email but click your links as well.
You can get the scoop too – sign up here.
But what I will tell you here is that the tendency for people to ignore your email is on the high end of the spectrum. In fact, if there was a way to measure the rate at which people put an ignore blinder on, unintriguing email messages would be an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10.
On some days, maybe even an even 10.
But it wasn’t always like that.
Do you remember way back when every email message you received, you opened and read. Email was intriguing. Just the idea that you could send and receive mail electronically was enough to make every email exciting.
That was the good ole’ days.
The reasons why your open rate is low
Email is no longer associated with intrigue and excitement, that’s just the plain and simple truth. There are too many other distractions (reason #1) to take people away from their email.
And your subscribers are no different. They are like the rest of us – our inbox is a bit of a burden. It’s a chore just checking it (reason #2).
And then when they do check it and it’s filled with stuff like, “watch this webinar now,” “20% off sale ends today” and “parent-teacher conferences tomorrow.” Well, you can see why you have stiff competition (reason #3).
Ultimately, at any given time, an email inbox is filled with dozens of varieties of messages – all ranging from shopping to business to personal. Most of the time, there are not enough hours in the day to read them ALL (reason #4). The recipient is forced to decide what messages get opened and read and which ones get ignored.
But there is something you can do to get your messages opened and read.
The ONE thing that will attract attention to your emails
Amidst all of the sales and limited time only offers, there is a little window of opportunity to generate an open from your subscribers.
It goes a little something like this…
Example email inbox:
Limited time – sale ends TODAY
Grab this course while it’s still 90% off
This webinar will be taken down tonight at midnight
A touching sentiment by my 80 year old grandmother and how I use it in marketing
A sure way to get traffic to your website
Parent meeting tonight
Drinking this “secret drink” will help you lose weight
This sample email inbox is probably pretty close to what your own subscribers experience every day. They are busy, they have many things going on in their lives and they don’t have time to read or watch each and every sale or video that comes their way.
So the one thing that you can do to make an impact in their inbox is to be different.
Seems like such a simple statement, but it’s true. Different, riveting, a bright, shining light in their time crunched day – all of these phrases explain what an email should be.
In order to grab their attention and entice them to click on your email, you have to give them something they don’t ordinarily see. Use the emotional pulls of joy, trust and anticipation to be intriguing. And don’t be afraid to experiment. Some of the best open rates may happen when you decide to just throw something new out there.
If you want to gain attention in the busy inbox of your subscriber, you have to be exceptionally different. I like the phrase, “tell me something awesome.”
Be the one who tells them something awesome every day.
Just because email open rates are low, doesn’t mean yours have to be. Strive to be better than all the other email messages. Get creative.
In building your list and subsequently marketing to them, your aim is to create subject lines and emails that captivate your subscribers just enough to get them to click to open.
Now once they open, then it’s the body copy that takes over to solidify the sale, but that’s a whole other ballgame and one that we will be covering in the next issue of the newsletter. Join it here.
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Ever Wonder Why Some Subject Lines Get High Open Rates and Others Flop?
How to Create Subject Lines that Entice Your Readers to CLICK! answers those questions and more... and it's FREE for all my blog readers!
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- Why a subject line with a high open may not be "the winner"
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Thanks for the tips…I will attempt to be different in my email subject lines!
Meryl Hershey Beck recently posted..Loss, Grief, and Reclaiming Joy
Hi Meryl,
Glad you enjoyed it!
Just have fun with it – make them exciting!
Have a great week!
~Christine
Fantastic info and SO timely! Just signed up for your newsletter as my own open rates are not where I want them to be. Thanks!
Martha Giffen recently posted..The REAL Secret to Online Business Success
Hi Martha!
So glad you enjoyed it!
You’ll love this next issue then
Have a wonderful week!
~Christine
LOVE THIS >>> “Be the one who tells them something awesome every day.”
You brought up some really great points about why emails don’t get opened! I do lots of email marketing for my clients and am going to keep these things in mind!
Thank you!
Kelly
Hi Kelly,
Thanks! lol – I was actually going to word that phrase differently, but I think that sums it up the best
Have a great week!
~Christine
Fabulous post, Christine. Such great tips and reminders and it’s so true that my in box is full of too much information. The headline had better be good or the email gets deleted instantly. As the publisher of a magazine, I get bombarded with hundreds of press releases daily. Only a few capture my attention each day. As someone who relies on e-news to keep our readers coming back to our website, headlines are critical! Thanks for the advice.
Hi Minette,
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed it!
I love working with headlines! Really, just having fun with them and getting creative makes all the difference in the world.
Thanks again,
Christine
Martha Giffen shared your information with me and I sure am glad she did. Thanks for this information, it’s exactly what I needed to read today!
Marian LaSalle
Marian LaSalle recently posted..Success is what YOU say it is!
Hi Marian!
Thank you so much – glad you enjoyed it!
Glad you stopped by – have a wonderful day!
~Christine
Hi Christine,
Great examples of how to make the subject relevant and get read today, but sadly due to “marketers” overusing this it doesn’t work as well as it should.
For example if I get 5 different “marketers” all telling me a sale ends today I’m going to ignore it and unsubscribe as it’s not a unique deal for me. So although the headline was good it won’t work as well as it should.
To me the key thing to increase the open rate is the name in the from field, and the relationship I have with the sender. That will determine how likely I am to open the message regardless of how good the subject line is.
Andrew
andrewstark recently posted..Humanistic Encouragement
Hi Andrew,
That is a great point and one that we’ll be delving in to in the coming days/weeks
Establishing yourself and your name is all a part of laying the foundation for a responsive list.
Thanks so much and have a great week!
~Christine
Writing an awesome subject line is a creative process, too, one that needn’t take more than a few seconds. Great blog! I will sign up!!
Kate Loving Shenk recently posted..Your Daily Prayer For Healing-10/02/2012
Hi Kate!
Thanks – so glad you enjoyed it!
And glad you joined – I’ll visit with you soon
~Christine
Hi Christene!
thanks for the information and as you define that some attractive feature or post on your email then i will try to use it.
anshul recently posted..Online Banking Software
Hi Anshul,
Thanks – glad you enjoyed it!
Have a great day!
~Christine