4 Ways to Get the Email Click

How is your email marketing campaign going?

I see it. You. The “Company.” Emailing my “Monthly Newsletter” #253. Trust me, my filter box is full of them. And also trust me, I’m not the only one not opening it. So how CAN you get me, or anyone else for that matter, to not just hit “Move to Trash” once your email comes into our inboxes?

While our Harness Digital Marketing team attended #MDMC16, I had the privilege of attending a session that was able to enlighten me on how exactly to get all those people to open your email. Tom Ruwitch, president and founder of the email marketing software company MarketVolt, spoke about Implementing Effective Email Strategy for Small to Medium Sized Businesses. He gave us a few tips that we at Harness Digital Marketing are looking forward to implementing in the coming months to increase our open rate. We thought you may also be interested in learning these tricks of the trade as well:

1. Change who your email is from So many people are getting emails from faceless companies in an attempt to bridge that gap between corporate America and the consumer. Now a days, getting an email from an actual PERSON is almost like getting a non-junk or non-bill letter in the mail – kind of exciting. Making your newsletter from “Bob” or “Jane” helps create the personal touch and will encourage people to open it more.
2. Ditch that old headline We get it, you send out a weekly or monthly newsletter. You don’t need to tell us. Basically, when you tell me this is the “bi-quarterly newsletter,” it in my head reads “these are our boring company updates. Don’t bother opening, you won’t be able to get through it anyways.” Instead, tell your potential readers why they should even bother opening the email. What will they get to read it? Is there something timely they should know about? Do you have a contest going on this week only? The headline should entice people to open the email and actually take a look.
3. Stop creating the content OK, don’t get me wrong, you still need to create some of the content, but don’t be afraid to curate. Curating can help you SO much more than you know! It gives readers other relatable content, saves you time instead of writing a whole blog about tips on off-road mudding when you are a fishing rod company, shows that you do research your field (so you are an expert), and helps to possibly establish relationships with other companies. So, does any of that really sound harmful? Didn’t think so. The only thing Tom said about curating is to be sure YOU give the brief. Don’t just copy what the article says, actually read the content you’re curating, then give a simple intro to explain what the piece is about and why your readers should click on it.
4. Make your email worth opening If you keep sending press releases to your retail clients, they really aren’t going to care, and they’ll quickly stop bothering opening your emails. Keep them wanting more from your emails – give them tips on how to fix common issues, feature a reader (this may get people responding to your email as well, because who doesn’t want their 15 seconds of fame?), entertain with viral content, provide them valuable email-only offers, the list can go on and on. Make sure your emails are set apart and offer something to make your customers open them week after week.

While you probably will never have a 100% open rate (if you do, please email me right now, because I really want to know what you’re doing), these tips can really help raise those rates quite a bit. Would you like to join our email list? Sign up at the bottom of our home page! If you ever have questions or are interested in starting up email marketing, give us a call at Harness Digital Marketing! We’ll help #TurnTheLightBulbOn for your business when it comes to your email marketing strategy.

Nicole Firebaugh | @nicole_fir