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Boost Your Email Click-Through Rates

nextgennow · January 1, 2021 ·

So, you’ve created your editorial calendar, drafted your content—both regular content and special offers—and are up and running like a well-oiled marketing machine.  Yay!  Go girl (or guy)!  Your open rates are up and your unsubscribe rates are down.  Give yourself a big pat on the back!

Time now to focus on click-through rates.  Why? Well, that’s how we know when your audience is engaged, how we test offers and products, and, the big reason, how we can have our audiences self-segment.  Self-segment?  How cool is that!  The tip of the artificial intelligence iceberg! Way cool…but more on that later.

Depending on the goal of your email marketing, a high click-through rate could mean more people visiting your website, redeeming your offer, or registering for an upcoming event.

 Want to know how to increase the click-through rate of your emails?

Let’s take a look at a few, tips, tricks, and best-practices that could help you boost your email click-through rate.

Create a scarcity effect

Creating a sense of urgency (the scarcity principle) is the best way to persuade your leads to engage with your emails. Urgency works because when you put a deadline on a specific action like the purchase of a product before an offer ends, people automatically lean towards taking that action by engaging with your email.

There are two types of urgency you can make use of in your email marketing campaigns: time-based urgency and scarcity-based urgency.

Time-based urgency entices prospects to engage with a campaign by providing only a limited timeframe. Whereas scarcity-based urgency capitalizes on scarcity to make it work. 

Keep your emails short and have a clear call to action 

Emails with three or fewer images and approximately 20 lines of text result in the highest click-through rates from email subscribers. 

Why?  Well, in today’s increasingly mobile world, consumers want to be able to read content anywhere, at any time, and from any device. By keeping your emails straightforward and your content clear, you can craft emails knowing that your subscriber can read them with equal ease at their office desk, while waiting for the train, or at home.

Send personalized emails

The best way to improve email click-through rates is to send more personalized emails to your leads. And, I am not just talking about “merging” their name in the content or subject line (that can get a little spammy, don’t you think?) When emails are personalized on the basis of your individual subscriber’s unique behavior and interests, they are more likely to engage with your emails.

This is where segmentation comes in.

Email segmentation allows you to classify your leads on the basis of common interests and behaviors. This way you can send targeted emails to each individual group addressing the needs of their concerns and behaviors.

Much more on segmentation to follow… stay tuned!

Just straight out ask for email preferences

If you are not sending your emails to the right people, with the right content, at the right time, emails can be annoying to your potential customers, which makes them unsubscribe from the list. To keep your list active and to boost click-through rates, it is essential to know your subscribers’ email preferences. Although you may have segmented your audience to near perfection, sometimes folks can get a little “wishy-washy” (yes, that’s a technical term) about what they think they want to receive.  Hey, maybe they’ve had a bad day and don’t really want to opt out altogether.

This is why it is vital to set up your unsubscribe or email preferences.  Don’t just let your audience opt out of everything.  Let them choose the frequency or subject matter before you lose them.

And, if they’ve really had a bad day and click that unsubscribe button, it’s time to…

Create a win-back email campaign

You need to take the last step to make your leads re-engaged with your emails by creating a win-back email campaign. According to a study, an average open rate of win back emails is 12%. This rate is respectable since all leads were identified as inactive before.

One of the best ways to persuade your inactive leads to engage with your emails is to make an offer they can’t refuse—a complimentary service, a discount, a special item of value—are all winners here.  A successful win-back campaign is a HUGE an opportunity to continue to nurture that wonderful prospect (hint, hint, make sure to place them into an automated campaign that treats them extra special!)

As always, test, test, test and find out what works for you!  There are lot of ways to increase your click-through rate!

Want to learn more about rocking your email marketing game?  Don’t be shy, give us a shout!

How to Optimize your Email Subject Line for Greater Open Rates and Conversions

nextgennow · January 1, 2021 ·

The goal sending and email is to get folks to read them, right? And, of course, depending on the goal of a campaign, click and convert.  But first, they must OPEN them.

Given the daily bombardment of emails, how can yours stand out amongst all other emails?  How can you get someone to read your email?  

The key is to craft a catchy subject line. Here are a few things to keep in mind so that your subject lines ensure your emails are read.

Be short and descriptive.

Your subject line should have no more than 4-7 words or 40 characters. Most email providers will truncate And, keep in mind that more and more users are opening their emails on mobile devices. 
 

Entertain, warn, inform.

A lot of people sign up for marketing emails hoping to obtain valuable information from the sender. That’s you! Use your expertise and entertain them with a funny anecdote or inform them of something they are not likely to be aware of.

Example: YES! Claim Tax Deductions from Your Summer Vacation

You can also warn them about something that your organization can prevent. For example, a veterinary clinic might warn readers of the dangers of ticks and Lyme’s disease in the summer months.

Entice the reader to read further by using teaser.

A subject line should act as a teaser or state a benefit of opening the email. It can contain an “offer” if it doesn’t contain spam-like characteristics. Using the subject line in conjunction with our email’s pre-header will give you a little more room to get your point across. 

Ask a question.

Questions are a great way to grab your readers’ attention and pique their curiosity about what your email includes. 

Example: Want to put a smile like this on your dog?

Share something of value.

Are your readers looking for specific information or expertise from you? If you have something helpful to share, call it out in the subject line to let them know exactly what they’re getting.

Create a sense of urgency.

Let your subject line create a sense of urgency that will encourage them to act now, instead of putting it off till later. 

Use alliteration.

Incorporate recognizable quotes or sayings or make a pun that relates to your email topic or call to action.

Take time to rhyme.

See what I did there? Rhyming subject lines tend to stick out amongst a sea of subject lines because we’re attracted to rhythmic sounds. Give it a try in your next subject line. You never know, you might be a poet and you didn’t even know it!

Whatever you do, there are definitely a few things you should never do.  At the top of the NEVER DO list is…

Avoids spam-like characteristics.

  • Words like – free, guarantee, spam, Viagra, sex, etc.
  • Phrases like “be amazed,” “your income,” “subject to credit approval,” “earn XXX per week,” “act now”
  • Uppercase – WRITING IN ALL CAPS
  • Punctuation – Excessive use of …, !!! and ???
  • Symbols – Excessive use of $$, %, and other symbols. 

If your subject line doesn’t comply with these guidelines, it’s likely that your email may be routed directly into your contacts’ junk or spam folders. 
 

Another thing you should never do is worry about THE perfect subject line!  Why?  Because you can always …sorry, let me re-phrase that—SHOULD always be testing.

Make sure to utilize A/B Testing with your subject lines. More on that later…

To learn more about how you can optimize your subject line to increase engagement and conversions, email us.  We would love to hear your goals and build your business together! 

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