Even with all the discussion about SPAM, Email is still an essential part of most business marketing mix and still yields a higher ROI than other channels.  Though email isn’t without its challenges, one of the biggest challenges is open rate.  Obviously getting into the inbox is crucial but how can we as “marketers” maintain strong engagement and  maximize returns from our email marketing  is strongly measured and determined by open rate.

Email content is important but first they have to open the email.   Knowing your customers and understanding buying habits to formulate personalized messages, and relevant content is part of what leads to effectively high open rates.   Here are a few ways to help improve open rates:

1)       List Hygiene – scrubbing your list and eliminating inactive email accounts not only helps your emails get into the inbox but also helps with email performance.  The more people that get your email the more people should open and the more opportunity for conversion.

2)       Refine Your Email Sign Up Process – Make sure the email sign up process has as little friction as possible.  Make the sign up process simple also consider having them add you to their email list.  Couple this with effective segmentation strategies is a great way to improve open rates.

3)       Subject Lines – When email is sent to a relevant audience the right subject line can make (x) %age points difference in the messages performance.  Personalizing (when most appropriate), incorporating relevant key terms to the recipient and a sense of urgency can make all the difference.

4)       Frequency – Send too many emails and you may hurt your opens.  Understanding the sort of email communications that will be sent out (various triggered messages such as welcome and thank you, confirmations etc.) and how often to send promotional emails is important to not cause the customers that approve of your brand to tune your messages out.

5)       Email Doesn’t Always Have to Sell Something- Consider a loyalty program.  Indirectly, it can prove to be a strong factor for higher open rates/ conversions.  Customers like to feel appreciated.

Obviously, benchmarking your email campaign deployments against the industries is an important way to gauge how well you’re stacking up against your competitors.

Article From: blog.edatasource.com