As an email marketing professional with all this great advice, I must get my subscribers to read every single one of my emails, right? After all, they are perfectly constructed with pertinent advice – it must be nearly impossible to resist them!
But no. People don’t read all your emails – and you shouldn’t expect them to. In fact, a good open rate is between 17% and 28% – about a quarter. That means for every 1,000 emails I send, at least 720 people won’t even open them.
Depressing? Not at all – while perfect open and read rates are unrealistic, email marketing isn’t all about that; success comes from building relationships and staying top-of-mind. Even the partial engagement with your emails provides value, and consistent communication builds trust and familiarity.
Why 'All' Isn't the Goal
Perfection can never be the goal – it’s unachievable. That remains true in email marketing.
Open rates are pretty low, but look at what else you get from that email, even without it being double-clicked on: awareness.
It’s not just about getting them to open it and read the amazing content you have painstakingly crafted over many hours, with all that expertise and love (hmm… maybe I am a little bitter) – it’s about the fact that even just your name in their inbox is a reminder.
People skim subjects, they read the preview text, and they can infer the content even without opening the email. They’re missing out, it’s true, but they’re keeping you in the forefront of their mind, and that’s worth its virtual weight in gold.
How to Maximise Your Email’s Impact When It’s Not Read
1 - The Subject Line
This isn’t a throwaway, it’s a key part of the email that really will be read. They can’t help it! So make it a good one:
- Understand your audience – Write a subject line that they find interesting and enticing.
- Keep it short and sweet – Depending on the email client, they won’t see long subject lines so those first 20 to 30 characters are where all the power lies.
- Personalise – I’m going to open more emails that look like they’re actually for me, but don’t get caught thinking personalisation is just about using their name; there are other things, such as location, recent history, subjects of interest and more that will make the email personalised.
- Be honest – No misleading! If you say, ‘You have won…!’ then they better have won something. Nothing throws an email campaign in the bin faster than being a liar.
- Avoid spammy words and swearing – Don’t get dumped by filters before you even get there!
- Write it last – Do what? It’s a good tactic though; only write your subject line once you know what the email’s about so the content drives the subject, not the other way around.
2 - Preview Text
Take everything I just said about the subject line and double it up here! Preview text is usually around the first 60-100 characters of the email so use it well.
If your preview text isn’t properly set, then most email clients will just use the start of your email body – but you are using preview text to your advantage, aren’t you?
If not, head to this blog to learn more about it!
There’s not enough space here to explain how to use preview text. If there isn’t already a blog on it to link to here, I suggest writing one!
3 - Timing
The time your email is received has a significant impact on whether it’s opened and read, and the effect it has if it is read. Emails that people receive when they are super busy with work are quickly ignored and may never be seen again, whereas those that are timed to strike at the most opportune time can be many times more effective.
And if your email isn’t being read, then it needs to stand out by its timing. Consider your target audience and determine what timing is best for you (and don’t forget to do some data analysis and research to get this perfect).
4 - Consistency
You don’t want to overdo it because spamming is not good consistency, but be regular. You might just be that little ignored reminder in their inbox, but if you appear there at the same time every week, then soon you become a little comfort for them, and you increase the chance you’ll be thought about when your service or product becomes relevant.
…And If Your Email is Opened…
Don’t forget to make the body of your email fantastic!
Your content needs to be worth the time they are giving you:
- Keep it relevant
- Use stories to sell
- Utilise social proof to show your reliability and authority
- Have clear and user-friendly CTAs that are easy to follow
Building Trust and Relationships Through Email
When you have built trust with your audience then they’re far more likely to invest the time actually reading your emails. If done right, it’s a snowball effect where you go from being a slight buzzing in the ear, to a looked-forward to moment in their day, providing them with a short break and something to read that they enjoy, or a known bonus offer that might be just the thing they were looking for.
How do you build trust? Consider the following:
- Authenticity - Write your emails so they sound like YOU, and like you are a real person, not a robot. AI is great for so many things, but it’s not you and anything that’s written by a machine still pretty much sounds like it’s written by a machine. It lacks soul; you don’t!
- Provide value - You have a service or a product, so utilise that. Centre on what you can offer people and then expand, offering helpful tips, advice, or links to things you know your audience will appreciate.
- Tell stories - Ah, the power of an engaging narrative! Stories have been selling to people since the bards sat around campfires and traded their tales for food and somewhere to lay their head. Never underestimate the power of a good story - and yours are just as good as any!
- Encourage interaction - Give them something to do to keep engaged with you. Invite feedback, ask questions, and create opportunities to open conversation.
- Be transparent - People aren’t dumb; they know you’re not just emailing for a chat. There’s no need to be secretive or cagey, so clearly communicate your intentions and respect your subscribers privacy by providing a clear link to unsubscribe and disconnect from you if they so wish. Honestly, it’s no loss as if they do want to unsubscribe, they’re not engaging with your product or service any more anyway.
Measuring Email Marketing Success
Open rate (yes, that 17 to 28%…) is just one metric – and it’s not even the one that matters the most. Use all of your email stats to build a comprehensive picture of your email penetration and success:
- Engagement
- Click-through rates
- Forwarding and social sharing
- Replies and feedback
- Conversions
- Website visits
- Sales
- Sign-ups
- ...and definitely unsubscribes - seeing people leave helps you determine what you’re doing wrong, which is the best learning tool there is. A flurry of unsubscribes shows that your emails are missing the mark.
The Nathan Littleton Take on Open Rates
Perfect open and read rates are unrealistic, so don’t expect to get 100%. Of course, we all want those bigger numbers and doing all the stuff advised here will help that happen, but don’t feel your unopened emails are doing nothing; they’re pulling their weight, too!
If you want to learn more about how to create consistent and valuable email communication that builds your brand awareness and customer trust, then read more of my extensive advice – or do the direct thing and contact me!
I’m Nathan Littleton and I’d love to speak to you about your email marketing needs!
