Although there are many resources that we can use to publicize our products, promotions and the way we work, the truth is that very few reach the levels of success that email marketing offers. This provides us with a wide range of metrics that will give us a deeper and more sincere vision of its effectiveness.
Among them, one becomes the most important of all; it is known as the open rate. If you have ever conducted a mass mailing campaign you will surely know what we are referring to. If not, we invite you to find out in the following text, where we will tell you all the factors that influence and how you can improve them. Thus, the results will be much better and you will be able to achieve your goals much more easily.
Table of contents
What is the open rate in email marketing?
When we send an email, we think that the content we prepare will be liked by people, that they will enjoy it and interact with it, although in many cases the result is quite the opposite. For that reason, to know the impact of our campaigns we count on the open rate.
In this sense, we talk about the proportion of emails, of all those we send, that are opened by the recipients. In this way, we will have reliable data about our campaigns and the performance they have had in their implementation.
This type of metrics are very important because otherwise we would not know the results and we would be working blind. In addition, we must understand that not all the campaigns we run will be successful, in fact most of them will not, and it is important that we know this so that we do not get discouraged prematurely.
How to calculate the email open rate
Calculating the open rate is relatively simple. In this sense, only emails that have reached the user’s inbox should be taken into account. Therefore, all those that for one reason or another are not delivered are excluded. Then, all you have to do is divide the number of emails sent by the number of emails opened.
A very simple to understand example: if you send a total of 1000 emails and 150 of these are opened, then you will have an open rate of 15%. You must understand that the open rate is totally related to the subject of the emails. So, if you have some results, you will know that the subject of the message is attractive to the public and you will have a north to follow.
One piece of advice we can give you is to test different subject lines until you find out which one generates the best results for your business. As you can see, calculating your open rate is very simple, although it is not so easy to get good results. The key here is hard work and dedication, with those two factors and a little patience, you will get the results you have always wanted.
Average open rate
It is difficult to determine an average open rate, especially because this will always depend on multiple factors such as the size of your contact list, the sector where you work or the industries where you work, as well as the frequency of sending.
Therefore, you will have to take all these elements into account before giving a verdict. Generally, between 15% and 25% open rate is considered to be about right for your campaign. However, as we already pointed out, there are some sectors in which open rates are much higher, easily exceeding 20%.
In contrast, there are sectors such as consulting, education, health, insurance or catering that can have an open rate much lower than 20%. However, nothing is set in stone. It will depend on you and the strategy you use to attract your customers, the results generated by your emails.
How to improve the open rate
It is quite normal that many of the emails you send are not opened. This is something quite usual in all campaigns, so you should not worry because you can reverse this trend by taking into account some practical tips to improve your open rate.
Double opt-in
One of the things you need to keep in mind is to make sure which people on your subscriber list have voluntarily opted-in. This is in order to stop sending information that may not be of interest to them. Another case is that many people subscribe without knowing very well what they are doing, for example, by accidentally checking a box.
Therefore, it is crucial to make sure that our subscribers really want to receive all the content we have for them. To do this, there is a system called double opt-in, which means that, once the person has subscribed, we send an email with a link. The person will have to click on it and once they have done so, the subscription will be activated.
Update your database
It is very possible that some people who subscribe to your page change their email address. Therefore, when you launch your campaign you may encounter some (or many) bounces. In this sense, a very practical recommendation is that at the end of the campaign, you should review the emails that bounced and delete them from your databases. This way, you will achieve a much higher open rate.
Segment your campaign
A very common mistake when we are just starting out is to believe that more is better. The truth is that when it comes to email marketing, quality is more important than quantity. By this we mean that, if you have a large number of databases, it is advisable not to send your campaign to all of them, because a large number of these people will not be interested in your product and it can be counterproductive.
The best thing to do in these cases is to segment your subscribers to offer them valuable content. I’m sure you’re wondering right now, and how do you segment? Well, it all depends on your strategy, but the most common is to do it by gender, geographic location, position in the company where he/she works, commercial interest, type of download and type of pages visited.
Appropriate day and time
Choosing the right day and time to send your campaign will be essential to obtain good results. Generally people choose Monday, although this is usually a bad day to do it, especially because when coming back from a weekend, finding the inbox overflowing is not usually motivating.
In addition, this is a day that is usually dedicated to plan the week, put everything in order and delete those emails that fill the inbox. If you are thinking of going to the extreme and sending your emails on a Friday, we tell you that the same problems occur. So, what is the right day?
Believe it or not, this will depend a lot on the audience profile you have and the type of work they have. One thing you can do is to put yourself in your audience’s shoes and imagine the best day to receive emails with the information you have come up with. In addition, you can do an A/B test and send it at different times to identify the best opening rate.
First impressions
It has always been said that first impressions count a lot when it comes to generating good retention, and this is still as true as it was in the past. When you decide to send an email campaign, the first thing the other person will see is the name, subject line and the preview of the body of the content.
Each of these aspects will affect the final outcome of your campaign, so it is important that you work on ways to get your customers interested in opening your emails. For example, you can personalize the sender. The more personalization there is, the higher the retention rate. Ideally, you should configure your email with the person’s full name, this will bring your content closer to the person who receives it and we will have more chances of getting an opening.
The subject line is also very important in this regard. Thanks to it we will have a chance to convince customers before opening it. When launching a campaign, it is advisable to perform an A/B test with which you will test different subject lines. This way you will be able to know which one works best with your database.
Conclusion
Although we could give you much more information about it, the important thing is that you try for yourself each of the tips we have shown you. Each and every one of them is designed to help you get the best results from your campaigns. A high open rate will mean more opportunities to achieve your goals and move your business forward. For that reason, do your research and apply with discipline. In a short time you will see the results of your efforts.
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