When Open Rates Fall

Writing by Brick Marketing on Tuesday, 3 of June , 2008 at 12:54 am Leave a comment

It can be very discouraging to see your open rates falling. It happens to the best of us, however, and it is something that every internet marketer can expect to see at some point. There are a few reasons why people might stop opening your emails, but most of them have a remedy.

Overload. People often end up with too many emails in their inbox and they just don´t open them all. Making sure that you specify what you´ll be sending and making sure you keep up with expectations will help you keep this type of subscriber reading.

Previews. Some statistics don´t count people who read the email in their preview panes, so check that before you get too discouraged. Often, someone who is in a hurry will just scan an email quickly before moving on.

Holidays. Don´t forget to factor holidays into your calculations. People on vacation often neglect to open their non-vital emails and this could be your newsletter. Rest assured that once your subscribers are back to their regular routine, they´ll be reading again. Keeping the emails exciting is also helpful.

These are certainly not all the reasons that your open rates will drop, but they do tend to be the most common. By keeping your content interesting and relevant, you´ll be able to raise your open rates once more.

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Category: Open and Click Rates

Enhance Click Rates Quickly and Easily

Writing by Brick Marketing on Tuesday, 20 of May , 2008 at 12:04 am Leave a comment

Once you have your subscribers reading your emails, you need them to take an action. That action is usually to click on a link in order to see something that you ant them to or to have them read a landing page that you have set up. Enhancing your click rates shouldn´t be a huge struggle and there are a few quick and easy techniques that will help you do this without problems.

  • Multiple links. If you want higher click rates, you will need to make sure it´s convenient to click on your links. That means putting several links into your email, including at the end.
  • Use your signature. Using a link or two in your sig line is a great way to remind people to click.
  • Cloak your URLs. People are far more likely to click on something that looks like a simple URL than one that goes on and on for three or four lines and is full of random numbers.

These are all excellent methods of boosting click rates quickly and easily. You can even start using them today and there is no extra cost involved. Boosting click rates should be a high priority for all email marketers.

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Category: Open and Click Rates

Why Open Rates Are Falling

Writing by Brick Marketing on Monday, 5 of May , 2008 at 11:02 am Leave a comment

It´s a problem that many email marketers have noticed in recent times, falling open rates. And, with lower open rates, you usually end up with fewer clickthroughs, resulting in fewer sales. But why is this happening? And does it really mean a drop in readership?

There are a few reasons why open rates may be dropping:

Blocked images. The majority of email clients these days don´t allow images to appear and often unless the images render, these emails don´t count toward your open rate.

Preview panes. Another newish addition to many email clients is the preview pane, where the reader can scan the email without actually opening it. Again, this can look bad in the stats, but doesn´t necessarily mean that no one is reading your emails.

Increased spam. With more and more spam, spam filters are having to get smarter about filtering. Unfortunately, that means that some of your non-spam emails will end up in the junk mail folder. This can be prevented by getting subscribers to add your email to their whitelist.

There are plenty of reasons that you could be seeing your open rates dropping, but these are the three most common ones. The first two you can´t do a lot about, but getting subscribers to whitelist you will definitely help with the last one. Remember that open clicks aren´t the only statistic that matters. Take a look at your sales and clickthroughs before getting too worried.

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Category: Open and Click Rates

Boost Open Rates with This Simple Technique

Writing by Brick Marketing on Monday, 21 of April , 2008 at 11:25 am Leave a comment

Every email marketer longs for higher open rates. It´s part of the business and striving to ensure that you are appealing to your market is one of the most popular methods of boosting open rates.

A big part of the problem here is trying to narrow down your target market. Let´s say you are trying to teach people to make more money. That is a topic that appeals to many people, so it can be tough to aim for any particular market.

To make this easier and to skyrocket your open rates, you can do something quite simple. Split your list up into multiple lists.

It´s very simple. You can divide your list up into narrower target markets. If you have a subject line reading, “Earn from home and spend more time with your kids”, that will appeal to work at home moms a lot more than a generic subject line!

See if it is possible to split your list into several areas. You may need to do a survey to divide people up, but in the end it will be worth it. Nothing needs to change within the email, but having the option to change up your subject lines can drastically increase your open rates.

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Category: Open and Click Rates

Increase Open and Click Rates by Choosing the Right Words

Writing by Brick Marketing on Saturday, 12 of April , 2008 at 1:19 am Leave a comment

Often, the words you choose affect your open and click rates drastically. People read a lot into a short subject line and it can make or break your email marketing. There´s a reason copywriting is such a highly paid profession . . . words matter.

Without the right words, no one will open your emails, so you need to make sure that the subject line is compelling, but that is only half the battle.

Once people have opened your email, you want them to perform the action you require, so in order to boost both open and click rates, you need some pretty good anchor text as well. This, combined with the lead up, needs to be well-written in order to convince people to click.

One good way to find the right words to use is to simply look at other people´s emails and see which ones make you want to click. They have obviously found a great technique to boost open and click rates, so why not use the same idea?

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Category: Open and Click Rates

Open and Click Rates: Is It Possible to Boost Them?

Writing by Brick Marketing on Saturday, 5 of April , 2008 at 11:46 am Leave a comment

Your open and click rates could always look better, right? Unless you are getting 100% open rates, your emails can be improved to boost those numbers and earn you more sales, something that every email marketer needs. The question is simply in how to go about doing this.

While there are literally hundreds of little tweaks you can make to your email newsletters to increase your open and click rates, it all boils down to three main areas of improvement.

Subject Line:
Without an eye catching subject line, your subscribers won´t even give your emails a once over. Dull, uninteresting or spammy subject lines are the main reason open and click rates decrease, so by providing the opposite, you can boost them.

Content: Your content needs to be great. People will quickly realize that your email newsletter is one they need to read for it´s useful and interesting content and you´ll find that your open and click rates increase as your content value does.

Trust: If your readers trust you, you´ll be at the top of their list of emails to read. Not to mention, besides just getting them to open the email, trust in what you have to say will keep them interested in your links as well. Your open and click rates will go sky high as your subscribers learn to trust you.

With great subject lines, useful content and a strong sense of trust between you and your readers, you can expect your open and click rates to go up. It´s a natural response to these important improvements.

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Category: Open and Click Rates

Are Your Open and Click Rates Accurate?

Writing by Brick Marketing on Monday, 10 of March , 2008 at 8:10 pm Leave a comment

It seems like a fairly simple thing to look at your open and click rates and see how your email marketing is going, but unfortunately it´s not. There are a lot of factors that affect your open and click rate and they could be causing you to be getting inaccurate numbers.

Invalid emails. It happens in every list, someone wants the free ebook but not the newsletter, so they toss out a useless email or one that they later cancel. These emails will just cause bounced newsletters and make your open and click rates go down.

Inactive subscribers. These are the people who may have been interested in your email newsletter, but later got overwhelmed or lost interest and quit opening your emails. They don´t respond to special offers or ever have anything to do with your email.

Spam filters. Some inactive subscribers may not even see your newsletter if their spam filter is catching it. The best way to avoid this is to get people to add you to their safe list when they subscribe.

All of these factors can really throw things off when you are looking at your open and click rates. It´s a good idea to start eliminating all hard bounced emails, if you aren´t already, and separate your email lists. All unresponsive subscribers should be on a separate list that you either email less often or try sending out a survey or special offer in an attempt to bring them back. This should greatly improve your open and click rates.

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Category: Open and Click Rates

Opt-In Techniques That Get Other People Working For You

Writing by Brick Marketing on Tuesday, 12 of February , 2008 at 9:01 pm Leave a comment

Opt-in techniques are important in the world of email marketing and some of the best ones are where you don´t even have to do the grunt work. I´m talking about letting other people do the work for you, promote you and bring new people to your list.

    • Tell a friend scripts are very handy for getting other people to subscribe to your list. Put the tell a friend script on your webpage or even in your email content. Not everyone will take you up on it, but you can definitely pick up some new subscribers this way.
    • Rewards for emails. If you have ever signed up for free stuff at a giveaway site, you´ve probably come across this one. Basically, you offer something as a sign up gift and then add a bonus . . . if the subscriber gives you the emails of three friends. You can even do this in a staggered manner, 3 friends gets you one bonus, 5 gets you two, etc.
    • Affiliate programs. This will cost a bit, but considering the amount you can earn from a great email list, it is worth it. Set up an affiliate program and pay people anywhere from 25 cents to a dollar for each name they refer to your list. This opt-in technique is commonly used by the big dogs and can be very effective.
  • Opt-in techniques that have other people doing all the work are often very effective. They allow you to just sit back and do nothing . . . or focus on really providing great content in your email marketing campaigns.

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    Category: Open and Click Rates

    Open and Click Rates: Three Ways to Boost Them Through the Roof

    Writing by Brick Marketing on Saturday, 5 of January , 2008 at 6:54 am Leave a comment

    Most email marketers are noticing a drop in open and click rates these days. There are several reasons for this, but the main one is that there is simply too much email flying around the internet. People are getting overwhelmed by emails and unless yours really stands out from the start, you will likely find that your email newsletters are simply being deleted. Here are a few tips on improving your open and click rates.

    1. Test subject lines. Make sure you don´t get stuck in a rut, writing just one style of subject line. It´s far more effective to test a variety and then rotate between two or three styles that work for your email audience. Using proven subject lines can really help your open and click rates.

    2. Put your call to action in the preview window. This is one of the first things people will see and it helps decide whether or not they will open your email newsletter. Boost open and click rates by telling them right away what you want them to do and many will be curious enough to open the email and find out why.

    3. Use compelling text. Write lively email content rather than dull, dry articles. This is key to getting people to respond. Using lots of action verbs instead of passive ones will help. You can literally better your open and click rates by writing more interesting content.

    Open and click rates may be dropping across the board, but you can work to bring your numbers back up to what was once considered normal. Provide quality content, avoid spam and make sure people have a very good reason to open your emails.

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    Category: Open and Click Rates

    Improve Open and Click Rates with 3 Simple Techniques

    Writing by Brick Marketing on Saturday, 1 of December , 2007 at 10:30 am Leave a comment

    Every email marketer wants better open and click rates. After all, that´s what makes your business tick, right? Here are 3 very simple techniques that will help you boost your open and click rates easily.

    1. Deliverability. If your emails aren´t getting through, your open and click rates won´t go up. Make sure that your emails are CAN-SPAM compliant and that your email service is a reputable one. Ask new subscribers to add you to their email list to guarantee delivery of your emails.

    2. Your “from” line. Does your email pop out when readers are scanning their inbox? If your “from” line reads something like Get Fit Now! you have far less chance of improving open and click rates than one that is more personal like “Gene Garrison” or more descriptive without being spammy like “Fitness Techniques”.

    3. Timing. What is the best day for emails in your target group. If you cater to a Christian crowd, Sunday probably isn´t your best opportunity to get those open and click rates up there! You might need to test different days, but finding the right one is worth it, you could really boost your active readership.

    Three very easy techniques that you could start applying today. They work and you might be surprised at the improvement in your open and click rates.

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    Category: Open and Click Rates

    First Time Open and Click Rates Improved

    Writing by Brick Marketing on Monday, 19 of November , 2007 at 8:18 pm Leave a comment

    That first email that you send new subscribers is really what will determine your future open and click rates. If they don´t open the first email, chances are slim you will ever manage to get them to read your email newsletter.

    Open and click rates are fickle, but you can greatly improve your odds by making sure that any subscriber is drawn to open your first email, paving the way to further reading. How do you do this? With a great subject line and a warm welcome that includes a special something.

    Even if you gave your subscriber something for taking the trouble to give you their email address, an extra freebie in the first email is bound to catch their attention. You can mention it in the subject line, too, and make sure that your open and click rates go up. Something as simple as “Thanks for joining us, here´s a little something for you” will trigger the reader´s curiosity.

    Try it. People love to get a surprise bonus and if you make it worth their while . . . you can bet they´ll be reading your next email, greatly improving your open and click rates in general.

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    Category: Open and Click Rates

    Get Better Clickthrough Rates with Link Placement

    Writing by Brick Marketing on Tuesday, 30 of October , 2007 at 11:14 am Leave a comment

    Part of getting a high clickthrough rate involves strategic placement of your links within the email. There is no magic formula for link placement, unfortunately. It’s all about experimenting, what works for a health email might be completely useless for a newsletter on blogging.

    If you start the newsletter off with a link, most people won’t click on it because they don’t yet know what you’re talking about, so try to place your links below the first paragraph, at least.

    To make your experiments effective, you’ll need to keep track of the data. Tracking how many clickthroughs you get one week as opposed to the next should give you a pretty good idea of which positions work best for your subscribers. A tracking code can be added to the end of each link so you can actually experiment with different placements in the same email.

    You’ll notice that many email marketers place more than one link in emails. Usually, there will be one in the article, placed contextually. These will often have fairly good clickthrough rates. Another link at the end of the article or email allows the reader to click when they finish reading, without having to scroll back up through the newsletter, looking for the link they missed.

    Try moving your links around to see where they perform best. The links with higher clickthrough rates should be left where they are and you’ll know for future editions where to add links for the best clickthrough rates.

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    Category: Open and Click Rates

    Build a Relationship for Higher Clickthrough Rates

    Writing by Brick Marketing on Thursday, 25 of October , 2007 at 8:22 am Leave a comment

    Which email would you rather open? One from an old friend who always has a useful tidbit for you, or one that is from a complete stranger with a subject line promising instant wealth? Successful email marketers get high clickthrough rates because they are considered to be old friends by most of their subscribers.

    The first step to boosting clicks is to get more people to open your email. That can be done by becoming the old friend we mentioned above. Here are a few guidelines you should use if you want to build a lasting relationship with your subscribers.

    Include a little (but not too much) personal information, it will help your subscribers see that you’re a real person.

    Be consistent. Always send your newsletter on the same day of the week, keep columns in the same place, let people know what to expect.

    Follow through on your promises, it builds trust and with trust come higher clickthrough rates.

    Ask for feedback. You don’t have to reply to each and every email, but you might try answering some of the most common questions in your newsletter.

    Give them unique content. Don’t send out the same exact offer and copied article, ever. Take a minute to write your own headline and review the offer yourself.

    By offering consistency, top quality information and making yourself a real person, you’ll find that not only do more of your readers open your emails, they will also recommend you to friends. Relationships are what set the gurus in this industry apart from the flash-in-the-pan marketers and you can easily increase clickthrough rates by doing the same thing.

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    Category: Open and Click Rates

    Click Through Rates And How To Increase Them

    Writing by Brick Marketing on Monday, 22 of October , 2007 at 8:03 am Leave a comment

    According to Constant Contact, industry average for email newsletter open rates is 37%. The average click through rate on links within email newsletters is 8.9%. If you are beating these numbers, congratulations; you are above the average. But what if you fall below these rates? Can you increase your click through rates?

    Yes, you can. There are a number of ways you can increase your email newsletter click through rates. Among the ways include:

    • Writing better subject lines
    • Attention-getting article titles
    • Using graphic enhancements
    • A short summary of articles that appear in your email newsletter
    • Keep regular columns in the same location every time

    Take a look at your subject lines. Do they say “Read me?” If not, why not? A good subject line is the No. 1 factor in determining whether your email newsletters are opened or not. Your article titles are the No. 1 factor in determining whether your articles are read. Improving these two areas alone will increase your open and click through rates.

    Another thing you can do to increase click through rates on your articles is to add a graphic icon beside them. Graphics do not make people click, but graphics do enhance your content and that might encourage more readers to click the links.

    Article summaries are something else many new email newsletter publishers don’t think about. If you include an article summary with your article links then you will increase your chances for getting the click through.

    Finally, if you have regular columns that you run. Be sure to include to keep them in the same place in every issue of your newsletter. If readers have to search to find the information they want then they will stop reading - and they will stop clicking.

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    Category: Open and Click Rates

    Are Your Email Recipients Opening And Clicking?

    Writing by Brick Marketing on Sunday, 7 of October , 2007 at 5:41 pm Leave a comment

    Are you getting people to open your email messages? If not, there might be a problem with your subject line. The subject line is the most important aspect of your email because people will open the email you send based on the subject line alone.

    The same is true of each item within your email. People will generally only read those parts of the email that have a headline that screams “read me!” The headline is the first encounter that your email newsletter readers have with your email message. If you write a good headline then your recipients will read the email marketing item. If you don’t, then they won’t.

    What about click throughs? Are you getting people to click the links in your emails and visit your website? You’ve got to entice them. If you write good article summaries and use great anchor text then people will click. If you don’t, they won’t. But it all boils down to how you entice. Do you do it well? Is it effective? Maybe you should find out why.

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    Category: Open and Click Rates

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