If you use email for nurturing your leads, then you probably also want to increase email open rates.
I mean… If you spend all of this effort building a free offer funnel for nurturing leads, all your effort is wasted when people *don’t* open your emails.
So, how do you get more people to open your emails?
#1 Keep Your Subject Lines Short
Do me a favor. Go take a look at your email inbox. Then, look for emails that are from friends and family only.
Notice something about the subject lines?
They’re short.
A lot of marketers make the mistake of having long, detailed subject lines. The problem is that 1) long subject lines make it feel like a marketing email, 2) many inboxes cut off the subject after a certain character limit, so most people might miss your long, clever subject line!
So, use short subject lines and create intrigue, as well as seem more like a friend.
#2 Make Subject Lines Specific
Another problem I see people make involves trying to seem clever, but not providing a reason for people to open the email. What I found really works for both of my businesses is really specific or intriguing subject lines.
“3 Pinterest tips”
“Cart closing in 2 hours”
“Stop making this mistake”
“Email templates”
These short subject lines are not only really specific, but they create intrigue.
#3 Use A Custom Email Address
Using an @gmail, @hotmail, @yahoo or any other email that is not your OWN will impact your open rates in a negative way. Consider using Gmail for business for just $5 per month to own your own email, and connect it to your domain.
So, instead of being “alisonreevesco@gmail.com” I bought my email through Gmail for Business and not utilize “hello@alisonreeves.co”. (I’m not actually using that email address by the way!)
#4 Authenticate Your Domain
Now on to authentication: This sounds very technical, but most email services providers have simple instructions to follow.
Domain authentication shows email providers that your email marketing tool has your permission to send emails on your behalf.
Even though this is a small change from your recipient’s perspective, this change has a huge positive impact on your reputation as a sender and your email deliverability. Email service providers distrust messages that don’t have domain authentication set up because they can not be sure that the message comes from you.
Explicitly stating that it comes from you increases your reputation with email service providers which makes it much less likely that they will filter your mail and not allow it get to your recipient’s inbox, which increases your deliverability. You are also explicitly showing your recipients that this email comes from you, so they are less likely to mark your mail as spam. (Source)
To authenticate your domain, simple login to your email marketing tool, and search “authenticate domain” in the help articles. They’ll almost always have a short set of easy-to-follow instructions.
#5 Add Value
Make sure every email you send is valuable whether or not someone buys your product.
This is really important. Obviously, you’re going to use your emails to sell things that will solve problems for your idea clients.
But not everyone is going to buy everything you make. So, make sure your emails are interesting to read and valuable, even if people don’t buy something. That way, they’re more likely to read your emails.
Pro-tip: avoid “make money” terminology or the words “click here” because that verbiage usually gets flagged as spam.
Summary
To increase your email open rates, make sure…
- You keep your email subject lines short
- You make your subject lines specific and intriguing
- You use a custom email address
- You authenticate your domain
- You provide value
How are your email open rates?
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