Email Marketing Growth Hacking

11 Simple Strategies to Increase Your Email Open Rate

78%+ of your audience don’t open marketing emails. Find out how you can increase your email open rate.

A hand holding a phone with the gmail app open.

Increase your email open rate with these 11 strategies.
Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash

In 1978, Gary Thuerk of Digital Equipment Corp. sent out an email blast that’d change the landscape of marketing.

His email, which was sent to 400 people, generated $13 million in sales!

Since then, email marketing has remained one of those sneaky tools that have stayed relevant for years.

And it’s showing no signs of slowing down.

This year, email marketing is projected to generate over $9 billion in revenue. By 2027, that figure is estimated to almost double!

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Despite being almost 50 years old, Email Marketing has maintained and increased its relevance.

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You can take a piece of that pie too.

Obviously, there are many important steps you need to address before you get to earning money. However, there’s one question that’d keep bugging you from the very beginning.

How do you increase your email open rate?

11 Simple Strategies to Increase Your Email Open Rate

1. Email’s subject line can’t be generic

Your subject line matters way more than your content — spend long enough to create a subject that deserves a click.

Author's inbox that shows email subjects. Increase your email open rate
Screenshot from Author’s Email Inbox

In the 3 examples above, the first one is quite generic.

The second and third one are specific and speaks to the target audience. The second one even has a time-specific promotion along with a tangible benefit.

2. Subject line should contain emotions

A lot of creators use shock or humor in their subject lines.

Others use emojis as well.

Remember, you are speaking to a person with emotions when you’re writing an email. Make sure your subject line reflects that too!

3. Personalize — wherever you can to increase your email open rate

Personalization is one of the key elements of Email Marketing. If possible, keep your receiver’s name in the subject.

Mention your audience’s name in the email. If applicable, use their past purchases, consumption, or geographical information to further customize the content & subject line of your email.

4. Write just for one person

When you’re writing an email, keep one person’s image in your mind. Just imagine that you’re writing a letter directly to that person.

The better you know that person or your buyer, the more natural your email will become.

5. Align the expectations of your audience

When you sign up for an email from James Clear, he mentions that he’s going to send only one email per week in a very specific and short format.

The audience clearly knows what they are signing up for.

While it’s not possible to be as specific in all cases, make sure you’re consistent in your approach and content style.

Your subject line may entice them to open your email a few times. However, if the content is not good, your readers will learn to ignore you.

6. Find the right time for sending emails to increase your email open rate

Your audience is likely to behave differently during different parts of their day.

For some, mornings might be the right time to send emails. For many others, getting mail in the morning can be a nuisance.

Check out online what the best time is for sending your emails. Additionally, experiment with different timings to find the right time.

7. Keep refreshing your email list

There’s no point in keeping subscribers if they don’t open your emails.

In fact, these can harm you by signaling the ISP that your email quality is not good enough.

Refresh your email list every six months to remove inactive subscribers.

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8. Segment your subscriber list to increase your email open rate.

I write for both marketing and personal growth. Even within marketing, I often write on specific areas like email marketing or general strategies like psychological pricing.

The same reader might not be interested in both. For that reason, it’s better to segment lists based on what they showed interest in.

That’d keep your open rate high and your audience engaged.

9. Be wary of spam filters

Spam filters are put in action to protect users from spam and harmful emails.

You have to be careful about your emails so that your brand doesn’t get classified as spam.

Be careful of trigger words (like earn extra cash), and email laws, and forget about attachments. You can also ask your subscribers to add your email to their approved contact list.

10. Optimize for mobile devices to drastically increase your email open rate

Nearly 1.7 billion people check their emails on mobile. That’s almost double the number for desktops.

Make sure your emails are optimized for mobile screens. The images should load fast, the text should be legible and the buttons should be easy to find & click.

11. Get the preview text right

Your audience can see the preview text just below the subject line. If your audience is on the fence about opening your email, they will read this part.

The preview text needs to give a sneak peek to entice your audience to read the content.

To Summarize- Increase Your Email Open Rate

Increase your email open rate by 5% and see that significantly change the outcome for you.

Use the techniques mentioned in this article to get started.

And never stop learning!

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