Believe it or not, while advances in technology have granted marketers with invaluable capabilities in the past decade, many companies email marketing campaigns are still operating in the stone-age.

Not happy with your email click through rates? Then there’s a chance your company may be one of the many that are still Fred Flinstone-ing it to the finish line. Don’t feel bad, there are plenty of others out there spinning their wheels (er…feet) with their email marketing campaigns. In fact, according to a study by email specialists Mimecast, 61% of emails received at professional email accounts are considered non-essential to the recipients.

We think it’s time you separated yourself from this statistic. We’ve come up with five things that many companies are surely missing when it comes to their email marketing campaign, and by working to improve in these areas, you will drastically improve your email click through rates.

The 5 Essentials:

  • Segmented Lists
  • Compelling Copy
  • Mobile Friendly
  • Personalization
  • Offers and Resources

Below, we’ll walk you through how to ensure you’re using these five essentials so you can go out and start killing it with your email marketing.

Looking to send more powerful, lead generating emails? Contact IMPACT and we’ll help you get started!

The 5 Essentials for Improving your Email Click Through Rates

1. Segmented Lists

According to Experian, 80% of email marketers send the same content to all subscribers.

So say your email list contains 800 people, would you say that all 800 of these people are at the same level of the buying cycle? Do you think their needs are the same? Do you think that all 800 of them have the sames goals and objectives?

Of course not! So why the heck would you send them all the same content? This is a horrible practice if you’re trying to improve your email click through rates, as you’re effectively tuning out a great number of your subscribers who this content doesn’t even apply to. And even worse, this type of practice could result in people unsubscribing.

The solution? Segmentation! As certified partners of HubSpot, the staff here at IMPACT utilizes their email marketing software in order to segment through leads and subscribers, creating separate lists that contain subscribers according to specific criteria.

Want to send an offer only to leads who have downloaded top of the funnel offers, who are CEO’s of their company, and also have 50-100 employees? With email segmentation, anything is possible. By sending content only to those who need it, and catering to each individuals needs, you’ll most certainly see a boost in your email click through rates.

2. Compelling Copy

Seems obvious, right? In fact, I’m sure you’re ready to skip through this section, assuming that your email content is the cat’s pajamas, huh?

Well…it very well may be. But chances are if you’re reading this blog post, your email marketing just isn’t cutting the mustard. So why not take a refresher?

Compelling copy starts with your subject line. After all, this is the first (and maybe the last) thing your recipients will see, so if it’s boring, you can forget about them opening or click through it. Just forget it.

A good subject line is clear, brief, and describes exactly what the reader will get from reading the email. Convey value and action in your subject lines, these are effective. Also, be sure that the content in the body of the email reflects what you promised in the subject line. If you’re leaving your readers unfulfilled, you can be sure they won’t be clicking through to your website, or opening any further emails for that matter.

Keep your email clear and brief, yet entertaining. People don’t like dry and boring, so try and insert a little wit and humor where you can. It keeps people reading.

The overall theme of your email should be similar to that of a landing page; what’s the value? What benefit does the reader have for clicking through to your website. Provide this, and you’re in good shape.

3. Mobile Friendly

With mobile Internet usage slowly overtaking desktop usage, it’s become increasingly more important to ensure that your emails are optimized and mobile friendly so your recipients can read them.

According to a study by HubSpot, 80% of respondents reported that they are reading email on mobile devices. So chances are, many of your subscribers are doing the same. In today’s digital age, people like quick and easy, and if you’re emails are not mobile friendly, you can expect them to go right into the trash bin or ignored altogether.

4. Personalized

According to Aberdeen, personalized emails improve click-through rates by 14%, and conversion rates by 10%.

What does this mean? Well…it means your subscribers needs to feel like you’re talking directly to them…and only them. There’s something very cold about receiving an email you know was blasted to about 1,000 other people. It makes you feel like a number rather than an actual person.

Using email marketing software (we use HubSpot’s), you can edit your email templates to include HTML code that will automatically personalize each email using the recipients name where desired.

Subject line, first line of the email, these are great ways of making your recipients feel as if you’re talking directly to them. Having segmented lists also achieves this, as you’re   sending specific emails to a select group of people who will find it helpful, so naturally, the more targeted the mail, the more personal it is.

5. Offers and Resources

As obvious as this may sound, many emails don’t contain relevant offers or links in them to help direct readers and let them know what you’d like them to do. If you’re a car repair center sending emails about the importance of regular oil changes, you should be featuring a call-to-action that draws attention to a deal you’re having for oil changes.

Makes sense, doesn’t it? However, many companies are missing the boat on this, and as a result, a large volume of email click throughs.

Perfect your Email Marketing Template!

Interested in learning more about developing a powerful email marketing campaign? Give us a call at IMPACT and learn how we can help!