To be successful in online marketing, mastering emails is essential. If your emails aren’t being opened frequently, you’re facing an issue.
You might have experienced this: You’ve put a lot of effort into creating an email. You’ve collected customer email addresses, updated your contact list, adjusted your email template, chosen the right images, and sent test messages. At last, you’re ready to send out your big email.
A few days later, you check the results. The number of people who opened your carefully crafted email is lower than you hoped.
The 2023 Email Marketing Benchmarks Report by Twilio SendGrid found that the average unique open rate across all industries was 19.09%, with a slightly lower median of 15.75%. This figure might seem discouraging, especially if your business heavily relies on email marketing. Therefore, it’s important to understand why your emails aren’t being opened.
As a marketer or business owner, your goal is to achieve a high open rate from your email marketing campaign. Without people opening your emails, they can’t take action based on your content.
That’s why it’s so important to figure out why not many emails are being opened. Let’s get straight to it and discuss some of these reasons.
5 Reasons for Low Open Rates
Poor Email Subject Lines
Time of Delivery
Boring and Irrelevant Content
Sending too Many Emails
Poor and Unsegmented Email List
Poor Email Subject Lines
A compelling, intriguing, and emotionally evocative subject line can significantly increase your email open rates. However, a dull or overly formal subject line can discourage readers. It’s essential to keep your subject lines light, friendly, and conversational, and to consider your audience’s interests when crafting them. Regular testing of different subject lines will help you understand what grabs attention and resonates with your readers. This ultimate guide for crafting good email subject lines will help you.
Time of Delivery
The timing of your email dispatch can significantly impact its open rates. Emails sent over the weekend may not be opened immediately, as people tend to be less engaged with their inboxes. The optimal time to send an email is on Tuesday morning. After spending Monday catching up from the weekend and organising their week, people are more likely to open and respond to emails on Tuesday. Conversely, emails sent outside of business hours may experience lower open rates.
Here’s an important statistic to consider: 21% of email opens happen between 9 am and noon. This suggests that sending your emails in the late morning could increase your open rates. Remember, these statistics can vary based on your audience and their habits, so it’s always a good idea to test different dispatch times to see what works best for your specific situation.
Boring and Irrelevant Content
People subscribe to emails expecting valuable and interesting content. If your emails are filled with ads or irrelevant information, they won’t be opened. Instead, focus on providing content that solves problems and is relevant to your subscribers. Sending targeted emails to specific segments of your list can improve open rates and reduce opt-outs. Remember, valuable content doesn’t always mean sales-oriented. Even non-sales emails can add value and keep your subscribers engaged. If your emails don’t add value, they’ll be ignored, just like unwanted clutter in an inbox.
Sending Too Many Emails
Sending too many emails can lead to a lower open rate. When people sign up for a mailing list, they don’t expect to be overwhelmed with emails. If they are, they might unsubscribe. It’s important to respect your subscribers’ inboxes and not assume they want daily emails. If you plan to send frequent emails, let them know when they sign up and ask for their consent.
Setting clear expectations can prevent subscribers from opting out. In fact, most people unsubscribe because the sender didn’t meet their expectations. To determine the optimal email frequency, consider segmenting your list and testing different frequencies. You could also directly ask your subscribers how often they’d like to hear from you. This could be done with an online survey or a question during the sign-up process. Remember, communication is key in maintaining a healthy subscriber list.
Poor and Unsegmented Email List
Low email open rates can also be due to a poor quality or outdated email list. If your list is purchased or old, the recipients may not be familiar with your brand or may no longer use the email addresses, leading to lower open rates. It’s best to build your own email list and regularly update it with fresh and engaging content to attract active subscribers. Don’t hesitate to remove an email address if it never opens your emails.
Another factor affecting open rates is whether your list is segmented. A segmented list, where emails are grouped based on certain criteria like engagement level, typically has a higher open rate than a non-segmented one. Consider creating a VIP list of those who frequently open your emails. Sending emails to this list can result in higher open rates as these are people who are interested in what you’re sending.
Final Thought
If you want your emails to be opened more often, focus on your customers. Show them how your business can solve their problems. By following these tips and best practices for email, you can increase your open rates and have a more successful campaign. How are your open rates and email marketing doing? If you need help with email marketing, lead magnets, or creating a sales funnel, reach out to Starchelle Communications.
We are not just a service provider, but a dedicated partner committed to helping your business grow. We understand that the success of your business is our success, and we are deeply invested in achieving that shared goal. Contact us today!
