You’ve jumped through all the hoops to get that email to the inbox. Now what? Now you’re depending on the recipient to open it. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Just because your email got delivered doesn’t mean it’s going to get open, let alone acted upon. To help your email “deliver” once delivered, follow these two best practices: a carefully crafted subject line, and an appropriate From address.
The best performing subject lines are usually seven words or less. A subject line that length results in an approximately 42% higher open rate, so spend time on your subject line. Of course, the best way to determine your most effective subject line is to do an A/B split test.
When deciding what name or email address shows in the From field, remember that more email recipients check who the mail is from vs. the subject line in determining whether to open an email. Best practices for your best From address are:
• Use and/or change labels as appropriate
• Keep a static ‘from’ address
• Don’t use someone’s name unless that name is known to the recipient. For example, if you say just Michael Kelly, they won’t know who that is and will be less likely to open the email. However, if including the company name increases the recognition factor, do it that way: Michael Kelly – ClickMail Marketing
Another best practice involves asking people to add your From address to their safe sender’s list or address book. That’s because what used to get delivered might not anymore due to ISPs changing their filters and algorithms. If you are on the recipients ‘safe sender’ list or in their address book, your messages will continue to route to their inbox, your images will render and your links will be live.
(The above information is drawn from a soon to be published ClickMail Marketing whitepaper on driving ROI once your email is delivered. Look for more about the whitepaper in this blog soon.)
