Thousands of emails from various companies, people, and brands are sitting in my mailbox as I type this blog. For most of these messages, they will remain unopened until I ‘spring clean’ my digital media and eradicate them from existence in my inbox. For many of those marketers, the thought of audience members deleting their emails is tragic.

Luckily for you, you can avoid becoming one of those disappointed marketers and instead create emails that your audience will want to read, not delete, by utilizing these top email marketing tips.  

Get Your Timing Right

Did you know that the time of day you send your email can affect the number of clicks and opens your emails revive? According to recent studies, the best day of the week to send an email is Tuesday, and the best time of the day to send that email is at 10 am. 

This is because emails get opened more on Tuesday than compared to any other day of the week.

However, it is crucial to note that this is a general study and may not apply to your specific audience. Due to this reason, you should always test out other key times that may better suit your audience. 

To do this, test out how many clicks your email campaigns get by running them on different days and times of the week. For example, studies found Tuesday at 8 pm, Wednesday at 2 pm, Wednesday at 8 pm, Thursday at 10 am, or Thursday at 8 pm to be other times that garner high click through rates. 

Perhaps you could test email marketing campaigns at all of these times and see which day and time get the best engagement from your audience. Each brand is different, so make sure you always test generalized marketing statistics to determine whether or not they apply to your specific audience. 

In addition to this, there are even certain times that are ideal for breaking certain news. Do you have something positive to say? Share that positive messages in the morning. Most of the time, people wake up happy and excited to start a new day, so they will be better suited to listen to positive news. On the contrary, wait until the evening to send a negative message to your audience, as those tend to be accepted better at nighttime. Just make sure to include a solution to the negative news, so your audience will not feel hopeless. 

Always Write an Engaging Subject Line

 The subject line is the first part of the email that your audience will read, so it better be good. If the subject is not intriguing to the audience, they will not click on it, and your email marketing efforts will be wasted. 

There are three types of subject lines that will help pique your audience’s interest and get you clicks. You can use Curiosity Subject Lines when you want people to be intrigued enough by the subject so that the click on the email to find out more. An example of this is a recent American Eagle email I received that read, ‘How much are YOU going to save?’ 

Another subject line you can use is called Benefit Subject Lines, which clearly state why the reader should open the email, and why doing so will benefit them. An example of benefit subject lines would be social media engagement businesses titling their email subject  ’10 ways to gain more followers’. 

Lastly, there are Scarcity Subject Lines, which prey on your audience’s FOMO, that is, the fear of missing out. The point of these subject lines is to make your audience feel as though if they do not read the email, they are missing out on something. An example of this would be titling a subject line ‘Hurry! Christmas Sale Ends Today’.

Keep the subject line short

 When writing subject lines, you will also want to stray away from being too wordy. Instead, try to keep subject lines to about six to ten words maximum. Not only are short subject lines more comfortable to read in general, but they will also be optimal for mobile consumption. Since the majority of emails are read on mobile devices, this tip will help you make sure your hard work is not lost on handheld systems. 

Use Odd or Specific Numbers in Your Subject Lines

Research shows that grouping information into parcels of three or five can ‘help people absorb the information better.’ In addition to this, odd numbers seem more authentic than a ‘top ten’ list because many people believe that fluff was added to flesh out the post. However, even if you choose to use even numbers, make sure that you never round up your digits. If people are expecting ten tips, but you only provide 9, they’ll think you are a liar. Try using odd and specific numbers in your subject lines rather than using the same-old ‘top ten’ list we have seen over and over again. 

Add a Personal Touch to Your Email Messages

‘One size fits all’ is not a phrase used to describe email marketing campaigns anymore. Research has found that emails with a personalized subject line are 26% more likely to be opened than those that do not. Take advantage of this statistic and start segmenting your email campaigns. Separate your audience into areas of different interests and then send each of those groups emails with subjects catered to their interests. This is a fool-proof way to pique specific groups’ interests and garner more attention in your business from your diverse audience members. 

Additionally, you can use people’s names in the subject line to garner a higher open rate. A study by the Stanford Graduate School of Business found that personally addressing the email recipient increases the probability of an open by 20%. Be careful, though, as people can get burned out by this tactic if you use it too often. 

Conclusion

While email marketing can be difficult, these tips can help give your email-campaigns a little boost. By writing engaging subject lines, personalizing emails, and sending messages at the right time, you can increase your open clicks and gain a larger following.