5 Tips for More Interesting Emails & Higher Open Rates

Most people have more than one email account, and sift through an average of 122 business emails per day. What does this mean for your email marketing campaigns? To drive higher open rates and engagement, you’re going to have to pull your subscribers in-and keep them wanting more.

The hard truth is this: Your recipients are inundated with messaging, and quick to delete or pass up anything that doesn’t immediately pique their interest. Which means email marketers have been challenged with finding new and creative ways to overcome email boredom or frustration and snag attention. To help you hook your subscribers, we’ve compiled five tips to make your emails more interesting:

1. K.I.S.S.

K.I.S.S. stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid. Not that we think you’re stupid-that’s just the acronym. But we do believe it’s in your best interest to keep things as concise as possible.

Why? Because 48 percent of emails are now viewed on mobile devices. So skip the extended version and stick to the Cliffs Notes. Make your emails brief and to the point. Anything text-heavy or complicated will lose your reader-fast. By choosing your words wisely and deliberately, you show respect for your subscriber’s time.

2. Use Audience-Appropriate Humor

As you simplify text, don’t lose the qualities that make it personable-like little notes of humor. The last thing you want is a cold, robotic message.

But remember, humor must be audience-appropriate. For example, a B2B brand addressing professionals may use different language than, say, a local bar sending an offer to its happy hour enthusiasts.

3. Catchy Subject Line

In many cases, your subject line is the only detail that will determine whether your emails get opened or ignored. Spend as much time on it as you do the body of the email (seriously). And make it catchy. The sweet spot for length seems to be 28 to 39 characters.

4. Enticing Pre-Header Text

So you’ve got a winning subject line and a super-interesting, highly targeted offer, but don’t neglect your pre-header text.

This is the text that appears just under the subject line and is viewable from the inbox before the email is opened. It’s a perfect little preview for readers, and often is used to help them decide which emails to delete and which to open and investigate further. Make pre-header text enticing and you’ll improve open rates. Ignore it and focus only on the body of the email, and you risk recipients never getting that far.

5. Use Social Interaction

Always provide a way for readers to connect with your company on social media and share your message with their networks. Not only will this help extend the reach of your messaging, but it will also encourage readers to engage with your brand in different ways (using the channel they most prefer). This helps ensure they continue interacting with your brand long after a single email message expires, and helps you learn more about them for better targeting in the future.

As the importance of email continues to rise, so, too, will the number of emails your contacts must sift through on a daily basis to find the information they most desire. Help connect them with your brand and the solutions they seek by putting these tips to good use in your email marketing strategy.

Enticing messages start with great personalization. Get the data you need for better targeting with a free trial of InstantData today!