The
Top Five Questions and Answers about Responsible
Email Marketing
By Mike Adams
Question Five: How do I make
sure my emails get opened?
Making sure your emails get opened is easier
than you think. Most people focus on the subject
line of the email, testing various themes to
see which one will generate the highest open
rates. In brainstorming with various email marketers,
e-commerce directors, and CEOs of large and small
companies, I've seen far too much focus on the
subject line and not nearly enough focus on the “from” address.
Because it is, in fact, the “from” address
that determines whether your email is likely
to be opened in the first place. Let me explain.
Studies have shown that when a recipient is
looking through an email inbox, the first thing
they glance at is the “from” address.
If they recognize the name of the person or company,
they will very likely read the subject line of
the email. If the subject line, then, says something
that seems relevant to the reader, they will
open the email and read it. But if the “from” address
does not contain a familiar name, the recipient
will assume the email is from someone they don't
know, or that it is possibly spam, and they will
simply not open the email at all.
Thus the answer to this question is easier than
you think: always use a recognizable, consistent
name in the “from” address of the
emails that you send your customers. If your
company's name is, for example, Amazon.com, and
you send all your emails with the “from” address
saying Amazon.com, the chances are very high
that people will open your emails, regardless
of the subject line. However, if you abuse this
privilege and begin placing irrelevant, spam-like
advertising in the content area of the email
messages, you will lose credibility and, even
worse, people will begin to associate spam with
your name and your email message, leading not
only to a dismal open rate but a corroding unsubscribe
frequency as well.
I've
also heard some people attempting to use a variety
of gimmicks to push the open rate of their emails.
They might use slightly misleading subject lines,
or they might try to place flashy graphics or
animations in the top section of the email content
area, hoping that something catches the reader's
eye in the preview pane of the email application.
I strongly recommend you avoid these kinds of
gimmicks. This isn't billboard advertising. This
isn't television or radio or magazine ads, where
the loudest first is heard first. This is
email marketing, and email content is keen.
That means you need to stick to quality content
rather than gimmicks, and earn the trust of your
recipients, so they are happy to receive your
emails and begin to associate you're “from”
address with meaningful, high quality content.
When you do this, you will of mastered the correct
method of getting recipients to open your email
messages.
So remember: you’re riding on your reputation
here. Every time you use your company name in
the “from” address, you need to make
sure that you're delivering a highly relevant,
professionally constructed email message that
is of interest to each recipient who receives
it.
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