How to Get More of Your Emails Opened

These days everyone’s inbox is flooded with emails, and it’s harder and harder to get noticed, much less contact opened. I’ve been testing what works and what doesn’t and thought you might like to see the results.

Optimize your “sender” or “from” field. Using a business name does not seem to work as well as using a personal name, probably because people want to read messages from people, not businesses. However, combining the business name with the unique name seems to work well, especially if the business name is either well recognized or implies a benefit. For example, ‘Joe Smith, ProBlogger’ would likely work well, as would ‘Jane Smith, Traffic Tips.’

Further, optimize your “sender” field. I’ve experimented with using symbols before and after my name in the ‘from’ area to make my emails stand out, and it does seem to make a slight difference. For example, ~Joe Smith~ tends to be open more often than Joe Smith.

Use a great subject line. Exclusive products have been written on this topic alone, but here are some tips:

Use a number: “3 Ways to Get Bigger Muscles in 7 Days”

Use curiosity: “The Fried Banana method to Younger Skin.”

Write as if you’re addressing a friend: “Hey” “What do you think?”, “Okay?”, “I told you he’s crackers,” “Last Sunday,” “See You Tues,” “Got it?” etc.

State a significant benefit: “Look 10 Years Younger and Feel 20 Years Smarter.”

Personalize the subject line. Everything else being the same, personalizing the subject line can increase your click-through rate. Just don’t overdo it.

Avoid spam words. You know the ones: Cash, payment, money, credit, quote, etc. These words will land you in the spam folder, and you won’t likely get many opens.

Optimize the preview text. Remember, the sender can often see the first line or two of text, so make it interesting, relevant, and preferably curiosity-provoking.

Please make it a habit of being entertaining. The more fun and engaging your emails are, the more likely your recipients will continue to open them.

Send twice. 8-12 hours after you send an email, send the email again to those who didn’t open your first email.

Last tip: Email often. Once a day is excellent. If you only send an email occasionally, recipients will forget who you are. By being in the inbox daily, I’ve found they are more likely to recognize you and open your emails.