What are the elements of an email with higher open rate? And what are the aspects to keep in mind once the email is opened?
There are many pivotal points to keep in mind to ensure better email performance, but it is important to structure an email by leveraging strategies that can capture attention.
Sender
Along with the subject line, the sender is the first thing you read in an email. For this reason, it is important to write the full name of the company so that it is immediately recognized by the user. In addition to the name, a profile picture can be included: the most appropriate could be the inclusion of the logo to be impactful and make the email even more visible in a myriad of communications.
Eye-catching subject line
As mentioned earlier, the subject line is critical as it is the first element of contact with the user and the one that often makes the user decide whether to open an email or not. Therefore it is important to think of how to structure it strategically.
Some tips for writing a striking subject line are:
- Using dynamic fields and customization.
- Inserting a trivia, such as a riddle or clue, that may push people to read and open the message;
- Inserting an emoji that represents the message;
- Inserting some keywords such as “how to…”, “5 tips to…” or “3 tutorials that…” that can give tips and suggestions to the community..
Customization
It is crucial to focus on customization of email marketing campaigns: customers are more engaged in reading an email if they find their name at the beginning instead of a generic greeting. This element brings the consumer closer to the company by making them feel part of the community.
Preview
Don’t underestimate the email preview!
You can find a preview of the content below the subject line. This section can lead the user to open the message, so it can be useful to include an eye-catching element that intrigues the reader.
Content and style
The content of the email should be strategically thought out and structured. Placing the main news at the beginning of the communication can certainly be a solution, as users often quickly scroll through the email dwelling only on certain sections. For this reason, it is essential to highlight the titles of the sections that make up the email to give the right importance to the information.
In addition to this, the text structure can also be accompanied by images, GIFs or videos, elements that should not be heavy to facilitate proper loading and easy reading from any device. Building an attention-grabbing template is a key element in the good performance of an email, so graphic elements in line with the brand and communication should be included.
It is important to keep the same style, both in terms of graphics and of communication and tone of voice. It is advisable to use no more than 3 fonts within the emails, a color palette that represents the brand, and meaningful and high-quality images. In emails, one element that should never be missing is the company logo, so that users always have the brand as a reference point, finding the logo as a profile image, at the beginning of the content and in the final email signature.
Testing multiple formats
Again, applying this strategy clarifies which format is the readers’ favorite. Inserting images, videos or GIFs can enrich the content and make it more concrete and closer to the user who then has a way to see the product and/or service you are offering. Creating communications based primarily on text sections, preferred by many B2Bs, often prove too long and unattractive. In the case of the structure of an email, it is important to conduct more tests on the target audience and study their behaviors, to understand which format may be the best performing.
CTA
Including CTAs within one’s communications is useful for guiding the consumer to the action we want them to take. For this reason, they must be clear and have links to the landing page on which we want the user to land. CTAs are often inserted as buttons within emails, an effective and aesthetic method of making the action easier.
Exclusivity
To better engage a user, it can be helpful to focus on exclusivity. The feeling of being part of a restricted community has a strong appeal to the user’s psychology and can prove critical in email marketing strategy. In fact, including dedicated special offers can be a way to push sales or promotion of a product.
Urgency
Communicating a sense of urgency pushes people and triggers the idea of wanting to find out more and take advantage of the moment because of the fear of missing out on something. Therefore, targeting urgency and communicating a limited-time offer through countdowns with tight deadlines can entice the user to take the desired action.
Newsjacking
Newsjacking is a marketing technique that takes advantage of current events and trends allowing the brand to gain visibility. It can be like real time marketing with the difference that in the case of newsjacking you give your opinion on the news of the moment. This technique, therefore, can also be used in email marketing strategies by including news references to ride the wave and keep up with trends.
Emails are puzzles that need to be built in every part, giving importance to every single piece and joint to make the company’s communication work effectively and memorably.
It is important to structure the email by doing an analysis of the target audience we are addressing so as not to run into mistakes or low open and conversion rates. For these reasons, it is helpful to understand your community, understand their needs and try to anticipate them, sending them what they need and in the simplest and most intuitive way possible.
Now that some email marketing tricks have been revealed, take advantage of them, and don’t miss the opportunity to better engage your community!
