5 Ways to Improve Your Click-Through Rates for Email Campaigns
In the ever-evolving world of digital marketing, email campaigns continue to be a resource for driving engagement and conversions. The ultimate goal of an email campaign is to get users to open the email AND click on the call-to-action in the email.
Click-through rate, or CTR, is a KPI for email campaigns. It describes the number of clicks your link receives divided by the number of impressions.
You’re not alone if you are having trouble improving your email marketing campaign’s CTR. It can be difficult to attract interest from your target audience in the digital swamp of overwhelming attention-seeking media.
In this blog, we will outline 5 ways to improve your email marketing campaigns to increase CTR, and hopefully, conversions. These include:
- Compelling subject line
- Engaging and attractive visuals
- Personal and Conversational
- Responsive mobile design
- One distinct Call-to-Action
Compelling Subject Line
Before a reader can even see what you’re offering/promoting, they have to click on your email. Think of the subject line as an elevator pitch to potentially interested parties. In seven to nine words, why should a user open your email as opposed to the thousands of others cluttering their inbox?
Some key things to keep in mind while drafting a subject line are value, urgency, and relevancy.
Why should someone open your email? What’s in it for them? As concise as possible, readers should understand the value they will receive by opening your email.
Another hook to utilize in an email subject line is urgency. Using phrases like “this week only”, or “find out today” can invoke a sense of urgency and get users into your email.
Lastly, the subject line should be relevant to your recipients and describe a potential interest, desire, or necessity they have.
Examples:
“Last Chance! Our Sale Ends Tomorrow”
“Top 5 Tips for Improving Your Sales Today!”
“We Appreciate Your Business – Here’s a Special Gift”
Engaging and Attractive Images
Once a reader opens up your email, you want to ensure that they stay long enough to read it and fulfill the CTA. Including attractive and engaging visuals is one way to retain the interest of the user and not overwhelm them with extensive copy. However, don’t go overboard.
Stick to one or two high-quality images that enhance the reader’s experience. The image that you choose should be intentional and relevant to the topic being discussed.
Personal and Conversational
Writing your email campaigns with a personal and conversational tone is inviting for the reader. It makes them feel like you are talking directly to them and gives the impression that you are writing specifically with them in mind.
Some tips for this writing style include using the second person tense “you” when drafting your email, avoiding long and difficult words/sentences, and not being afraid to break grammar rules if it’s appropriate.
Personalizing emails is another way to make it more conversational. People will feel more inclined to read your email if it is addressed to them individually, rather than a clearly generic mass-sent email. For example, you can include the recipient’s name at the top of your email with software like MailChimp, that allows you to customize and personalize email campaigns.
Mailchimp explains the benefits of personalizing emails in their article,
Personalized Email Marketing: 9 Strategies for Success. In summary, they describe the three main benefits of this strategy as:
- Increasing open rates
- Boosting customer engagement
- Improving relationship building
Responsive Mobile Design
The majority of people view emails on their smartphones, so designing your campaigns to be mobile-friendly is a must. If the email is hard to read and navigate on a phone screen, you can be sure your email will be overlooked.
This is a simple, but necessary tip. Double-check that all the links work, your images are high-quality and fit to the screen, and your design still looks good.
One Distinct Call-To-Action
Each email you send should have one main goal and one main call to action. Otherwise, it can get confusing to readers what they are supposed to do. Many different types of calls-to-action can be included in an email. For example:
- Deals and Promotions: Sending a coupon code or a link to a discounted item gets readers to act by purchasing your good/service.
- Cart Abandonment: You can send an email to users who have items in their cart but haven’t made the purchase yet to act now.
- New Blog Post: If you post blogs, you can reach out with an email to entice users to read your blog if it is relevant and useful to them.
- New Collection of Items in Store: If you are introducing new items to your e-commerce shop, send an email showcasing it to your audience with a link to be the first to shop.
You can incorporate CTA’s through clickable images, buttons, banners, or text links. Keep it short and sweet!
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If you want to incorporate email marketing campaigns in your digital marketing strategy, call Vortex Digital at 319.621.0191 today for a free, no-obligation consultation.
