Marketer's Space: Proven tips to improve open rates – I | Online Help - Zoho Campaigns
Hello Marketers!
Welcome back to another post in Marketer's Space!
In this week's post, we'll discuss the ever-important concept of open rates. This will be a multi-part series, as we have a range of topics to cover.
Open rates—which measure the percentage of your emails that recipients open—are an important performance metric in marketing, as they tell you how much engagement your emails are getting. If you have low open rates, it's time to re-think your entire emailing strategy.
This guide is useful not only for marketers who are struggling to get their campaigns opened, but also for seasoned veterans who might want to revisit their current setup. Let's jump in.
Sender domain
We suggest using your own sender domain to send emails instead of using Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo Mail, as yours will have authenticity and help build trust among your contacts. Be sure to register your account with Zoho Campaigns using an email address with your website's domain name (if you have one).
For example, let's say Zylker Fashions is an apparel shop and its website is https://www.zylkerfashions.com. Its email addresses therefore use that domain name: @zylkerfashions.com. Examples might include help@zylkerfashions.com, support@zylkerfashions.com, and patricia.b@zylkerfashions.com. When recipients see that your email comes from your official domain, they'll know to trust you.
Domain authentication
After registering your sender domain with Zoho Campaigns, we strongly recommend you authenticate it by publishing your domain's SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. To ensure low spam rates, improve email deliverability, and, most importantly, to land your campaigns in your recipients' main inboxes (where all important emails show up), domain authentication is necessary. If contacts see your emails there, there's a higher chance they'll open them—thereby increasing your open rate.
Segmenting
After importing or adding contacts in Zoho Campaigns, you can group them into segments and then tailor your content based on each segment's interests. Nobody likes to receive campaigns they aren't interested in. Without segmentation, many of your recipients will receive emails from you they don't want—which will tank your open rate. Instead, with just a few clicks, you can create dynamic segments based on the following types of audience data you have:
- Demographics: Details personal aspects like age, gender, and where someone lives—all of which can shape what they prefer.
- Firmographics: Details attributes of businesses for B2B scenarios, such as company size, industry, and the roles of specific contacts.
- Psychographics: Relates to what recipients are into, what they value, and their general lifestyle.
- Behaviors: Relates to what they've bought before, what they've browsed, and how they usually interact or engage.
Subject line
Just landing your campaigns in your recipients' inboxes doesn't mean your job is done; you need to get them to open them, too. And what makes your contacts to open your emails is what they see. The subject line you choose is what they see first. If it doesn't pique their interest, they won't bother opening your email—and if they keep declining to open them, your open rates will take a hit. Recipients might even consider your emails a nuisance and ultimately mark them as spam or unsubscribe.
Crafting engaging subject lines is an art, as you're forced to say more with less. Below are some examples of good subject lines.
- Limit it to around 30 to 50 characters.
“We saved these picks based on your vibe” - Create urgency (but not a lot).
“Thought you'd want to see this soon”
- Use emojis—but don't overuse them.
“Skills that boost your career 🚀” - Personalize them by using your contacts' first names. Merge tags in Zoho Campaigns are your best friend.
“Patricia! Forgot something? We saved it for you 🛒”
We advise you to take extra care in not using spam trigger words and phrases like "Free!!!", "Buy now", "Limited-time only", "Congratulations! You've been selected", and "Hurry!"
We've come to the end of the first part of this series on open rates. We'll take a look at aspects like pre-headers, domain warm-up, and more in the upcoming parts.
Happy marketing!
Sincerely,
Sai Prashanth
User Education
Zoho Campaigns