11 Sure Ways to Increase Email Click-Through Rates

 

11 Sure Ways to Increase Email Click-Through Rates

If you've been running your email marketing campaign for even a few months, you're probably able to estimate the click-through rate of each campaign. And hey, good for you for getting a handle on your inbound marketing analytics. But it's a new year, and now's the time to dream big. Let's start improving that email click-through rate to give your CMO something to actually smile about. If you're not sure how to improve your email CTR, here are 11 surefire ways to do it. And remember that email marketing provides a prime opportunity for A/B testing; You should apply this to all of your email marketing campaigns to ensure that you're always improving emails to get the most ROI (which means more bragging rights for you).

1.) Test your subject lines. Click-through rate is often used in email marketing to refer to the click-through rate of an offer, especially in the body of your email. But you need to get recipients to click through the email first. Once you've nailed email deliverability, start A/B testing the subject lines you're using. We've also written a guide to help you master the art of writing click-worthy email subject lines.

2.) Less with a copy. Write short emails to increase the likelihood that email recipients will encounter your offer before they get bored and delete it. You can also help combat this by frontloading your best copy.

3.) Add social sharing options. Econsultancy published results that found that emails that only included a social sharing option generated 30% higher click-through rates than emails without any social sharing links. That CTR increased by 55% with 3 or more social sharing options. Even if your readers don't want to redeem your email offer, they probably know a friend who does. Give them that opportunity by including social sharing buttons, and watch your click-through rate soar.

4.) Segment your email lists. If you wonder why we think so much about email segmentation, this is one of the main reasons. In addition to preventing you from annoying email recipients with irrelevant offers, list segmentation lets you deliver more targeted offers, increasing the likelihood that your reader will click through. In fact, research shows that marketers who segment their lists enjoy 18% more transactions, 24% more sales leads, and 24% more revenue.

5.) Offer targeted content. This is why you segment your list! Now that you know whom you're sending your email to, consider what content they want, and use that for your offer. If your offer meets your recipient's needs, it's a no-brainer that you'll get more clicks to redeem that offer.

6.) Personalize your emails. You can further target your list and the content in your email by adding elements of personalization. Part of effective lead nurturing is knowing your prospects and customers' purchase history, download history, satisfaction scores, and website activity. This will allow you to deliver the most relevant offers that will get more click-throughs due to the targeted nature of your email.

7.) Remove distractions from email. Just like when you're creating landing pages, it's important to remove distractions from your email template. Resist the urge to include a headline that includes your website navigation, or include multiple offers in the hope that the email will compel at least some readers to click. This is a sign that your email does not have a specific goal. Step back, and consider the purpose of the email. What do you want the reader to do? If your goal is to get more Facebook fans with this email, this is the copy you should write, and this is the call-to-action you should highlight in your email. Don't let readers get distracted by your blog posts, product pages, or any other part of your site.

8.) Slap your reader in the face with your call to action.

9.) A P.S. P.S. A great trick to repeat an offer, or to get the attention of email scanners (let's face it, that's most of us). The eye is drawn to the visual call outside the P.S. And there's a great opportunity to A/B test whether your offers get more or less click-throughs with its inclusion.

10.) Create a sense of urgency. One tactic that works especially well for product marketers is putting limits on your offerings. This forces readers to redeem them faster, increasing your click-through rate. But don't feel bad. If your email marketing is well-segmented, you are providing them with a product that fits their needs!

10.) Make sure your emails are mobile-optimized. Research shows that of the 70 million US consumers who access email through their mobile device, 43% check their email on it 4 or more times a day. If you're not optimizing your emails for mobile, you're completely missing a huge opportunity for these mobile readers to click on your call to action. If you haven't already started optimizing your emails for mobile, 2012 is the perfect time to start and take advantage of this large segment of the population that is growing like gangbusters.