How to get more of your emails open

Email is one of the most effective ways of generating demand for your products or services.

Spam is a problem, but many decision makers have now learnt how to deal with it, and are able to delete emails they don't want to see and make sure they get filtered out in future.

So what is it that gets attention in a positive way?

Three things are critical

1. Where is the email coming from
2. What is the subject line
3. When you send it

Now there's not a whole lot you can do about your email address - but make it clear who you are and who you represent. Just another reason to choose your URL carefully and I'll muse more about when to send emails tomorrow.

Now the fun part - the subject line. Here are 5 types of subject lines that consistently get high open rates 

1. Using words such as  Quick, Free, Limited 
2. Asking a question 
3. Including the name of the recipient
4. Indicating that the email includes valuable information
5. Offering a high perceived offer without falling foul of spam filters

And here are 5 types of subject line that should be avoided

1. Intriguing or off the wall statements which don't support your proposition
2. Any form of bad language or innuendo
3. Specific pricing or discount offers
4. Requesting the email be forwarded on to a different department or different person
5. Capatalising on a something or someone in the news on that day

The other area which always needs to be considered is making sure you review the results of your email activity. Sometimes the slightest amendment can have a dramatic impact on results