E-mail overload is nothing new, leaving communications professionals struggling to find new methods to increase deliverability, opens, clicks and conversions in e-mail marketing efforts. According to the “Elements of E-mail” survey conducted by eROI, these execs are missing out on opportunities to boost these stats.
The following approaches were among those recommended to increase the overall success of e-mail marketing initiatives:
• Use the company’s name in the “from” line: 51% of respondents say they identify their company in the “from” line, while 32% say it depends on the campaign and 17% prefer to use their individual name.
• Authenticate e-mails. E-mail authentication verifies messages, allowing recipients to automatically recognize the nature of each incoming communication. But, approximately 60% of responding marketers don’t know how to authenticate e-mail; even though these verifications can help companies avoid blacklists, only about 25% of marketers use them.
• Keep it short and sweet: 75% of respondents try to ensure that the subject line accurately describes the of the e-mail, and 50% focus on keeping it the subject line concise. What’s more, studies have shown that using a subject line with 72 or more characters gives added relevance, causing click-throughs and conversion rates to increase. Subject lines with 60 characters or fewer, on the other hand, prompt open rates to increase. According to the report, the span between 60 and 72 characters has been shown to be a “dead zone.”
• Duplicate site navigation: Nearly 30% of responding marketers duplicate their site navigation in e-mails. Of those who do so, 15% find it more effective in driving clicks than the e-mail’s main content.
Source: eROI