Michael Epps Utley 
Is your email performance sub-par?
Check out our top tips for improving email open and click-through rates.
1. Never Purchase Email Addresses
Even if your business is new and your email list is nonexistent, resist the urge to buy an email list. That’s because the owners of the email addresses didn't agree to receive emails from you. There is no way to know how interested they are in your content or offerings. This could result in terrible open and click-through rates and high unsubscribes (which is bad for business and your reputation). All these things could also send negative signals to your email provider, which could jeopardize your account with them.
2. Email New Contacts in 24 Hours or Less
After people offer up their contact information, your brand is top-of-mind for a short while; It's critical to take advantage of this narrow window of opportunity. Send a welcome email to people within the first 24 hours of them subscribing to your list (much sooner if possible). Include a meaningful offer or piece of content and set expectations for what they can expect from your brand. It will set a foundation for active email engagement in the future.
3. Send Email From a Person, Not Your Company
When you send emails from a person, email open rates increase. People typically trust personalized sender names and email addresses over generic business ones. People receive so much spam they hesitate to open or read emails from unknown senders. They're more likely to open one from an actual sender name and email address than a generic or ambiguous one.
4. Leverage Preview Text
Many email apps show the first lines of text from the body of your email — or a customized introduction — next to the subject line. Think of it as a text preview of the email content. Use it to provide a short synopsis of the email. Consider it an opportunity to entice people to open the email and read more.
5. Create Clickworthy Subject Lines
Your emails have a lot to compete against when they hit inboxes. You should aim to write “must click” subject lines. Make sure your subject lines:
Are straightforward and easy to understand
Contain less than 50 characters so they don't get cut off
Use language the people you’re emailing will understand
Include action-oriented words to generate excitement
Deliver value (e.g., 20 percent off!)
Are timely, if applicable
Occasionally include the recipient's first name
6. Keep Content Concise
People prefer short emails with a clear purpose. Length and ambiguity are your enemy. People must navigate through countless emails in their inboxes quickly, which means they will find long ones daunting and unclear ones unattractive.
To keep emails brief and compelling, write like you are talking to someone in real life. People don’t typically go on and on in personal interactions (not if they want their words to have an impact, anyway).
7. Include One Call-to-Action Button in Each Email
Many recipients scan emails without reading all the content. That's why you must include a clear call-to-action (CTA) button that's easy to find. Place your CTA where it makes sense for someone to click on it and take action. Include language in your CTAs that makes email recipients feel compelled to click.
8. Hyperlink Email Images
A proven way to increase email clickthrough is to hyperlink the images in your email to website content that relates to them or your ultimate call to action. For example, if you want people to download an ebook and you include a picture of the ebook in the email, hyperlink the image of the book to the download landing page and not just the call to action. It will increase your chances of earning a click because many people are drawn to pictures and are likely to click on them (they offer more clickable real estate), especially on smartphones.
9. Include Visible Text Links
In addition to your call-to-action button, add links in your email text, as well. Having more links increases the opportunity for clicks. Just be careful not to go overboard.
10. Place at Least One Clickable Item in the Opening Screen
Include one or more of your clickable elements, whether a CTA button, text link, or clickable image, near the opening of your emails. Many people may not need to scroll through many screens to decide to act on your offer, so it’s only sensible to provide an opportunity for them to take action early on.
11. Avoid Email Background Images
While a background image may seem like an interesting design choice, the truth is that it may confuse readers or make places to click harder to identify. Sometimes, background images could render incorrectly on certain browsers or devices. When it comes to background images in promotional emails, it’s probably better to keep things simple rather than be sorry.
12. Optimize Emails for All Devices
Emails should be designed primarily for mobile users since that’s how most people experience them today. However, they should also be attractive and readable on laptops and tablets, where many people will encounter them. This is especially true for professional services businesses and business-to-business company emails, which tend to have higher-than-average open rates on laptops and desktops.
13. Review Emails Before Hitting Send
When you're finally ready to send your emails, make it a policy to double-check them to ensure they look good and everything functions correctly. Many emails are never opened — or links or buttons never clicked — because they render incorrectly or are impossible to see. Also, have multiple users check emails on different devices to see if they identify issues you may not see.
14. Monitor Email Performance
Consistently tracking email performance will help you identify elements that work and ones that do not. It will help you improve email open and click-through rates over time so you’re consistently upping your email marketing game.
Improving Email Marketing: The Final Word
By sending compelling offers to the right target segments and paying attention to all the details that contribute to email marketing success, you can increase the opens and clicks in your emails and generate more leads and business. Follow the tips in this guide to achieve success.
Bonus content: Find out how you can get more of your emails delivered to in boxes.
