Struggling with Low Open Rates? Here’s How to Get More Eyes on Your Emails

You’ve put in the effort to come up with a great newsletter structure,

you’ve got a great formula,

AND your content is spot on.

But the first part of measuring the effectiveness of your newsletter, or any content — is to measure how well it gets opened. Open rates get compared to the click-throughs to determine how well you’re appealing to your audience’s interests.

Click-throughs then get compared to the “conversion rate” ( amount of visitors to the number of visitors who take the action such as booking a consultation)

For the purpose of this blog, let’s focus on the first step at being effective — that is, how many people even open your email to begin with.

So, you went through a lot of work to get where you are – you have a beautiful, polished newsletter -but what’s the point if no one opens it?

Seeing low open rates can be frustrating—Kinking your “consumer pipeline” right at the beginning. 

but here’s the thing — your audience signed up for your content. They wanted what you promised. So to determine why they aren’t engaging you need to backtrack. The good news is that low open rates aren’t a dead end—It’s completely fixable! 

Soon you’re excited subscribers will be devouring that amazing newsletter - once they get past this small hiccup. 

Keep reading to learn the most common reasons emails don’t get opened — and 3 quick ways to turn it around.

How to Fix Your Newsletters (or Emails) And Get Them Opened

• Quick Fix 1: Write Incredibly Compelling Subject Lines.

  What makes something compelling is a tricky science. Here’s the science in a very simplified JSA translation — We make countless micro-decisions every day—milk or juice, pink or green, stop or go. 

To avoid overload, your amazing brain filters out anything irrelevant to you at the moment. So, to stand out — your subject line needs to cut through this mental filter instantly. 

There is tons of literature devoted to the science of persuasion But in a a single word: Relevance.

Your readers are always subconsciously asking “How can this help me, right now.” Subject Lines must apply to them, in the moment.

To get better open rates and make your subject lines instantly more compelling - hash out the relevance to your reader - tell them what benefit they will get — the problem they will solve — outcome they will achieve — and make it juicy!

• Quick Fix 2: Learn The Best Times to Reach Your Audience

  Knowing the best times and days to send your emails will help you reach your audience when they're most likely to open your message, have time to explore (or “click”), and of course, take the action (convert from visitor to client).

  Best times will change by industry and even by region., Based on a few studies that analyzed customer engagement patterns across time zones, here are a few trends to keep in mind for peak performance for open rates, click-throughs, and conversions:

  • Tuesdays and Fridays yield the best opens and clicks, and are thus the best days for sending emails 

  • Recipients are active during 2 PM, 5 PM, and  8 PM. Emails sent during these times are likely to be opened

  • Around 88% of people with email accounts check email every day

Your audience has predictable, characteristic rhythms. Do you know them? Working out your Audience Persona will give you HUGE insights into who you're speaking to and when they check their inbox (This is the time you want to send your emails). 

• Quick Fix 3: Segment your List! 

Newsletters should always speak to one person. they are personal letters — sent to a mass audience.

Even if you send the same email to a thousand other people – each one should feel like it was written just to them. The more varied your whole target population is, the greater the need to segment your messages to speak to the different groups. 

That’s because each “one person” has nuanced needs, experiences, and goals.

Knowing these can help validate your message and  support your ask

That's also the benefit of having a narrow niche population you serve. You can intentionally personalize and make relevant content that gets these people excited to open emails from you. But if your audience list is too broad, they won't find it helpful and will become annoyed with your recurring, Irrelevant presence in their inbox — you might even get flagged as SPAM

a segmented list is crucial to sending relevant content — stuff that will speak to the individual problem, promise solutions, and lead to opens, clicks and conversions — and help grow your brand!

Low open rates don’t mean your newsletter is a lost cause!

They just mean it’s time for a strategy shift. By refining your subject lines, sending at the right times, and segmenting your list for relevancy, you can turn passive subscribers into engaged readers.

Want help crafting newsletters that get opened? Let’s work together to create email content that gets results. Contact me today!