Personalise

Of course you already address your email by name (don’t you?) but it’s important to personalise the content too. Personalisation makes a huge difference: on average, tailored emails get 2.5 times higher click-through rates and up to 6 times more engagement with the content.

• Use the right ‘from’ name. People email people; companies and departments don’t email anyone. So sending mail from a departmental address signals that your email probably isn’t relevant.
• Use a strong subject line and include the recipient’s name. According to Campaign Monitor, it’s 15% more likely your email will be opened.
• Personalise the content.It’s easy enough to adapt blocks of content to suit your readers.

Plan

Content is everything, but no-one likes a waffler. The research says you have eight seconds to make an impression, so…

• Use a benefit-focused subject line. What’s in it for the reader?
• Write compelling preview text. This is the first few lines of body text you see in your inbox before an email is even opened.
• Use calls to action, but make them bold, enticing and clear. Links stink, especially if they take people to the deepest darkest corners of your intranet, so keep links to a minimum.
• Structure the whole thing for easy reading. Don’t pack too much in.

Test

We all like getting information in different ways, so test what’s best for your organisation.

• Track what people do with your emails. What do they click, how long do they spend reading, where do they go next? Use this information to make improvements.
• Split-testing. Trying two versions of an email with one slight difference – can help you understand what works. For example, send out one email with two different buttons, two different headings or two different lots of content, then track the results. (Only change one element at a time though, or you won’t be able to isolate what’s making the difference.)

Measure

If you aren’t measuring your activity then you’re missing an opportunity. Measuring what happens with your emails not only establishes ROI, but gives you the opportunity to compare email with other channels so you can prioritise your resources. Measurement also helps you improve your approach, as we’ve described above.

We think at the very least you should measure:

• Open rates - who is reading your email?
• Click rates - who clicks on what buttons?
• Bounce rates - is your data correct?

The more you know, the more you can deepen your understanding of your audience. What segments do what, when and how? What links work best? What devices do people use?

Time

There’s always a best time and day to get your email out there. The only way you’re going to find the best time for your organisation is by trying different options and tracking your response and open rates. Of course, if you work globally you’ll have to do this for each different time zone.

According to Newsweaver:

• Sending between 8am and 9am gives the best average open rate
• Sending in the afternoon gets above average open and click rates
• Sending mid-morning gets the worst results
• Tuesday and Friday afternoons should generally be avoided.