Field Tips: Improve Your Email Open Rate

Field Tips is a biweekly email series bringing you the latest marketing trends and topics directly to your inbox. Covering everything from digital marketing and social media to content strategy and more, we curate the industry’s top stories and present them as easily digestible insights. The content contained within this post comes directly from our September 20, 2024 issue. If you’d like to receive Field Tips, subscribe here.

What does every successful email marketing campaign have in common? Strong open rates. It’s the first step in reaching and engaging your audience, and a vital step in achieving the results you want.

While open rates will vary across industries, in general, you should shoot for 30-35%. Not quite there yet? Here are some tips to help improve your inbox performance:

1. Personalize Your Subject Line: Including the recipient’s name or something specific to them grabs attention.
2. Keep It Short & Engaging: Clear, concise subject lines are more likely to get opened. Aim for 6-10 words.
3. Optimize for Mobile: Over 80% of emails are opened on mobile devices, so make sure your subject lines and content look great on smaller screens.
4. Test Your Send Times: Experiment with sending emails on different days and times to find when your audience is most active.
5. Segment Your Audience: Tailor your messaging to different groups within your email list to make the content more relevant.
6. Use Preview Text Wisely: Don’t overlook the importance of the snippet that shows up next to your subject line. Make it compelling!

As always, if you need help optimizing your campaigns, our team is ready and waiting to help.

WHAT’S HAPPENING. A new Pew Research report reveals that Americans are increasingly turning to social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube to get their news. TikTok, in particular, has seen a sharp rise, especially among younger users, with over half of its users now regularly consuming news on the platform. Meanwhile, traditional news sources like print media continue to decline​.

WHY IT MATTERS. This isn’t exactly news, but the continuation of a trend. Social media isn’t just for entertainment—it’s where people are going to stay informed. Platforms like TikTok present a huge opportunity to engage younger, news-hungry audiences with snappy, shareable content. Brands that embrace these platforms can build credibility and connect more authentically with their audience.

WHAT’S HAPPENING. OpenAI has launched SearchGPT, an AI search engine that’s all about giving you direct answers instead of a list of links. It uses real-time data from the web, understands context and delivers responses in a conversational way. Think of it as a mix of Google and ChatGPT, where you can ask follow-up questions and get deeper insights—all with sources clearly cited.

WHY IT MATTERS. For marketers, this could totally change SEO. Instead of just optimizing for keywords, you’ll need to create content that answers more natural, conversational questions. With SearchGPT citing its sources, it’s also a big opportunity for brands to drive traffic if their content is referenced in AI-generated answers. It’s the next step in making search more interactive and personalized​.

WHAT’S HAPPENING.Google is facing increasing pressure from the U.S. Department of Justice, which is considering breaking up the company after a court ruled that Google has monopolized the online search market. The DOJ is exploring options such as splitting off major parts like Android, Chrome or Google Ads. The goal is to restore competition in search and advertising, while also addressing concerns about Google’s dominance in AI.

WHY IT MATTERS. If Google is broken up, it could reshape the digital advertising landscape. For marketers, this might mean less reliance on Google’s ecosystem, more competition and new opportunities to reach audiences through other platforms. However, a breakup could also disrupt advertising strategies that heavily depend on Google’s tools.

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