Email marketing should form an essential part of your marketing campaign. Your existing customers will sign up to your newsletter and it’s your job to keep them interested. On the other hand, you might also be using email marketing to encourage people to check out your site.
There’s a long running myth about how you should always ensure you send your emails at a certain time of day to increase the chances of them being opened. Yet there are contradictory studies which imply you shouldn’t send them at any time of day. These contradictions reveal one thing; the time of day you send your emails influences nothing.
Why it Doesn’t Matter
The time you send something is completely irrelevant. If something is worth opening your subscriber will open it regardless of what time of day they receive it at. Not everyone has their inbox open 24/7. If something arrives in the morning and they don’t come online until the evening it really doesn’t matter what time it originally arrived at.
An easy example to illustrate this is with sports. If a sports game is broadcast on a Saturday night you’ll watch it because you love it. If this changes to Sunday morning you’ll still watch it because you love it. The time of day (or night) doesn’t mean anything.
Worthwhile Content Trumps All
Some people speculate a lot of emails never get opened and their senders blame the time they sent them to avoid admitting to themselves what they sent had no value whatsoever. Quality content will compel someone to open the message no matter what time of day they decide to open it.
The same thing applies to a website. Google is always trying to encourage webmasters to spend more time producing quality content. If you encounter a standard sales page you don’t waste your time reading through it. If it contains something interesting you read it.
All in the Title
People make a split second decision on whether they’ll open a message. They’ll read the subject title, and perhaps the first few words if their browser offers a preview, and either open it or bin it.
The title will make or break your messages. To create a good title, you need to make sure there’s a sense of urgency without it sounding too sale like. Lots of exclamation points and a command will only turn people away. Display the title in the form of an invitation. Put the power in their hands. Treat them as an equal.
What Makes People Read?
Overall, the content simply needs to entice your audience. You’ll always get more readers if you’re offering something like a free discount code or an eBook. Make it stand out from your competitors. Deliver a piece of insider news. Make them feel special, almost as if they’re party to something nobody else is.
It’s all about adding value to the lives of each potential reader. If you can do this on a regular basis, these readers will open any future messages without a second thought.
