Wondering what kind of open rates you should be getting from emails you send to your customer email list? This study by MailChimp looks at over 570 MILLION emails by small business users to their customers.
There’s a searchable table in the article with the results. And, here are some suggestions MailChimp has as to how to improve the chances of your email being opened:
Tips for improving your stats
- Boring works best. When you write your subject line, don’t sell what’s inside—tell what’s inside. Read our study on writing effective subject lines.
- If you want people to open your emails, you need to get past their spam filters first. Avoid using spammy keywords and phrases, and avoid using ALL CAPS or too many exclamation points. The best way to avoid spam filters is to learn how they work.
- Too many hard bounces is a sign of an old, stale list. People change email addresses every few months. Make sure you keep in touch with your list regularly (at least once a quarter) so they can stay subscribed to your list.
- Soft bounces usually mean the recipient is “temporarily unavailable.” Maybe they’re on vacation or their mailbox is full. You can keep those emails and re-try them later (MailChimp auto-cleans soft bounces after 5 failed campaigns).
- Hard bounces mean an email address failed. Maybe it no longer exists, or maybe someone typed their email wrong when they subscribed to a list. But hard bounces might also be spam filter rejections. If you see an abnormally high number of bounces after a campaign, you should read your bounce back records for any messages or “clues” from spam filters (here’s how in MailChimp).
- Abuse complaints happen when recipients click the “This is spam” button in their email programs. That usually means they don’t remember you. Make sure your “From:” and “Subject” contain your company name (so they’ll instantly recognize you). Here are more tips for preventing spam complaints.
