B2B marketers notoriously struggle with getting their emails opened, especially compared to their B2C colleagues.
According to the 2018 Data & Marketing Association (DMA) benchmark report, the average B2B email open rate is 15.1%. Meanwhile, B2C emails have a slightly higher average open rate of 19.7%.
As a marketer, you need to look at more than your open rate. For B2B marketers, we have some good news. B2B emails actually have a higher click-through rate than B2C emails: 3.2% and 2.1% respectively.
The average open rate for B2B email is 15.1% but enjoys a higher click-through rate than B2C email.
How to improve your email open rate
Your B2B readers are busy. There’s a good chance over 100 emails pass through their inbox every day. This is why it’s so important for marketers to design engaging email subject lines that immediately grab attention and peak interest. Use the following tips to help boost your B2B email open rate:
- Keep it short. Five to eight words is ideal. A short subject line is crucial to avoid getting cut off by mobile email apps. Your subscriber can also read it quickly.
- Get to the point. Let subscribers know what you have to say right away.
- Avoid clickbait. Don’t make any promises in your subject line that you can’t keep in the body copy. At best, your subscribers won’t take action and, at worst, you could get reported as spam and damage your future reputation.
- Personalize. Work with a provider like Campaign Monitor to create personalized subject lines that include your subscriber’s real name.
- Don’t be overly promotional. Focus on having a one-on-one conversation and creating authority through high-quality content, not just trying to make a sale.
- Highlight social proof. Instead of making B2B customers look for case studies and testimonials, highlight one right in your subject line.
How to measure your B2B email open rate
Log in to your email service provider and head over to the dashboard. Click on the campaign you want to check, and your open rate should be clearly displayed. Keep an eye on this to see how it changes over time, and don’t forget to check your click-through rate as well.
Providers like Campaign Monitor make it easy to see your average open rate across all campaigns as well as your open rate for individual campaigns. You can also integrate data from platforms like Salesforce, Google Analytics, and Shopify to track your conversion results.
Source: Campaign Monitor
Does it really matter?
Yes. You want to check how your email open rate compares to the general average. It’s also important to know your open rate because, if subscribers aren’t opening emails, they certainly can’t read them.
Knowing how your open rate compares to your click-through rates and other important metrics is extremely helpful as well. An open rate well above the average doesn’t do you much good if no one is taking action. Instead of worrying about isolated metrics, look at the bigger picture.
What now?
Now that you understand the average B2B email open rate, you can take a look at your own to see how it compares. This will help you figure out if your subject lines are engaging subscribers enough to entice them to see what’s inside. Getting your emails opened is the first step. From there, focus on providing high-quality personalized content so they click through and take action.
Are you ready to improve your B2B email marketing game? Check out these ten examples of B2B email strategies that knocked it out of the park.