For email marketers, there are plenty of metrics to keep track of. One of the most important of all is the response rate. How often are your readers getting back to you? Do they keep conversations going? Are they engaging how you’d like?
Regardless of how you answer these questions, there’s always room for improvement. Read on to discover our tips to increase your email response rate.
What is email response rate?
The email response rate is one of the few metrics that’s self-explanatory. Every marketer who sits down to write an email usually wants some type of engagement. Admittedly, this doesn’t always mean they want a reply.
However, there are some cases where a direct response is desired.
Maybe a person is following up on a product request. They could be requesting feedback in a survey or they could even be asking for feedback about a situation that happened previously. Responses may be requested for several different purposes.
Overall, the response rate indicates how much the user base is engaging with the sender.
How do you measure the email response rate?
While the name itself may be straightforward, there’s a little more to measuring this metric. Email response rate is about the number of emails you get back. Seasoned marketers understand that not all emails sent are actually delivered, so the response rate isn’t just about comparing the number of emails sent to the number of responses you get.
It’s about considering the number of emails delivered compared to the number of responses. Remember, deliverability is the number of emails sent minus bounces.
How to increase response rates
There are many ways to boost your email response rate. The main solution is to send relevant content. The more your audience is interested in what you’re saying, the more likely they are to respond. How can you do this? The first solution is to rely on segments, as this technique makes it easier for you to keep content relevant to readers.
Segmented campaigns can increase revenue by over 700%.
You can also gather information from previous responses. Did a certain topic elicit more feedback? Do some segments respond stronger to some email styles than others? If you find something that works, use it again.
Capitalize on interesting opportunities.
If you’re doing something new that could interest your audience, use it to try and get responses. Launching a new product? Running a big sale? Holding a special event? These are things your audience may be interested in. The more interested and curious people are, the more likely they are to respond.
Does it really matter?
It’s easy to look at the email response rate and think it isn’t a big deal. As long as the information is getting to a person, how important is it if they respond?
Well, response rates, ideally, are used to generate leads. This makes responses a critical step in achieving your desired outcome with email. While your goals may be a little different than those listed above, the place for responses is clear.
Responses mean people feel comfortable engaging, and you’re getting closer to making a sale.
Raising response rates should be a goal for any email marketer because it means you’re getting more in touch with your audience. If you’re getting more responses, your content is becoming more relevant, and your brand is becoming more relevant as well.
What now?
Response rates are a critical component of successful email marketing. Now that you know how important they are for generating leads and driving profitable outcomes, the next step is implementing the proper strategies to boost responses.
Relevant content is always a good solution. Beyond just segmentation, experiment with different types of content. Once you find something your audience is interested in, you can take advantage of this and use it to drive interest.
Segmentation is a great way to deliver relevant content. Learn to segment your list beyond basic demographics for improved results.