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What is “Open Rate” and how should I use it?
Open rate is a measure of how many recipients open or view a particular email.

When an email is sent most email programs add an invisible piece of code, usually a link to an invisible image on a web server. When the recipient opens the email the image is downloaded and the server records that download as an open for that piece of email.

However it is important to understand that the open rate is not an accurate measure:

• Recording a ‘download = open’ can only occur if the recipients email is capable of displaying html images and that particular option has been turned on.
• There is no way to record an open on text-only emails.
• Recipients may use a preview pane in their email. The preview pane might be displaying the email automatically, downloading the image and therefor registering an open even though the it may never actually be read.

Open rate should therefore never be taken as a true figure.
It is better used as a general guide and as a measure of trends.

What is a typical open rate?
The open rate for any email campaign will depend on how it is measured, when it was sent, the size of the list, the subject, the senders name ..... i.e. there is no typical open rate.

Open rates generally range from 10% to 40%.

Below is a summary of industry benchmark open rate percentages:

There are also some broad trends that impact open rates:

• Specific niche topics, ie. manufacturing, typically have higher open rate.
• Companies and organisation that focus on supporters & enthusiasts, ie. non profits,
  sport teams and churches have higher open rates.
• As the size of the list increases, the open rate tends to fall.
  Smaller companies and organisations are likely to have a more personal relationship with
  their list.

How can I increase my open rate?
Any number of elements can be varied to entice your recipients to open your emails:

• From Line
  Is the from line name immediately recognizable by your recipients?
  Around 60% of recipients will make a decision to open an email based on who it is from!
  Consider personalizing the From Line so that it is relevant to the recipient.
• Subject Line
  The single most important factor! The subject line must resonate with recipients and
  provide a compelling reason to open the email.
  Experiment with subject lines. Include details about the content right in the subject line
  instead of using a standard subject.
  Use words creatively that compels the recipient to take action.
  Split Test your subject lines. Split your list in half, then test using different subject lines
  on each group, to see which gets the best open rate.
• Day of Week / Time of Day
  Send on a different day. If it is early in the week does your email get lost?
  Test different days until you find what works best, some organisations tend to send
  to the list on a Thursday, missing the Monday & Tuesday flood of messages and getting in before Friday.
• Get the important content to the top!
  Remember that many recipients will see a preview of your message before deciding
  to open or ignore it.
  Ensure that your key points are in the top third of the email.
• Content Value
  Is the content original and compelling?
  Are you merely repackaging content?
  When choosing what to open and read, your recipients may choose to open another
  email that has more one-of-a kind information.
• Spam / Junk Filters
  Increasingly legitimate opt-in emails are being caught by filters.
  MS Outlook Junk Filter applies filtering based on specific words and characters in your
  subject line and / or content text.
  Check Microsoft.com for a current list of Outlook Junk ‘filters’.
• List Quality
  A well-maintained list is a foundation for a high open rate.
  Focus your emails by targeting the segments of your list that are likely to find the content
  compelling. Is the email relevant to everyone on the list?
  Long time list recipients may suffer from fatigue. Do you give the same attention to emails
  from ‘XYZ Company”, as you did 12 months ago?
  Consider offering older list members an incentive to purchase.

The one piece that generally guarantees a consistently high open rate is relevant and great
content. Some hints for generating great content consistently:

• If you are sending an email newsletter every month or quarter, immediately after you
  have sent, start you next issue as a draft, you can then add pieces of content to the
  draft as you locate.
• Create a bookmarks folder “Newsletter Content”. As you find content while surfing you
  can simply bookmark it for future reference.

Looking for a 100% open rate?
Talk to us about our ‘Cards’!
The system allows you to send a normal ‘greeting card’ via standard post straight from your computer!

Email: cards@MagikMessages.com