What Affects Your List Open Rate?

If you have a good converting squeeze page, the next thing you will be wondering about is your list open rate.

I am sure you’d like to know the sweet spot when it comes to the length of an email or the frequency of your emails. I don’t have that data but I can tell you what happens to the mail I get.

I know that I prefer having the ability to skim quickly so that I can decide almost instantly if I want to act on anything suggested, or simply delete the mail. For that reason, I prefer shorter length emails. I also don’t like to be bombarded by the same person all the time.  In my mind 2-3 emails per week should be tops.

What My Personal Email Behavior Says About Another’s List Open Rate

Now let’s look at specifics. I have selected three marketers from among the many from whom I receive mail and analyzed ten emails from each of the three marketers.

Now it is apparent that length is not the only factor for me. I happen to appreciate quite a lot about Marketer 1 and 2, although for different reasons.

Marketer 1 has lots of ideas (specific tactics) and lots of offers, usually priced low. She typically writes about two sentences at the start of the letter concerning something she is doing or thinking about, and then she gets quickly to her point. I like that, and like her example and marketing focus, and that is in spite of the high frequency of her emails, which I don’t normally like from a marketer.

Marketer 2 has a different style, describing big ideas – marketing strategies – sometimes profoundly. A big factor is my interest is the topic about which he normally writes (collaboration!). He definitely writes long messages, often repeating verbatim huge portions of what he has written in previous mails, so I have gotten to the point of skipping quite a few of his letters.

Ironically, Marketer 3 writes short letters but until I did this study and actually counted the words, my perception was that his emails were too long for me; yet they average the same length as those of Marketer 1. Why did I have that misperception? I believe it is because most of his letters start with a personal story that takes about half the letter and with which I cannot relate at all. In addition I find that I flat out disagree with many of his information “nuggets.”  Finally, he often misspells words, making the message even harder to skim. In short, the letters seem long because they seem irrelevant and although short, it is not easy to find the main point. I can scan the 1500 word letters from Marketer 2 faster… and more profitably. So why don’t I just unsubscribe?

How A Feeling of Connection Affects Your List Open Rate

Generally, I am more apt to open and skim a marketer’s letter if I feel a connection with him or her. The connection may have resulted from having met this person at a live event, or because of a Q&A call with the marketer, a Facebook group interaction with the marketer, an email exchange, or something similar. I believe that a personal connection plays a huge role in open rates, but, as with the average length of a letter, it too is not the only factor.

As it happens, I have met all of the 3 marketers in the above table at one or more live events. I have bought products from all three. All three have helped me in direct ways with one of my projects.

It is a factor in why I continue to open Marketer 1‘s letters, even though they come daily and occasionally twice a day.  I have unsubscribed from other marketers whose letters came at a very high frequency but with whom I had no connection. If I did not have a connection with her, there is a good possibility I would unsubscribe because of that.

Marketer 1 is the very successful Connie Ragen Green. She is adept at connecting with her list. For example, she conducts frequent Q&A calls with her list at no charge. Several times I have written to ask her a technical question and she has responded almost instantly with a personal note (no support desk disconnect).  I don’t know if that practice is scalable, but she has written a book called Huge Profits With a Tiny List. Better to have a strong list open rate with 5,000 people than a terrible open rate with 100,000 people.

Getting back to Marketer 3, my “connection” with him plays a part in why I have not unsubscribed while opening maybe only 15% of what he sends me. He has reached out to me on several occasions and, while some of his letters just turn me off, I am reluctant to cut myself off from his list. See how “connection” plays a significant role?

What Else Affects List Open Rate?

Note that each item below includes the word “must.” Take it with a grain of salt. I recommend following the items below as a starting point. Go ahead and test, slowly so as not to provide a chaotic meal to your subscribers, and make changes that seem right for you and your list. (And BTW, I am aware that I need to practice these points more faithfully myself.)

(Pic From Ayzek.com)

The information you share must stay congruent with the reason people joined the list. What did your opt in (lead gen) page offer? What did it say explicitly and implicitly? That’s what most of your content and offers must be about. If you want to talk about and sell something else, create a new offer, new opt in page, and new list. I joined the list of Marketer 2 because of his expertise in bringing people together and in teaching collaborative marketing. Ken McArthur delivers on that promise and I stick with his email because of that.

You must provide some value.  Otherwise, why exactly do you think I will open your mail? It has to go beyond sell, sell, sell for your service, event, or product.

The “From” line in your email often provides the biggest and fastest impact on your list open rate. You must make sure that there is congruency there as well. I recommend putting your name and picture on your opt in page and your thank you page. Then make sure that same name appears in the “From” line of your mail.

The “Subject” line plays a huge role; I think that is pretty well known. There are a number of training programs that will teach you about the “Subject” lines with the highest open rates. Ryan Deiss covers that in a course called Sneaky Little Email Tricks.  Don’t be fooled by that title though; tricks as in tips are good; tricks as in tricky, or getting people to open a letter for one reason only to talk about something else will eventually cause people to mistrust you.

Keep your letters brief. Going beyond 400 words is not brief.  It is good to build the expectation of, “I’ll learn something useful and it won’t take long.”

As mentioned already, you must develop a connection with your list. It has to be authentic.  The style must be yours. That said, taking two sentences to say something about what is happening in your life (no drama!) helps. Keeping an open tone helps.

We all know that your list is your biggest asset.  However, developing a higher list open rate is one step closer to higher conversions and more profit regardless of the size of your list.

Please use the comments to share your ideas and experiences as to what affects a marketer’s list open rate.

You might also want to see these related posts:

1. Marketing Tactics Mastermind Open to a Few People
2. Review of 3 Tools |MySpeed, TimeTrade, Titanpad
3. Collaboration for Entrepreneurs | A Sampler of Ideas
4. Collaborative List Building | Have You Tried it Yet?
5. Sources of Shiny Objects That Smack Fledgeling Marketers