Please Don’t Hit Delete! - University Of Maryland...Women in Ag Wednesday Webinar | Boosting Newsletter Open Rates. Why Improve My Email Open Rates? • Entice people to do business

Women in Ag Wednesday Webinar | Boosting Newsletter Open Rates

Please Don’t Hit Delete!

Kim Rush LynchUrban Ag Conservation Planner

Prince George’s Soil Conservation District


Why Improve My Email Open Rates?

• Entice people to do business with you.• Drive people to your website, blog, or e-commerce

page!• Compel people to share your content.• Optimize your return on investment (ROI).


Why Newsletters?


Why Bother with a Newsletter?

• Deliver important content to inboxes• Build relationships• Build credibility• Share expert information & good news• Invite customers to events• Develop your brand• Provide venue for promotions &

PURCHASE• Pair with other digital marketing channels

(i.e. social media)


Tips & Tools Webinar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYM7cHyfxB4&t=165s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYM7cHyfxB4&t=165s


Boosting Open Rates


Industry Averages

Source: campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/email-marketing-benchmarks/ (8/2019)

Average open rate: 17.92%

https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/email-marketing-benchmarks/


Best Open Rates by Day

Source: campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/email-marketing-benchmarks/ (8/2019)



Top Techniques

• Develop splashy subject lines.• Avoid salesy subject lines.• A/B test your subject lines.• Use preview text wisely.• Send from a real name & email address.• Segment your email list.• Optimize send time.• Clean-up your email list.• Tailor your newsletter content to your readers.


Splashy Subject Lines

Say NO to genericsubject lines!

July Newsletter


Splashy Subject Lines

• Personalize it.• Surprise them.• Propose

something of value.


Personalize It!

• Use first names.• Write to one person...a

friend.• Try emojis.


Surprise Them!

• Fear … No. Try FOMO instead.• Include compelling content.• Try a joke?


Give Them Something!

• Include a values proposition for your reader.


Your Turn!

Develop a splashy subject line for a brewery e-newsletter and enter into the chat box.

“Bob’s Brewery September 2019 Newsletter”

“Kim, wish you were beer. New brew released today.”

Which would you open?


Salesy Subject Lines • Ditch ALL CAPS.• Dump excessive exclamation

points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!• Avoid sales promotions in the subject line. • Forget words like `Buy Now’ or `Free.’


Test Subject Lines

• Focus on one element.• Test out 2 subject lines with a small segment.• Wait a few hours to see which had better open

rates.• Send email to entire list with the winning subject

line.


Preview Text

• Include a pre-header (second subject line).• Summarize the email.• Add a call to action.


Preview Text

Be mobile friendly!


Reply Names & Emails

Who would you be more tempted to open an email from?

Kim Rush [email protected]

No [email protected]

64% of subscribers say they are likely to read your email because of who it’s from, and 47% of email recipients open an email based on the subject line. Source: https://www.superoffice.com (6/2019)


https://www.superoffice.com/


List Segmentation• Join an email service with list

segmentation tools.• Spend time thinking about

segments.• Allow subscribers to opt-in to

segments• Provide ‘Lead Magnets.’

Source: smallfarmnation.com

https://smallfarmnation.com/


Lead Magnet

Source: sharedlegacyfarms.com

https://smallfarmnation.com/

http://www.sharedlegacyfarms.com/


Send Time Optimization

• Subscribe to an email service with built-in STO.

• Use time zone optimization.

• A/B testing of open rates on various days and times.


List Maintenance• Remove bounces/bad email addresses.• Remove or re-engage unengaged

subscribers.• Review subscriber lists for appropriateness.• Make it easy to unsubscribe or update

preferences.


Survey Readers• Ask your readers what they want to learn about

your farm business.• Narrow down what you want to learn from them

& design a survey.• Target your list segments.• Embed the survey in the email.• Draft a compelling survey invitation.• Thank your readers for their feedback.• Adjust future emails accordingly.


Questions?


Contact Information

Kim Rush LynchUrban Ag Conservation Planner

[email protected]

Prince George’s Soil Conservation District5301 Marlboro Race Track Road suite 100

Upper Marlboro, Marylandph: 301.574.5162 ext.3

www.pgscd.org | www.bloominpgc.com

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.pgscd.org/

http://www.bloominpgc.com/

Documents

Please Don’t Hit Delete! - University Of Maryland...Women in Ag Wednesday Webinar | Boosting Newsletter Open Rates. Why Improve My Email Open Rates? • Entice people to do business