I’ve written millions of emails and over 500 blogs. Literally. After years of analyzing open rates for both businesses and nonprofits, I’ve boiled down what I’ve seen are the top 3 principles of getting read.

Click here to check out one of our highest opened blogs ever.

3 actions to make your open rate skyrocket.

1. Make it personal. (both the headline and content). The days of generic blasts are over. “Dear Valued Customer” makes my stomach churn. Talk to someone, not at him. Be real, get personal and share your stories. Here’s a fun personal story of mine for you- check out why I had to beg in the streets of Jerusalem.
2. Make it short. In the year 2000 our attention span was 10 seconds. Today our attention span is 8 seconds. The attention span of a goldfish is 9 seconds. Yes, you read that right. Data has revealed that people spend on average 15-20 seconds reading an email. Keep your communications short, sweet and to the point.
3. Make it easy. Put a link in the first few sentences, specifically within the first 2 lines. Make it easy and enticing for the reader to click right away. I discovered the first 2 lines principle recently when analyzing a bunch of email data, and boy was that a shocker! Most people think that a link placed later in the email will keep readers scrolling down. Not so. Get them to interact early on.

Here’s why these 3 actions improve open rates.

• Making it personal draws a reader in.
• Making it short gets the reader to finish.
• And putting the link early on, gets the reader to interact.

So, I’ll practice what I preach and keep this short and sweet!

Just for fun, check out these 2 blogs which were amongst our top 10 best email list to see how personal content and headlines make for good readership.

“My daughter caught me red handed”

“My private thoughts on Trump’s election”

Taking you from where you are to where you want to be.

Jon

P.S. What’s was the best email you ever sent and why? I’d love to hear your insights. Reply to this email or give me a ring at 410-903-4653.