Getting consumers to open your email by careful targeting

<P>To a marketer, the use of the word 'decline' evokes a feeling of dread. We are trained to increase market share, increase growth, increase revenue and increase profits. But, if we take a step back we can see an opportunity here. The decline in email open rates is a fact, and all marketers will face the same challenge, the savvier marketers will rise to the challenge, tackle this head on and ultimately win in the email space.</P> <P><BR>The decline in email open rates is primarily based on two factors. The first being the ever-increasing range of anti-spam features being implemented in email clients. Not so long ago, graphics and links embedded in an email were delivered unhindered to a recipients inbox and would display in the preview panel (in default mode). Now, images, links and rich media are downloaded only when the message is actually opened.</P> <P><BR>This is done to protect users from viewing possibly objectionable images and prevent invisible executables from opening in preview mode. Users must either manually click to load images and links, or turn off this feature in their clients' preferences.</P> <P><BR>Because many email tracking methods use invisible graphics files to indicate if an email has been opened, open rates have inevitably dropped as such features become increasingly common.</P> <P><BR>The second factor relates to ever increasing volume of emails now being received by recipients. As more and more companies switch their communication from print to email, recipients are increasingly selectively opening emails based on their relationship with the sender and, ultimately, the relevancy of the message.</P> <P><BR>To deal with this challenge, marketers need to go back to the basics by focusing on improving open rates through relevancy and personalising their relationship with customers. As marketers improve their knowledge of their customers, they can position themselves to better target more appropriate messages. </P> <P><BR>It's also important to improve the level of personalisation in a message. This can range from simply addressing customers by their name, to the more complex by merging dynamic content to create highly personalised versions of messages to individual customers or strategically targeted segments. Marketers should selectively target their customers based upon available data. From experience, the greater the level of targeting the greater the overall response has been to the message sent. </P> <P><BR>The decline of email open rates is not a bad thing. It just makes the marketers of this world work harder for their money. The key is to remember that the rules of direct mail also apply to email. Go back to the basics of making your content relevant, and personalise and build that relationship. In fact use that as your mantra -- relevancy, relationship, targeting -- and, in the end, you will reap the rewards as you beat the competition to that increasingly elusive inbox.</P> <P> </P> <P>Etienne Maccario, manager, digital marketing, ICLP</P>