We send lots of emails – over a billion per day.
As we’ve been curating key benchmark data representing Q1 2018, one thing became abundantly clear. Publishers get 2.9 times more clicks than retailers.
In the first quarter of 2018, the unique open and click rates for publishing clients were 22% and 4.2%, respectively. When compared with the 14.7% open rate and 1.6% click rate of multi-channel retailers within the same timeframe, the difference in performance is clear.
Why are publishers having more success in getting people to their website?
Content. Most publishers sell with stories. They’ve perfected the craft and have teams of experienced writers creating content their readers care about. They track every important metric, and use their success and readership to sell more advertising and services. They provide a clear call to action.
Publishers tell stories that their email subscribers care about.
We get hundreds of emails every day and have been gradually conditioned to open only the emails we care about. We may not unsubscribe, but we’re tuning out emails that aren’t offering value to us.
What does this mean for you?
Embrace the art of storytelling. We’re all consumers and we want to believe. We want to be a fan. We want to be an advocate. We bond with brands that make that easy to do. Tell stories that your subscribers care about and see how that impacts your opens and clicks over time. Provide a very clear call to action that continues to develop the story.
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Tell the origin story of your brand
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Tell the origin story of your products or services
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Tell the story of a customer who’s extremely happy
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Tell the story of your employees
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Tell the story of your industry and what makes you different
Find the balance between promotional and transactional emails, and storytelling. Many customers will still look to their inboxes to keep up with sales, promotions, electronic receipts, but test how stories perform in your cross-channel marketing campaigns.
Download the Q1 2018 Email Benchmark Report today.
