How to get more email opens with effective subject lines

Email marketing is one of the most effective ways for a small business to market and increase their revenue. According to email marketing experts, email marketing can impact your company positively in two important ways:

1. Return on Investment (ROI): For every $1 you spend on email marketing, you get $46 in return!
2. Email accounts for 23% of sales for most small businesses.

So, you can see – if you are NOT using construction email marketing for your business, you are missing out on a very effective marketing opportunity with a great ROI.

An important detail to remember: emails will only work for your business if you get the recipient to OPEN the email. The average office worker receives 121 emails each day. The question is:  how do you stand out?

It’s All About the Subject Lines

The most important – and first – factor in someone deciding to open an email is the subject line. Let’s talk about strategies on how to craft the most effective subject lines for your emails.

It really doesn’t matter what is in the content of your email if nobody opens it – so that is why subject lines are so important. There are many things to remember when writing subject lines to get the best possible open rate.  Here are three ways to ensure your email gets read:

1. Make it Personal.
   Research shows that personalizing your subject line to the recipient increases your open rate by 14%. You can personalize it by putting the recipient’s first name, company name, location and/or industry – really anything that lets them know this is not a mass email and it is specific to them! Many customer relationship management systems (CRMs) out there allow you to use a feature called Mail Merge to automate the process of personalizing the subject line. This is a process that essentially puts a placeholder in the subject line where the FIRSTNAME would go and inserts that based on your CRM data.
2. Create a Sense of Urgency!
   Ever heard of FOMO? It is short for “Fear of Missing Out.” This is a social anxiety that is defined as a desire to be connected with what others are doing.  By adding a subject line that creates urgency, or evokes that FOMO feeling, you will compel your prospect to open the email. Try starting your next email with “Don’t miss out …”
3. Use an Emoji ?.
   I know this may be foreign territory for many of you, but trust me – emojis are here to stay and they can be very effective in your email marketing. A recent study finds that not only will using emojis in your subject line lead to higher response rates, but also states that only 2% of all companies are doing this. So, don’t be afraid to add an emoji or two to your next subject line – you will ❤️ the results!

Email marketing is a great way to drive revenue growth and customer relationships for your construction business. Getting people to OPEN the email is a big first step, and the three tips mentioned above will help you get more email opens and achieve your email marketing goals.

Here is the best part for all you readers that currently use Buildertrend: this functionality is all included in our solution. In our Lead Management feature, your Buildertrend Coach can help set up email templates for subject lines, show you how to use mail merge to mass personalize emails, and help you track links you include in the email content. To see all of this in action, schedule a demo with one of our product specialists today.

Extra Tip: Don’t Forget About the Preview Text!

Over the last few years, top email clients (Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, etc.) have moved to include a Preview Pane view in your inbox that is for all incoming emails. This gives your recipient a sneak peek at the first 8-15 words in your email.

It is important for your preview text to be as compelling as your subject line, because it shows up just below and helps drive the reader’s decision whether or not to open the email. Make sure you mirror the same strategy for your preview text as you do for your subject line – make it personal, urgent, and/or throw in an emoji. Preview text will either be the first 8-15 words in your email or a separately coded piece of text – your choice!

 

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Buildertrend Staff