Easy Ways To Increase Your Email Click Rates

Email marketing campaigns have provided better ROIs than any other strategy for many years.

And stats show that the industry continues to grow at a rapid pace and will surpass $17.9bn by 2027.

If you’re eager to tap into its full potential to gain increased sales from new leads and existing clients alike, learning how to increase your click through rate is essential.

Optimo provides a range of A.I. tools to help you rifle through your jobs-to-be-done list through automated marketing campaign ideas, blog titles, and Facebook ads.

However, developing a better understanding of how to gain better customer responses remains a vital part of the process.

Here’s how you can boost your average click through rate.

What is an email click rate?

Also referred to as a click-through rate or CTR, the email click rate is a term that simply relates to the number of recipients who click on a link that is contained within the email you send.

It should not be confused with the open rate, which is largely defined by the effectiveness of the email subject line.

The email click rate is a valuable metric and key performance indicator (KPI) that provides valuable insight into the effectiveness of an email campaign, although it does not necessarily mean that the marketing campaign is a success.

Email click rates can be easily calculated using the following formula:

Emails Where The Link Is Clicked / (Emails Sent – Emails That Bounce) x 100

A click through rate is defined as a percentage, hence the multiplication at the end of the process.

The average email click rate across all industries sits at an estimated 2.6%.

However, a winning strategy can significantly increase this rate.

In fact, top performers can hit double figures, meaning at least 10% of all recipients follow the intended call-to-action.

How do email click rates differ from email open rates?

The success of your email marketing campaign can be judged against several KPIs, including conversion rates, ROIs, opt-out rates, and deliverability.

However, the email CTR is most commonly compared to open rates.

Research shows that over 60% of marketers enjoy email open rates of over 20%, which is almost eight times greater than the average email CTR rate.

Like the click through rate, open rates are also calculated as a percentage. The formula used is as follows;

Number Of Emails Opened / Total Emails Delivered x 100

While they are both valuable metrics that help analyze your levels of email marketing success.

And while they can each be used in relation to the same email campaigns, their functions are noticeably different.

The key differences are;

• Open rates focus on telling you the success of your subject line but do not provide any insight into the content within the email itself.
• Click rates don’t tell you if the subject line was successful but will highlight whether people that open the email actively click the links or take the intended CTA.
• Click through rates show the overall success of the email whereas open rates just let you know whether the email was actually opened.

The main factors impacting the open rate are the subject line, the quality of your email subscription list, and the times that you send an email.

For click rates, though, it takes aspects like the design, engagement levels of your content, and CTAs into account.

For the best insight into your email campaigns, both metrics should be measured.

The benefits of increasing your email click rate

For starters, you are six times more likely to get a click through from an email marketing campaign than a tweet, which should instantly highlight the benefits of placing added attention on your email strategies.

Unless you’re seeing a 100% click through rate, improving this metric should be viewed as a priority.

There are many reasons to consciously focus on your email CTR, including but not limited to;

• Your email click through rate is far lower than the open rate, meaning there is a lot of room for potential improvement.
• High open rates are irrelevant if recipients subsequently ignore the message within the email whereas a high CTR actively puts users on the path to conversion.
• Improved email CTRs indicate that the quality of your content creation is high, which should also aid issues like digital PR and blog content.
• A low click rate could be attributed to many attributes ranging from designs to CTAs but once you improve this figure, your new goal is simply to write better subject lines.
• An average of 8 touchpoints are needed to gain sales and, when a recipient clicks the link within your email, it keeps them interacting with the brand.

High click through rates don’t guarantee increased conversions but they are a great indicator of a successful strategy and show that your emails have moved consumers along the sales funnel from the point of Awareness to Interest, Desire, Action, and Loyalty.

Better still, click through rates can be used to analyze email campaigns to new email subscribers and loyal customers alike.

How to boost your email click rate

The above insight into email marketing benchmarks gives you a target to reach.

Ultimately, though, your greatest competition is yourself rather than other companies.

So, even if your click through rate figures are above average, there is always room for improvement.

To see the desired click through rates, you must develop a clear strategy. Use the following steps for guidance and you won’t go far wrong.

Know the purpose of your email marketing campaigns

First and foremost, you must identify what you actually want the email marketing campaigns to achieve.

Each email should only have one objective in mind, although this may subsequently lead to additional goals later on.

In turn, you should ensure that;

• The subject line is relevant while also engaging enough to boost your open rates.
• Check that the CTA is relevant to your objective.
• Confirm that the keyword intent within the main body is right.
• Produce content that actively leads recipients to follow the intended CTA.

The 80-20 rule, also known as the Pareto principle states that only 20% of your emails should be promotional and focus on a sense of urgency.

The other 80% should be educational or entertaining as this will keep prospects engaged with the content.

Once you are seen as an authoritative and trustworthy voice, they will be more eager to open your emails and click the appropriate links to seek further information linked to the topic and your products.

Use visual media to boost your click through rates

Research shows that video may increase email click through rates by as much as 300%.

And it could be your videos or videos produced by others if they are relevant to the company.

Other benefits of utilizing video include but are not limited to;

• Viewers remember more of the message compared to text.
• The word video can be used in the email subject line to boost open rates.
• Video allows you to say lots without making the email itself ridiculously long.
• Videos can break down many communication barriers.

In addition to videos, you should link your images.

They stand out on the page and will often gain clicks even when the CTA links and buttons fall flat.

In fact, this is shown to boost click through rates by upwards of 40% according to some reports.

Even if the figure for your campaign is more modest, it is a simple yet effective route to gain more clicks.

Increase your click through rate with a simplified template

After opening an email, readers should be met with a simple template.

This is because reading an email should be convenient and stress-free.

Of the almost 350 billion emails sent every day, only a small percentage get read.

A simplified template should;

• Opt for a single column that makes it easy to follow and note the CTA.
• Allow you to lead with the most important details, like a headline or CTA.
• Choose a color scheme and layout that matches your branding.
• Use fewer elements and ensure that they are cohesively linked.

One of the best ways to keep emails simple is to break your email subscriber list into sections.

This way you can deliver targeted emails to each demographic rather than trying to provide everything to everyone.

Better still, this will allow you to track the data analytics for each email campaign and gain better insights into which ideas produce the best click through rate.

Mobile responsive email templates are advised due to changing consumer habits too.

More tips to boost your click rate

Key email marketing metrics:

– Opt-in rate
– Open rate
– Click through rate

Every number matters, but these are the core levers.

Invest in optimizing them.

— Phillip Rivers 💡 (@thePhilRivers) April 11, 2023

Understanding the mechanics of email marketing and how to boost your click through rates is one thing.

However, it is possible to go the extra mile by following some very simple suggestions.

Here are six of the best:

Hook the reader early on

By the time your reader has opened an email, you’ve already achieved success in relation to your email subject line.

However, it is equally crucial to keep them engaged so that they want to learn more about the content within the email.

Visual content and a suitable template can set a positive tone while the beginning of your email is also vital.

Whether it’s a blog post intro or a sales pitch, the opening line or two should enable you to lead with your front foot.

Focus on speed

By now, you’ll know that most users abandon slow websites with the drop-off starting after just 3 seconds on mobile devices.

Slow emails are equally frustrating, which is why you should avoid overcrowding the email with data-heavy elements.

Compressed images or links to videos rather than embedded videos can aid the cause.

Of course, the target URL should load fast too.

Otherwise, the click rate figure will be rendered redundant due to bounce rates.

Opitmize for mobile

While over 70% of all email clicks come via desktop, the fact that 60% of emails are opened on desktop means that mobile optimization will yield a 15% increase in click through.

Given the ratio of desktop versus mobile clicks, you cannot afford to ignore the desktop users.

Nonetheless, a conscious effort to ensure that the emails you send will support the display of mobile devices will serve you well.

It should also encourage you to choose quality over length.

Prepare customers for upcoming emails

The people who subscribe to your email newsletters and marketing campaigns are likely to follow you on social media too.

Posting teasers about an upcoming email is a great way to make people aware of it, which reduces the likelihood of being ignored while also building excitement to improve open rates and click rates alike.

When coupled with the right Instagram captions, there is a strong possibility that you’ll also gain new subscriptions.

Time your emails well

Even though you’re directly aiming for high click rates, the truth is that you want high open rates too.

Sending emails at the right time of the day will give you a better chance of getting noticed.

It is suggested that 10 AM can be a very wise choice, although it’s probably best to test a few options.

Once the data provides a clear preference from your users, be sure to get into a routine of targeting them at the right moment to build consistency and anticipation.

Repeat your CTA

In most cases, the email should focus on one clear objective and call to action.

Otherwise, the message can become ambiguous.

More importantly, a large percentage of people that open an email will only skim it. In fact, only 19% read it properly.

So, having your CTA at the top and the bottom of the email significantly reduces the likelihood of it being missed.

It is known as the serial-position effect and should lead to a significant rise in click rates.

Unlock the full power of email marketing today

Email marketing is the perfect way to reach your target audience, not least because the recipients have actively agreed to receive communications from you.

But whether taking the DIY route or using a professional email marketing service, your campaigns will be considered unsuccessful unless they encourage recipients to complete the desired action.

You will not have a clear idea of how recipients respond to your emails unless you monitor the CTRs.

When supported by the tips above, along with the help of Optimo and its range of A.I.-driven tools, increased click rates are assured.

In turn, it should bring increased conversions and sales.