By Sarah Eaton

Your brand is reinforced even in those short seconds of decision when your client or prospect makes eye contact with your company name in their mailbox—whether they choose to open your email or not. But clearly the impact of your e-newsletter is all the greater when readers open it.

How do you get people to open your emails?

Test, test, and test again.

To find the methodology that works best for your specific audience, try these practices:

• Test the subject line: split your list in half and send each half the same newsletter with a different subject line.
  
  Do people respond better to "Technology Update" or "Ten Reasons to Upgrade Your System"? Whether a more formal or casual method works best depends on your client base and the image your company wants to project.
  
  
• Test the from-line (display name): half the list could be from “Technology Company” and the other half could be from “Jane Smith, CEO.”
  
  Using the name of a prominent person at your company as the sender of your email can create a more personalized feeling. However, if it's a name they don't recognize, they might click delete.
  
  
• Test the timing: test the day of the week and the time of day of the send.
  
  Sources differ when it comes to the best day of the week to send your correspondence. Some industry experts say Monday doesn't work, and some say Monday is the best day of all because everybody else thinks it doesn't work—so there's less bulk email against which you have to compete.
  
  Perhaps you'll find through testing that Tuesday morning is the busiest time of the week in your industry, and there's a lag on Thursday afternoon. Then you'll know Thursday is the best time for you to send.

What if your open rates were great for the first few publications, but have been slowly declining?

There are a couple of variables that are likely to be contributing to your sagging numbers, one that's positive and one that's fixable.

The Good News

Often the trend that accompanies a minor downshift in open rates is a marked decrease in unsubscribes. What this means is that your list is settling, and you’re developing a core readership.

There are certain loyal readers who open and click-through with regularity, and there are other readers who are accustomed to your newsletter popping up in their in-box—they might not open it every time, but they’re holding on to the subscription because they know it holds value and will be a good resource in the future.

The Fixable News

You probably have list fatigue. Now that you’ve developed your core readership, you can take steps to reach out to those inactive readers on your list.

Offer the “older” customers an incentive to get reacquainted (in the subject line). Remember to be very careful when you choose the incentive and the wording of the offer to avoid the dreaded spam tag.

Keep in mind that the quality of your list is indivisibly linked with the quantity of your open rates. Your list is the base for readership interaction. If you're using a list that consists mainly of tenuous connections, your open rates are simply not going to be as solid as they are for another company that uses a list of close relationships and double opt-ins.

Testing your methodology and massaging your list will move you toward your goal of increased open rates. Integrate these practices into your publication cycle periodically to optimize your results.

Sarah Eaton is the List Manager for BeTuitive Marketing. Sarah monitors the impact of interactive marketing—particularly e-newsletters and blogs—on the acquisition, retention and growth of customers. At BeTuitive, she provides guidance to customers on the best ways to test and improve responses rates. Check out her blog, BeTuitive: Actionable Results, at http://www.betuitive.blogs.com/betuitive for the latest strategies in e-marketing.

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