How to Increase Email Open Rates with H2H Subject Lines | Literal Humans

How to Increase Email Open Rates with H2H Subject Lines | Literal Humans

The average email open rate across industries is 19.66% in 2022. If your open rates are lower than this, it could be due to two reasons. Firstly, subscribers may not want to hear from you, but this is unlikely since they signed up for your emails. Secondly, you may not be framing your subject lines to show what's in it for them. Before people open your email, they want to know that it's written for 'them'. The job of the email subject line is to make the reader know they want to see the email.

In a study on solar adoption in 29 different cities, researchers found that people were twice as likely to adopt solar power when the message focused on personal gain for the adopter rather than social responsibility. This shows that people are more interested in what benefits them personally. It's important to remember that people don't care about you or your product. If you focus on yourself, you will lose them. Instead, focus on how your email will benefit the reader.

Research has shown that the brain releases dopamine, a feel-good chemical, as a reward for satisfying our curiosity. When we encounter a knowledge gap or something we don't know, we want to figure it out. To increase email open rates, use headlines that cater to at least one of the five dimensions of curiosity: deprivation sensitivity, joyous exploration, social curiosity, stress tolerance, and thrill-seeking. By tapping into these dimensions, you can create subject lines that pique the reader's curiosity and make them want to open your email.

Triggered emails have been found to perform almost twice as well as newsletters. In a study by GetResponse, triggered emails had an open rate of 35.64%, while newsletter open rates sat at 20.58%. This shows the importance of sending personalized and timely emails to your subscribers. However, personalization doesn't just mean adding a first name tag to your subject line. In fact, the GetResponse study found that open rates were lower when subject lines included this form of personalization. Instead, focus on creating subject lines that are specific and set clear expectations for the reader. For example, subject lines with the word "now" scored an open rate of 31.73% in the study.

It's also important to consider the mobile experience when crafting subject lines. Most people open emails on their mobile phones, and the average subject line is 44 characters long. However, mobile phones can only accommodate around 33 characters in the field of view. This means that shorter subject lines are more likely to be fully visible on mobile devices and increase the chances of them being opened. Keep this in mind when creating subject lines and aim for brevity.

In Peter Kaufman's concept of the three buckets of knowledge, he identifies physics, math, and human history as the three most fundamental sources of knowledge. These three buckets offer us endless learning and mental models. Physics and math provide us with the rules that the universe and life on Earth play by. Human history, on the other hand, provides us with the rules that humans have played by.

History is subject to geology, as the geologic eye sees the surface of the Earth as a fluid form. History repeats itself in the large because human nature changes slowly, and humans respond in stereotyped ways to frequently occurring situations and stimuli. Fragile relationships break easily, but strong win-win relationships have a glue that keeps parties together. Adaptiveness to changing reality is crucial, as a lack of adaptiveness is a losing strategy when the surrounding environment shifts enough. Our systems of political and economic organization are driven by decisions on how to give order and fairness to the brutal reality created by human competition.

Knowledge, the kind that can be passed down from generation to generation, is a unique outcome in the human culture bucket. Unlike other biological creatures that only pass down DNA, humans have the capacity to accumulate learning and pass it on. This accumulation of knowledge is what sets us apart and allows us to progress as a society.

In conclusion, increasing email open rates requires framing subject lines to show what's in it for the reader. Focus on personal gain rather than social responsibility and tap into the reader's curiosity by creating subject lines that cater to one of the five dimensions of curiosity. Triggered emails perform better than newsletters, so personalize and time your emails accordingly. Keep subject lines short and concise, considering the mobile experience. Lastly, remember that knowledge is a unique outcome in the human culture bucket, and it is our ability to accumulate and pass down learning that sets us apart.