click-through ratesWhat’s are good click-through rates in email marketing? Does it vary by industry? Does a low click-through rate necessarily matter if you’re getting lots of opens?

There’s no hard-and-fast answer to any of the above, but the fact remains that the fewer people who click your email call-to-action, the fewer potential new sales you’ll generate.

So… how can we improve that click-through rate?

1. Have just one CTA

Your subscribers are short on time – they haven’t got the patience to hunt through your email to find out what it is you want them to do. In fact, most won’t even bother trying.

This is why you need just one, clear, strong CTA. And the purpose of that CTA will come from the purpose of the email campaign. Simple.

2. Clean that list

When was the last time you flushed all of the waste from your email marketing list?

That might sound a little cold – they’re people after all – but if your list is full of dead addresses and those who belong to people who are never likely to become customers, your click-through rate will be dismal.

Use your email marketing system to identify subscribers who are inactive and those with very low engagement rates – and remove them. Start with a fresh list of only the most engaged people, and that click-through rate should rise (providing the content is bang-on, of course).

3. Offer a compelling reason to click

Your subscribers aren’t daft, and they’re in this for themselves. It is, after all, their email address to which you’ve sent this message; why should they take action if there’s seemingly nothing to be gained?

Make the benefit you’re offering as clear as day and provide a compelling reason for people to click.  Convince those click-through rates to rise.

They have a problem and you have a solution, so talk about how you can help them with passion, enthusiasm and a strong suggestion that they’ll be missing out if they don’t click the button.

4. Use buttons – not text links

How often have you scoured a marketing email looking for an obvious link to click only to be left frustrated?

Chances are, that email will have had a CTA, but it was probably buried behind a simple text link. That’s pretty useless, as your lighting-fast reach for the ‘trash’ button will have proved.

Always use buttons for CTAs in marketing emails. They stand out, are eminently clickable and… well, your subscribers are simply used to interacting with them!

5. Use a persuasive trigger word

Trigger words are handy little marketing tools that encourage people to take action. Here’s five of the most persuasive:

  • Free
  • New
  • Instantly
  • Bonus
  • Because

Yep, we’ve included ‘free’ – the word you’ve probably been told not to use on pain of death when it comes to email marketing.

Avoid the naysayers; some marketing tactics are as old as the hills because they work.

Wrapping up

We hope the tips above send your click-through rates sky high, but if you think we’ve missed a trick above, get involved in the comments below!