What Emails Perform Best? The Data Doesn't Lie

It doesn't matter how good your content is, if your email doesn't get opened, nobody will read it.

The Open Rate is the door all emails must get through to succeed.

Below are 7 data-backed, extensively tested best practices to increase your email open rates.

1. Sender Name: Brand vs. Person

Personal names tend to outperform brand names in email sender fields.

• A study by NextAfter found that emails sent from an individual rather than an organization increased open rates by 38%.
• Using a personal name can make emails feel more authentic and trustworthy, leading to higher engagement.
  
  • The Personal Touch Effect: Why the Sender Name Personalization Hack Boosts Open Rates: Voices.com increased email open rates from 28.7% to 43.63% by switching from the generic address, hello@voices.com to Silvana Cordoba, their Customer Experience Manager.
  • 45.90% of the emails are opened depending on the name of sender.

2. Sender Email Address: Generic vs. Personal

Personalized email addresses (e.g., john@company.com) are more effective than generic ones (e.g., info@company.com).

• Personalized addresses can increase open rates by up to 35%, as they appear more trustworthy and less like spam.

3. Plain Text vs. Branded (HTML) Emails

Plain text emails often yield better engagement metrics compared to heavily designed HTML email.

• Plain text emails have 21% higher click-to-open rates and 17% higher click-through rates than HTML emails. Source: BenchMark Email
• Adding elements like GIFs or heavy templates can reduce open rates by up to 37%. Source: Mailtrap

4. Personalized Newsletters vs. General Newsletters

Personalized newsletters significantly outperform general ones.

• Personalized emails have 29% higher unique open rates and 41% more unique click rates than non-personalized emails. Source: Porch
• Marketers have noted a 760% increase in revenue from segmented campaigns over bulk newsletters. Source: SmartrMail

5. Impact of Segmentation on Marketing Campaigns

Segmentation greatly enhances email marketing performance. Sources: Reddit and Designmodo

• Segmented email campaigns drive 30% more opens and 50% more click-throughs than unsegmented ones. Source: Sender.net
• 77% of email ROI comes from segmented, targeted, and triggered campaigns.

6. Subject Line Best Practices (Stay Fresh - These Are Easy to Forget)

Based on insights from SubjectLine.com and Guru Media, advisors to Singulate, here are 10 key rules:

1. Keep it Short: Aim for 4 words or 30-50 characters. Source: Mirabel Marketing Manager
2. Use Numbers: Starting with a number can increase open rates by 20%. Source: Social Media Examiner
3. Include Dates: Subject lines with dates can generate a 38% higher open rate. Source: subjectline.com
4. Add Emojis: Relevant emojis can boost open rates by 25%. Source: Social Media Examiner
5. Create Urgency: Phrases like "Last chance" or "Ends today" can prompt immediate action. Source: Designmodo
6. Avoid Spam Triggers: Limit punctuation and avoid ALL CAPS to prevent spam filters.
7. Turn It Into a Question: Questions evoke curiosity and increase open rates by 20%. Source: Jay Schwedelson
8. Test Different Approaches: Regularly A/B test subject lines to see what resonates with your audience. Source: Segmentify

7. Ideal List Size for A/B Testing

For statistically significant A/B testing:

• Aim for at least 1,000 contacts in each variation. Sources: Marketo LinkedIn
• If your list is larger, allocate around 20% to the test (10% for each variation) and send the winning version to the remaining 80%. Source: MailerLite

Save this post as a checklist to verify that your email campaigns are fully optimized to perform their best before you hit send.

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