Make your email its best.
As we've said, you want to send fantastic emails-- the kinds of emails that your readers will open, read, and take action from. We've already talked about many important ways to optimize emails: A/B testing, clean and simple design, concise body copy, a clear call to action, and friendly tone.
Now, let's dig a little deeper and talk about some of the more advanced ways to enhance and optimize your emails.
Use Personalization Tools
In MailChimp, you can use merge tags that allow you to include people's name (or other information) in an email-- using names is a great place to start! In order to personalize emails, you can also segment emails to specific groups and include demographic or other personalized information in the email. Personalization makes it feel like you are talking to donors as individuals rather than just a huge block of email addresses.
Make the email as personal as possible to increase the open rate.
Personalize "To" and "From" Fields
Another easy way to increase your email open rate is to use personalized information in the To and From Fields. Instead of sending an email from a generic account like "infow" or "inquiries@", have the email come from an actual person's email. People are much more likely to open an email if they see that it comes from a person instead of a generic account.
Include Social Sharing Links
Include links for donors to share your email via their social media channels. Social Sharing links have been linked with higher click-through rates, and they give you the potential to widen your reach.
Have a Plain Text Version
When you send an HTML version of your email through an email service, make sure to include the option to click for a plain text version. Plain text doesn't look as good as the HTML version, but it helps make sure your donors can read it if they're using a device that doesn't support your email.
Make your Email Mobile Friendly
According to some research, people see upwards of 80% of their emails on their phones. If you have nicely designed emails that are not mobile friendly, this could spell big trouble for you. Most email services include this as part of their basic services. If you're not using an email service like MailChimp or Constant Contact, we highly recommend you do.