How To Get More People to Read Your Emails

Despite the rise in social networking and instant messaging, email is still the most common use of the internet for users around the world and it’s often the first thing people do when they log on.

One of the most common questions we get asked here at Evently is; “How can I get more people to open my emails?” Once you’ve spent time building up a list of engaged subscribers, there are several simple ways to improve your email marketing and increase your open rates.


There are plenty more guides to Email Marketing on our blog, so feel free to browse around or get in touch with a member of the team if there’s something you would particularly like us to write about.


Evently’s top 5 tips  for encouraging people to open and engage with your email content:

1. Personalise your subject lines
The first step to get your subscribers engaging with your content, is to encourage them to open your email in the first place. You probably already know that great subject lines are the most important thing to plan when trying to get more people to open your emails, but have you considered using a personal approach when targetting specific customer groups?

Example: “Special Event in Brighton This Week” or “Emma’s 10% discount”

2. Don’t be boring
A great way to increase open rates is stop sending bland or heavy text emails. Try experimenting with a different style once in a while and mix up the content to video, music, a poll or a useful diagram in it. Just make sure you check that your beautifully designed email is properly optimised to be received on different devices and internet browsers.

Example: Include music videos, exclusive pictures and other rich media like polls, games or competitions

3. Be less available
Consider reducing the number of email messages you send. Think about the type of people your subscribers are and try to imagine how much email they get from other sources everyday. Every email message you send should be meaningful and it’s often true that the fewer number of emails you send your recipients, the more often they’ll open them.

Example: Consider changing up a weekly email to a bi-weekly or monthly email message. It’s very rare that you would need to send more than one email a week

4. Target your audience
How much do you know about your email subscribers? Why not consider sending a short survey or poll to learn more about your audience. You can then divide your audience up based on their responses, to help target your contact lists better. Also, don’t be afraid to give your list s spring clean now and again, if an email recipient hasn’t opened their last 10 emails, it’s unlikely that they ever will.

Example: “Rock music fans rejoice – Win free tickets to Download festival” or “Love folk music? Come down to our venue this Thursday”

5. Try again
Once your email campaign has ended, make sure to pay attention to the people who didn’t open your email at all. It’s possible to resend this email to all individuals who did not open the first email as a way of grabbing people’s attention a second time around, or offering an updated deal.

Example: Turn “Only 30 tickets left for Supergrass at KOKO” into “Only 10 tickets left for Supergrass at KOKO” a week or so later