5 Ways to Improve Your Email Marketing Click-Through Rate

Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to connect with new and existing customers! Worldwide, it’s estimated that the number of emails sent and received per day stands at 347.3 billion – a 4.3% increase from the previous year, so it’s no doubt a profitable area of marketing to focus on.

Standing out in an inbox of pushy marketing strategies can be difficult, but we’ve put together some top tips to get you started on boosting that all-important click-through rate (CTR). The good news? They’re simple and effective changes that anyone can utilise!

What is a CTR?

A click-through rate is simply the measure of how many people click on a link, image, or call-to-action within an email. When you monitor your CTR, it can be a key insight as to what your audience is interested in regarding your content. Working out your click-to-open rate is simple. Take the number of people who have clicked on your email campaign, and divide this by the number of emails sent. Once you’ve worked this out, multiply that number by 100, and you’ll have an accurate percentage.

Which Industries See the Highest CTR?

According to GetResponse, in the UK, the average CTR for emails is around 3.51%. In 2022, MailerLite reported that the top three industries for high CTRs were; Media (15.58%), Construction (14.54%) and Architecture and construction (14.26%). With the bottom industries being; Politics (2.73%), Software and web apps (2.91%) and Restaurants (4.05%).

Focus on the Subject Line

One of the most important factors when looking at email CTRs is the subject line of your email. Subject lines should be as clickable as possible because if no one is clicking on your email, you won’t be successful in gaining potential customers.
Although the best practices for subject lines can change here and there (as most areas in marketing do), it’s recommended that they are no longer than nine words or 60 characters. It’s also best to limit punctuation to no more than three special characters to prevent your email from looking too much like ‘spam’.
The key is to keep your subject lines as straight to the point and simple as possible, and the more personal – the better. It’s estimated that any personalised subject lines are 26% more likely to get opened!

Experiment with Segmentation

Segmentation of emails is always crucial to take into account. With the majority of email lists, it’s good to bear in mind that not every email blast will appeal to every customer – in fact, to some, it’ll be deemed irrelevant and swiftly deleted. That’s where segmentation comes into play!

To increase your overall CTR, think about factors such as location, age, gender, and so on. MailChimp states that segmented campaigns have a 14% higher average open rate than non-segmented campaigns.

So, clearly segmenting your email lists will make your email marketing strategy that much more effective, as you’ll be accurately targeting the right people with the right campaigns.

Use the Right Email Formatting

Using the correct formatting can be a make or break when it comes to people staying on your email or abandoning it. One simple tip to make your email more user-friendly is to ensure your email template is optimized for mobile.

Over 1.7 billion people use their mobile devices to check their emails, compared to 0.9 billion who prefer using desktops, so it’s essential not to overlook this! Consider using a responsive email design that allows emails to resize to different screen sizes. And, make sure to A/B test with different variables to see which works best for your business! From image-based to more text-heavy emails, comparing different factors will give you more direction with your overall strategy!

Include Social Sharing Options 

Including social sharing options within your email marketing strategy is a great way to increase click-through rates. Studies have shown that including just one social sharing option within an email template can increase your results significantly. 

Promoting social sharing within your email marketing campaigns is simple. Incorporating social icons within your email template is an effective way to get more clicks, or if you’re looking for a different route to go down, social sharing can be pushed through a call to action button. Having a block that says ‘follow us on socials’ could be a quick way to encourage your email recipients to click through on your campaign!
One sharing option alone can increase your clicks by 30%, and using three or more can increase your results by over 55% – so if you don’t already have these included, you definitely should consider it!

Include a Call-to-Action

Last but not least, including a solid call to action (CTA) within your email campaigns will instantly help your click-through rate as it’ll drive more people to your website. It’s beneficial to A/B test different elements of your CTA, such as the design and text, to find the most clickable combination!

A call to action can be anything from ‘Shop Now’ to ‘Claim Your Discount’. It’s important to try out different compelling CTAs to make sure you’re utilising them to the best of your ability. The features of a stand-out CTA are things such as; creating a sense of urgency and time sensitivity, focusing on a particular discount or incentive (for example, free delivery), and, most importantly, appealing to the recipient’s interests.
It’s also beneficial to monitor the difference between CTAs and how they’re used. For example, a repurchasing call to action could be ‘Buy Again’, ‘Reorder Today’, or ‘Claim Your Refill’, whereas an abandoned cart CTA might be more focussed on ‘Return To Your Cart’, ‘Checkout Now’, ‘Checkout With Express Shipping’. Knowing the difference between when to use which CTA will inevitably help you to drive sales and increase revenue as a result.

And there we have it! As Digital Media Team, we know that not every tip you utilise for your brand will be instantly successful, but the main takeaway is to test, test and test again to make sure you’re making the most of your digital strategy!