How to increase your response rates

Getting people to respond to your marketing isn't just about sending more emails. The quality of your data, how relevant your messages are and how easy you make it for people to take action all play a part. This article gives you five ways to improve your response rates.

1. Send to fresher data

Even a good audience can get tired of hearing from the same sender week after week. Rather than repeatedly contacting the same people, look at bringing new contacts into your audience and giving less engaged contacts a rest. Keeping your data fresh, and not relying too heavily on the same audience, can help maintain engagement.

We cover the best ways to obtain data at the start of the webinar mentioned in the next section.

2. Segment your audience

Sending smaller, more relevant groups of contacts messages that suit their interests or needs will often be more effective than sending the same message to everyone. Think about who you're targeting and what matters to them, then tailor your content to match.

3. Keep emails short and clear

Think about how much lands in your own inbox each day. The decision-makers you're targeting may receive many times that, so it's important to make your message easy to understand and act on.

A short, attention-grabbing email with a clear call-to-action button can encourage more people to take the next step. Rather than putting all the information into the email itself, direct readers to a dedicated Landing Page where they can find out more and complete the action you want them to take.

Long emails are often put aside to read later, then forgotten as other demands compete for attention. Force24's research also highlights the potential benefits of sending contacts from an email to a dedicated Landing Page, rather than relying on a typical website visit.

To read more, see Force24's article on optimising your emails.

4. Look beyond open rates

Open rates can be an unreliable indicator of performance, so it's worth looking at the metrics that show whether your contacts are actually taking action. Depending on your campaign goals, this could mean looking at clicks, conversions or other meaningful outcomes rather than focusing on opens alone.

5. Consider adding SMS

SMS is a powerful channel for engagement, but it's often overlooked in favour of email. That can make it a useful way to reach contacts through a channel that other organisations may be using less often.

Consider how SMS could complement your email campaigns and give contacts another way to engage with your messages.