5 easy tricks to get consumers opening your e-mails

Southeast Asia customers have sent over 430 million emails in the first half of 2018. According to GetResponse, an email marketing and marketing automation platform, out of those customers, Singapore users made up 25% of the figure. This marks the country as the second-biggest sender in the region. Considering that Singapore’s population is the smallest of Southeast Asia, Claire Lee, marketing specialist at GetResponse said that there is consistent growth when it comes to email marketing in Singapore. With the many questions about when people are most likely to open and read emails, here are some best practices for marketers out there. 1. Preheader use The preheader typically appears beneath or beside the subject line clients. It offers the recipient a snapshot of your email, without having to open it. Emails in Singapore are more likely to be opened if there is an use of a preheader. It accumulates to 29.37% open rate compared to 18.35% for emails without preheaders. The click, unsubscribe, and spam rates however, stay the same. 2. Emoji use Not everyone likes emoji – but they are said to help attract subscribers, improve brand visibility, and make messages more engaging, linking to higher open rates. However, that is not the case for Singapore. For emails sent via GetResponse, emoji seem to have little effect on open rates. 3. Subject line length In Singapore, subject lines around 80-89 characters get a higher average open rate of around 27.26%. Meanwhile, across Singapore and Southeast Asia, shorter subject lines tend to get higher open rates compared to the results from an earlier global study. This could be attributed to the fact that around 82% of Singaporeans have a smartphone. There’s less space for the subject line on mobile, compared to web or desktop. 4. Personalised subject lines Personalisation is when you use a subscriber’s unique details in an email, such as first name, email address, purchase history, or gender. Personalised emails in Singapore get significantly higher open rates (3.27% increase) and click rates (1.41% increase). 5. Special offers in subject lines Singaporeans are more likely to open emails with a discount or free delivery in the subject line, compared to a “% off”. The report said that people find percentages confusing to calculate, and are more likely to click on offers that don’t use them. Moreover, Singapore’s open and click rates by hour have been fairly erratic. According to the report, Singapore’s open rates are lowest on weekends, but remain consistent on weekdays – with a slight 1.4% rise on Fridays, and an average 18.94% open rate. Retail had the best open rate (29.53%), while financial services had the highest click rate at 6.51%. Unsubscribe and spam rates were low across the board.