My Subcribers Opened My Email Newsletter – Now What?
It is always such a thrill to see how many people opened your company newsletter.
What are you doing next?
If you’re like most, you’ll just wonder about those who didn’t open your newsletter.
Instead, let’s focus on what to do next with the people who did open your newsletter.
These tips will be most helpful for a small business owner.
A word about email newsletter open rates
The “open rate” for your newsletter is the percentage of people who open the email. So, if you sent your newsletter to 100 people, and 20 people opened it, you would have a 20% open rate.
There is no single, firm open rate that applies to all businesses.
While a 20% newsletter open rate may not seem like a lot for all of your effort, it’s actually a pretty great result. Keep that in mind when you are looking at your newsletter analytics.
Providers like MailChimp share industry open rates available in your analytics dashboard. If your business is in consulting, you’ll be able to see how your open rates compare with those in the consulting sector.
Remember, for all those on your list who don’t open your newsletter, it still shows up in their inbox. When they see it, they are reminded of you. This is an opportunity to stay on their radar.
What to do after a subscriber opens my newsletter?
There isn’t a lot of information out there that talks about what to do after you send your newsletter.
Think of your newsletter as a conversation starter. When someone opens your newsletter, reach out to them and continue that conversation.
Why should you follow up with people who open your newsletter?
Because by opening your newsletter, these people are telling you they are interested in hearing more about what you have to say.
Now is the best time to make the next move in building your relationship with them. People need to like, know and trust us before they choose to buy from us.
Most of you reading this are probably small business owners. One of the advantages of being small is that you can build and maintain a more personal relationship with your clients, suppliers, and other people in your network.
How not to start the conversation
Say a subscriber named Sally opened your newsletter.
It’s a little odd to call Sally up and say “Hi Sally, I saw that you opened my newsletter yesterday. Thanks so much. How are things?”
Keep in mind, unless the people on their list run their own newsletter, they may not be aware that their opens are tracked. Don’t use this piece of information in your conversation with them. It may make them feel very uncomfortable.
So how do you reach out to Sally and all the others who opened your newsletter, without making them feel weird?
Action list: How to reach out to people who opened your newsletter
Some of the people who open your newsletter will be people you have already gotten to know a little bit, but others will be people you haven’t talked to or reached out to personally before.
Reaching out to people who you don’t know:
- Take the opportunity to introduce yourself, and thank the person for subscribing to your newsletter.
- Ask the person something about their work. For example “I see that you are in ‘XYZ industry’. Do you know about ABC?” Check them out on LinkedIn prior to starting this conversation.
Reaching out to people who you know :
- Ask them how things are going on a specific project you know they’re involved with.
- Tell them about a project you are working on, and ask for their insight.
- Offer to introduce them to someone you think they should meet. For example “I met someone who might be able to help you with your landscaping project. Would you like their name?” Or, “I know someone I think you should meet. Are you open to the idea?”
Those are just a few ideas for connecting with the people who are opening you email newsletters.
Remember that it’s up to you to make the first move. Yes, it is work, and yes, it does go by slowly.
As fast as today’s digital marketing tools are, humans are still much slower to make connections and build trust
Newsletter tips to know
Here are some resources for further reading on how to take your email newsletter from okay to outstanding:
- 10 email best practices
- 10 tactics to increase newsletter subscriptions
- 8 tips to increase your email newsletter’s open rate
- 5 tips to increase your email click-through rates
Do you have any tips for reaching out to your subscribers who take the time to open your newsletter? Have you tried any of the tips from this post? We’d love to hear about it in the comments!
And by the way, New Initiatives Marketing has a monthly newsletter. Sign up to receive one really good actionable marketing tip per month to help you implement your marketing strategy.