If you’re not seeing over 20% open rates, you’re definitely doing something wrong.
But wait, we’re getting ahead of ourselves…
The sender name and subject line of your emails are the most important factors in getting them opened and read since it’s the first thing your prospects see.
So let’s get into it:
What should my sender name be?
Research found that 45% of subscribers say they are likely to read your email because of who it’s from.
Now it’s crucial to understand that there isn’t a one size fits all approach when it comes to sender names.
It’s all about frequently testing the sender’s email frequently. In most cases, a person’s name performs better than a company name.
How do I write a fantastic subject line?
33% of email recipients open an email based on the subject line. Think about when your friend sends you an email.
Do they capitalize every word and make it look super professional?

Moral of that very short story?
- Use casual subject lines
- Keep your subject lines lowercase
In other words, try not to make your email look too corporate or too professional.
Oh, and one more thing! Whatever you write, don’t make it boring 🙂
How do I properly segment my email list?
89% of marketers don’t segment their email list!
Sad right?
Email segmentation helps you take your messages from an email blast, one-to-many approach to a personalized, one-to-one experience.
To properly segment your email, you must understand the 2 objectives of email marketing:
- Customer retention
- Customer acquisition
Let’s start with customer retention ?
You can segment your lists based on what customers have purchased to suggest similar products.
You can also segment your lists based on the number of times a customer bought from you.
The people that buy the most should receive red carpet treatment and your goal should be to continuously put a smile on their faces.
Here’s a great example from David’s Tea:

Now for customer acquisition ?
Ditch the salesy emails. Instead of trying to sell, try to help. Your email content should help your prospects solve a problem.
By simply mentioning their pain point and showing them your solution, they’ll naturally gravitate towards your brand.
Since they’re not customers yet, you must identify their interests as soon as possible.
Indie Hackers found a genius way to segment their list based on their potential customer’s interests ?

This approach has allowed them to send valuable emails to each segment. More valuable emails results in a greater percentage of emails being opened.
Any words I should avoid?
- Emails mostly reported as spam included the words “confirm”, “features” and “upgrade”.
- People are less likely to open emails that include a question mark (?) or a hashtag (#).