9 (+ 🎁) tips to increase the open rate of your internal emails
Increasing the open rate of internal mail is challenging. The subject of the message should be unique, different and attractive enough.
Increasing the open rate of internal mails has been, is and will be one of the greatest challenges for communication and human resources professionals. It's frustrating to spend time writing emails about relevant topics and having employees barely listening to them. But why? The daily volume of emails they receive undermines their ability to discriminate what is or is not interesting. The subject of the message is key to catch their attention, so you must create a unique, differential and attractive. Do you want to know how?
At Atrivity we have tried many practices to achieve a high opening rate. We have compiled the 9 that have offered the best results, so you can put them into practice and help you with a positive impact.
#1 Pinch the curiosity of your employees!
In the subject, use expressions that generate mystery or curiosity and arouses the interest of the recipient.
Using interrogative phrases helps boost interest. For example, if you want to communicate something about corporate culture, you can use subjects such as: Do you know the 3 key values to grow in the company? Do you know the 2 new things that will be crucial in the next 2020?
Another way to pique curiosity is to challenge the employee to do something that others have already done, such as: Your colleagues have already signed up for the new webinar, what are you waiting for? or, You are the only one missing in your department, do you want to sign up?
2# Strengthens the bond with the employee through personalization
The use of customization tokens, such as the employee's name or workplace in the subject line adds a sense of intimate relationship with the organization. Everyone loves the sound of their own name, right? That's why you'll see an increase in open if you include some custom element. In fact, a research by Mailchimp shows that emails that included the recipient's name in their subject line had a higher opening rate than emails that did not. If we go one step further, if we have personalised information such as the days you have been in the company, or the date of your last training, ... it can help us a lot in personalisation.
An example: James, you've been in "company name" for 6 months, and we want to tell you more...
3# Use simple, concise and straightforward messages!
Employees check the inbox quickly, so it's essential that if the subject line can't be mysterious or shocking, at least need to be short, simple and straightforward avoiding using a complex and flowery language. It is also important not to create false expectations: the subject must be aligned with the body of the mail. Not meeting the expectations generated can cause a negative effect! Even if the opening rate increases.
Examples:
1 .For product training: Which 3 products are the best sellers? Get to know them
2. For training about a new communication tool: Get to know "name of the company's" chat.
3. To invite to an event: Day booked: December 13, KickOff Sales
4# Trigger employees actions by generating "urgency".
Subjects in the form of call to action can help to have a more successful opening. These types of subjects work very well when it is necessary to communicate messages of great importance or require immediate attention. Action verbs or words like "urgent" or "important" can significantly increase the openness rate of your internal communications.
From Atrivity, we recommend to our clients that in order to achieve the maximum participation to have a clear goal. For example, we recommend to use typical subject such as:
Last 48 hours to activate your training
Last warning! Download Atrivity for the "event name"
3,2,1 now! Activate the app and participate in the "name of the training"
5# DON'T YELL AT YOUR WORKERS!
Why? Excessive use of capital letters and exclamation marks in many cases may appear to be "forcing" rather than "inviting," and this can be very negative. Using capital letters correctly allows to emphasize certain important words that help openness.
Examples:
Do you still NOT know the challenges for the next Q1? DISCOVER IT!
NOW or NEVER! Last days to reserve your place
You are going to ENJOY this event! Find out why
6# How do numbers help build trust?
Including numbers or percentages in the subject line generates a great feeling of trust in the receiver. These types of subjects are used to highlight the benefit of the messages in a quantitative way. If we have relevant data and numbers on how the content of the message can help us in our day to day, there is a greater probability that it will be open.
7 out of 10 employees improve their knowledge with Atrivity
Multiply by 4 your results. New sales training.
86% didn't get this question right. Will you get it right?
7# Don't be boring and... play with words or signs!
There is no better way to increase the openness index than to write an original subject line that catches the attention of employees. A great way to do this is through good wordplay, the use of a ready-made phrase, or even risking unusual messages. The important thing is not to forget that the subject must be related to the body of text and aligned with the values of the company. It is permissible to take risks internally as long as it is in line with the company's image.
Examples
Don't give the brush off! Training: effective sales techniques.
375 pages of training in a 2-hour course. Would you prefer to read?
8# Make your employees feel special.
It is similar to arousing the curiosity we mentioned earlier, it is about asking an important question in the subject line on subject line related to the position held by employees. It's a very simple way to force workers to click to read. Also, writing a special and personalized topic for each employee gives them a sense of belonging, improving the opening rate of their corporate emails.
Examples
Sarah, we're betting on you. We want you to be part of this training.
Ana, you are the talent we need. We trust that you will like this training
Lee, we love your attitude and we want to train you better.
Eric, you are an example for the team. Teach us how to improve.
9# Wait for the right time.
Writing a proper subject line is as important as choosing the best time to send the corporate mail. At this point you will think: What are the best times to send emails? The best time is 10 a.m. from Tuesday to Thursday. On the contrary, the most hated days to receive a business mail are Mondays and Fridays.
And here your 🎁:
No doubt the 9 tips above will be key to increasing the open rate of your emails ... but why using only and exclusively email for internal communication? Have you ever thought about going one step further and using an alternative channel?
Atrivity offers, in a single vision, access to communications and training content, adding game dynamics to increase your openness ratio, understanding and measuring results.
We want to transform the employee's experience by changing the way they communicate and share key content while measuring their understanding and access to all internal communications about new products or corporate culture.
Posted by Roger Martínez
Dec 17 2019
Last updated Feb 10 2020
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