There’s a pretty neat strategy called foreshadowing that you can use to improve open rates among email subscribers. You may have seen this used on news programs and talk shows. Right before the commercial break, the hosts announce what’s coming up next. The idea is that you’re intrigued enough to sit through the commercial to see the next segment.
Another good example of foreshadowing is when magazines show images and headlines or short bullets of what’s coming in next month’s issue. Again, the point is to pique your interest and get you to either buy the next issue or even better, get a subscription.
Give your email subscribers exclusive perks
We can easily adapt the above-mentioned example for email marketing by transitioning from what you’re talking about today into what you’ll be talking about in the next email. Be vague on purpose, but grab your email subscriber’s attention.
For example, if you’re talking about why email marketing is important and the next email will be about crafting subject lines to get a higher open rate, you may write something like this: “Keep an eye out for Friday’s email. We’ll talk about THE most important thing when it comes to email marketing. If you don’t get this right, nothing else matters.”
To mix it up, mention what they can find in the next email in the P.S. of your message. Exclusive information is one of the perks of being an email subscriber. If you publish a weekly newsletter, try adding a section on what’s coming in the next issue similar to what you see in a magazine. Keep it simple and use images for the best results.
Hubspot has some more in-depth advice on creating compelling email copy. I highly suggest you give it a look.
But, playing along with our foreshadowing concept, let’s also not forget to recap what we talked about with our email subscribers in a previous message. This works particularly well if you’re writing a series of emails on a related topic. Toward the beginning of your email you mention something you covered in the last email, then move into today’s topic and then wrap it up with a little hint about what’s coming next.
You don’t have to use foreshadowing in every single email. Sprinkle it in here and there where it makes sense. It also gives you a chance to pick up on in the subject line of your next email. Try using something like “As promised…” Even readers who missed your last email might be curious enough to open this one.
Give it a try and see if you start to see higher open rates and more importantly get your subscribers more engaged.