Conversion rate in email marketing – how to optimise your mailing!

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Author: Harald Neuner // 8min
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With the conversion rate, you measure the conversion of a prospect into a customer. Or to put it in a nutshell – your business success. The conversion rate is a key figure that can be used flexibly. You can use it to measure different goals and factors, including your email marketing. If you send e-mails to your customers and prospects, it is important that they perform accordingly.

Successful email marketing is characterised by a high level of engagement. How do you achieve a high level of interaction with your newsletter or other emails? Learn about your conversion rate. It is the basis for your effective campaigns. Pick up your target group exactly where they are.

What is the conversion rate in email marketing?

A survey among users shows that email marketing is worthwhile: Almost 34 % of respondents had already bought or booked a product or service by clicking on an offer in the newsletter (Statista 2019). Around 37 % have at least been inspired to make a purchase with the content of a newsletter.

A significant advantage of a mailing: target groups are familiar with the channel and trust it. This shows: email marketing is worthwhile and should have a permanent place in your online marketing. Take a strategic approach and make your email marketing measurable with the conversion rate. This key figure provides you with the foundation for your optimisation.

 

In email marketing, you can use and measure various key figures:

Here, all key figures are related to each other. A recipient must first receive the email, open it, click on the link and perform the desired action (e.g. click on a link or resume the ordering process). Therefore, it is fundamentally important that you keep an eye on all key figures.

 

With the conversion rate, you again have various options to measure desired actions in relation to the specific factors of the email:

  • Conversion rate in relation to clicks on a link
  • Conversion rate in relation to opened emails
  • Conversion rate in relation to delivered emails
  • Conversion rate in relation to emails sent

Therefore, determine in advance which part of the mailing’s journey you want to measure with the conversion rate or look at all points over a longer period of time. Accordingly, you will learn to understand your conversion rate and can use the results as a basis for optimisation measures. If the conversion rate is already very low when opening the email, it is worth changing the subject lines, for example.

Read the article E-mail marketing for online shops and learn about the possibilities that e-mail marketing offers you.

5 tips to increase the conversion rate in email marketing

Many entrepreneurs and online retailers use email marketing but do not know the conversion rate of their emails. It is immensely important to understand the key figure of the marketing tool in order to increase engagement and thus conversion with improvements, adjustments and optimisations of content, messages and structure.

You can find out how to calculate your conversion rate in the article How to calculate the conversion rate?

1. personalised e-mail

Successful email marketing is personal. Design your mailings individually for your recipients. Address your users individually and convey closeness, a personal connection and trust. Your customers or potential customers will feel more appreciated. This not only significantly increases the open rate, but also the conversion rate. Go one step further and adapt the content and product recommendations to different buyer personas in your target group. With today’s technology, small-scale customer segmentation such as in interests, region or by age is no longer a big problem.

More ideas for personalisation:

  • Use a contact’s name as the sender name.
  • Send e-mails on personal occasions such as birthdays
  • End an email with a signature of a contact person

2. make subject lines appealing

First impressions count – also in email marketing. You can already increase your conversion rate by working on your subject line. A good subject line arouses curiosity, arouses interest, is a maximum of 40 to 60 characters long, is concise, concrete and should be personalised. A subject line that is individually tailored to the recipient and includes his or her name already has a positive effect on the conversion rate when the email is opened. Important: Avoid words in the subject line that are considered critical for the spam filter, such as:

  • Free
  • Free of charge
  • Discount
  • Best price
  • Offer
  • Profit
  • No risk
  • No hidden costs
  • Please help
  • Singles
  • Stream

3. offer added value

A mailing always offers the customer added value. The better the content is presented in the current context, the higher the conversion rate. Provided you know what your customers need, email marketing is the perfect tool to increase the overall conversion rate in your online shop throughout the entire customer journey.

Here’s an example:

A prospective customer comes to your site and finds exactly what he is looking for. He puts his selection in the shopping cart and begins the checkout process. But on the way, he cancels his purchase.

On the one hand, it is important to analyse which touchpoint of the sales funnel is stuck in order to optimise it in a targeted manner. You can read about the options available to you in our article “Shopping cart optimisation: How to optimise the shopping cart for more sales“.

On the other hand, you have the option to send personalised emails that bring back shopping cart abandoners. Our smart software recognises the reason for the abandonment and sends individual emails that address the actual need of the user. The content of the emails after shopping cart abandonment immediately delivers added value at the right time in the right context, such as vouchers, service offers or reminder emails. The emails thus achieve a high conversion rate.

4. increase urgency

You can also take advantage of the “fear of missing out” effect and increase the urgency in your emails to achieve a higher conversion rate. Put a time limit on an offer or highlight a shortage of resources. Phrases such as “Only until tomorrow”, “Last chance” and “Only a few places left” are suitable for this. The worry of missing out on an exciting experience or offer is a strong motivator. However, use this method wisely and responsibly.

5. do not forget the call-to-action

Ein Garant und das Fundament für die Konversionsrate ist ein in der E-Mail integrierter Call-to-Action-Button (CTA) inklusive einer klaren Handlungsaufforderung. Ziel eines jeden Newsletters ist es, mit seinen inhaltlichen und idealerweise individuell angepassten Mehrwerten den Empfänger zu einer Interaktion zu animieren. Dazu setzen Sie einen CTA Button. Achten Sie bei der Gestaltung auf eine prägnante Handlungsaufforderung, auffällige Farben und fügen Sie den Button im oberen Drittel und nochmals am Ende ein.

Adapt email marketing and increase the conversion rate!

With a few adjustments, you can already increase the conversion rate in email marketing. This can have a lasting positive impact on your business success. Regularly measure the conversion rate of your mailings in order to continuously obtain important key figures about your performance and to identify optimisation potential. These form the basis for efficient campaigns and give you the opportunity to stand out from your competitors.

Frequently asked questions about Conversion rate

How can online shops increase the conversion rate of their emails?

Five adjustments help. Personalise your mailings and segment by interests, region or age. Write concise subject lines of 40 to 60 characters. Offer genuine added value that fits the current context. Increase urgency with a time limit or a shortage of resources. And place a clear call-to-action button in the top third and again at the end.

Which key figures matter in email marketing?

Track the delivery rate and bounce rate, the opening rate, the simple and effective click rate, the conversion rate and the unsubscribe rate. All of them are related: a recipient has to receive the email, open it, click the link and then perform the desired action. Watching only one figure hides where the drop-off actually happens.

What should the conversion rate in email marketing relate to?

You can relate it to clicks on a link, to opened emails, to delivered emails or to emails sent. Decide in advance which part of the mailing’s journey you want to measure, or look at all four points over a longer period. The reference point tells you where to optimise: a low rate at the opening stage points to weak subject lines.

How do personalised emails affect the conversion rate?

Personalisation raises both the open rate and the conversion rate, because recipients feel appreciated and build a sense of closeness and trust. Go beyond the salutation: adapt content and product recommendations to different buyer personas, and segment by interests, region or age. Practical options are using a contact’s name as the sender name, mailing on birthdays, and closing with a named contact person’s signature.

What is the conversion rate in email marketing?

It measures the conversion of a prospect into a customer through your mailings, so it shows what your emails actually contribute to business success. The channel is worth measuring: in a survey, almost 34 per cent of respondents had already bought or booked something by clicking an offer in a newsletter, and around 37 per cent were at least inspired to make a purchase.

How should subject lines be written to increase the conversion rate?

A good subject line arouses curiosity and interest, stays within 40 to 60 characters, and is concise, concrete and personalised. Including the recipient’s name already lifts the conversion rate at the opening stage. Avoid terms that spam filters treat as critical, such as free, free of charge, discount, best price, offer, profit, no risk and no hidden costs.

How can emails bring back shopping cart abandoners?

Send personalised emails that respond to the actual reason for the abandonment. Smart software recognises why the customer dropped out and delivers matching content at the right time, for example vouchers, service offers or reminder emails. Because the added value fits the context, these emails reach a high conversion rate. In parallel, analyse which touchpoint in the sales funnel is causing the drop-off.