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What is Good Email Marketing Click-through Rate (CTR) & How to Improve It?

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What is Good Email Marketing Click-through Rate (CTR) & How to Improve It and pointer clicking
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What is a good CTR for my business?
How can I improve my CTR?
What kind of CTR equals successful email marketing?

These are questions that we hear from our customers, prospects, and new users of LianaMailer on a daily basis. There’s no universal answer to these questions, however, some benchmark data is available.

In our survey, State of Email Marketing 2021, we analyzed more than one billion newsletters sent by LianaMailer clients in Europe, Middle East, and Hong Kong. The analysis covered a wide range of industries including automotive, education, hospitality, media & publishing, and the public sector.

The average click-through rate across all industries was 7,09%. In Europe, the CTR was the highest with 9,74%, after that Hong Kong 8,04%, and then the Middle East with a CTR of 3,50%.

In general, we advise that more focus should be put on improving your own rates as an email marketer than on staring at the figures of others. Email marketing is an amazing channel since its effectiveness can easily and accurately be measured. 

In addition to the analysis of OR and CTR, it is possible to examine clicks on an individual level and study the success of different sections of the message by using a heatmap, for example.

In this article, we first explain briefly what click-through rate (CTR) means in email marketing and tips on how you can improve your newsletter CTR.

What does CTR mean?

Click-through rate (CTR) shows how many recipients clicked a link in your newsletter. This counts any link you have added to your newsletter. With detailed email marketing reporting, you’re able to see how many times each link was clicked and who the clickers were.

Next, we share 4 tips on how you improve the CTR of your newsletters 🚀

How to improve CTR?

1. Make sure you don't have too much information in your letter

Filling up the newsletter with too much text and information is probably the most common mistake in email marketing. It is often forgotten that the objective of the newsletter is to guide the reader elsewhere, usually to a website, an online store, or a landing page.

Therefore, it is wise to just highlight the teasers (i.e. short and interesting descriptions on what awaits behind the link) of your stories in the newsletter. A short and sweet newsletter is easier to read and does not feel overwhelming for the reader.

2. Build a clear Call-to-Action (CTA)

Call-to-Action is used to get the most out of digital marketing channels. Call-to-Action (CTA) is the main objective of the digital channel in use, in a newsletter it usually is the most important link or one of them. This is why it is designed so that it clearly stands out from the background and so that the teaser text is as appealing as possible.

With a well-implemented CTA, it is possible to significantly increase the newsletter's CTR.

A good CTA:

  • Stands out from the background
  • Speaks to your audience
  • Entices the reader to take action
  • Fits the main message of your newsletter

3. Mobile-optimize

Making sure your newsletter is fully mobile-optimized is a smart and bulletproof way to improve the letter's CTR. Did you know that 81% of all emails are now read on mobile?

Nothing is more frustrating than having too small text or buttons you can’t click so make sure your newsletters have a big enough font and CTA buttons for easy mobile navigation. Remember to always test your newsletters on mobile devices and make sure the layout looks and works on mobile.

4. Decide what is a good number for you

The best way to see if your email marketing numbers are improving is to compare the results to your earlier numbers. If the numbers are improving you’re on the right track. Also don’t just stare at one specific email marketing metric.

Keep in mind what your goal is in email marketing. Do you want to get more website visitors or inform your coworkers about the latest company news?

For example, internal communications tend to have open rates close to 100% whereas B2B emails have a significantly lower percentage.

Interested to learn more about email marketing? See our other resources 📚

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