One of the simplest ways to increase your email open rate by 5% or more - and double your total click-throughs at the same time - is by using follow-up campaigns. Many marketers think an email campaign is one single email which, once sent, is finished and forgotten in favour of planning the next one. We at Lyris have found that a follow-up email, sent 24 hours after the initial send, improves overall response rates considerably.

Here is the email marketing campaign strategy we recommend:

1) Send a multipart email that contains both HTML and text components. The recipients’ email client and user settings determine whether they see the HTML or text version.

2) 24 hours after the first broadcast, send a text-only follow-up email to those who have not opened the first email. Change only the subject line - the text content should remain the same as the original email.

3) At the same time, send a multipart follow-up email (HTML and text) to those who clicked through on the original email.

For example, the top of the original multipart email would look like this to those with HTML email enabled and who opened the email:

The text-only follow-up email to non-openers, sent 24 hours after the original email, would look like this:

In an e-commerce context such as this, the multipart follow-up email sent to people who clicked through on the original email can include a special offer such as, “10% off for the next 72 hours only!”

In summary then, my proposed email campaign structure goes from this model...

• Strategy
• Design
• HTML coding and testing to email best practice
• Segment creation and testing
• Email send
• Campaign reporting

...to this one that includes follow-up email:

• Strategy
• Design
• HTML coding and testing to email best practice
• Segment creation and testing
• Original email send
• 24-hour follow-up to clickers
• 24-hour follow-up to non-openers
• Campaign reporting

The results of adding follow-up messages to email campaigns can be impressive - in this example generating 65% more revenue:

However, these results do raise a number of questions, which I will address next month in part two of this blog post. In the meantime, try this follow-up email technique and let us know how it works for you in the 'Comments' section below!

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About The Author

Andrew Robinson is the director of international professional services at Lyris, located in the London office.

Related Resources:

• Subscribe to Inside Lyris HQ our monthly online-marketing newsletter.
• Download free online-marketing guides, tools and webinars in the Lyris Online-Marketing Resource Center.

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