When conducting an email marketing campaign, it’s important to monitor and track the click-through rate of each email to measure its effectiveness.

There are a couple click-through numbers you should look at:

• Unique click-throughs – This reflects how many individuals clicked on at least one link in your email. You can track this as an actually number and as a percentage. These numbers show you the overall success of an individual email campaign.

• Individual click-throughs – Each link in your email can be tracked as well for how many people click on it. These numbers tell you what your subscribers are most interested in and what items piqued their interest.

• Click-to-open rate – This number represents the number of unique clicks as a percentage of unique opens. For example, if 1,000 subscribers open your email and 100 of those who opened the email actually click-through, your click-to-open rate would be 10 percent. Looking at this rate tells you how well your email motivated your readers to take action.

If you’d like to improve your click-through rate (and who doesn’t), here are 6 tips to assist you.

1. Make your subject line concise Try to keep the subject line under 50 characters (including spaces). Many email clients limit the length of the subject line that is displayed in the inbox. You don’t want the best part of your subject line to get cut off. Keep it short and relevant to the email you’re sending.

2. Make all images clickable This is often overlooked when building an email but it is extremely important. If an image engages the reader enough you want them to be able to click it to get more information. Send them to a webpage that has a strong call to action. They’ve already clicked once; build on that momentum with a strong offer and a clear call to action.

3. Ask for the click Make sure all your text links clearly ask the reader to click in a compelling way. The standard “click here” doesn’t do much to tell a reader why they should click. Inform them with a promise of what they’ll get on the other side of the click.

4. Learn from past subscriber behavior Looking at your click-through rates over time will tell you exactly what your subscribers are interested in. Was there one link that they clicked on more than others? This is clearly an area of interest to them. Deliver more content related to that topic and include another strong call to action that moves them further through the sales process.

5. Repeat what works When you find a particular template, format, topic, or call to action that works. Use it again…and again…and again…until it doesn’t work anymore.

6. Segment your list Not all prospects are created equal. As such, you shouldn’t treat them all equal. A new prospect may be looking for educational content so they can better understand your product. At the same time, a long-time customer may only want to know about the newest product that you have to offer. Sending the same email to both segments will either bore your seasoned customer or rush the sale with the prospect. Neither will result in good click-through rates or ultimately, sales. Break your list apart and mail different campaigns to each so you can target the needs of all groups.

Take a look at your past few email campaigns to get a feel for what your subscribers are interested in what you can learn from their past behavior. This will give you a solid starting point for building your next email marketing campaign.

photo credit: miniyo73