What Should You Expect In The Way Of Opens?

In the best of all scenarios, the open rate for your enewsletters would increase each issue. But, it doesn't often happen that way. Here's why:

You, the owner of the enewsletter, expect that it will be so devastatingly fascinating that readers will be looking forward to reading the next issue. Well, for some readers this will be true. But many more readers will have found that the letter just doesn't do much for their needs. So this latter group won't bother to open the next issue.

This should not be a surprising situation. After all, the recipients of the enewsletter didn't (except for a handful of opt-ins) ask to have it sent to them. You built or bought a list of people you thought would be important to your enterprise and you fired out the letter hoping to make friends.

Well, some will become friends and some will just want it to go away. That's why you have the opt-out choice in your letter. But most of the recipients who are indifferent won't bother to do the unsubscribe bit.

So, the open rate drops some after the first letter. Don't sweat it. Your letter may be just right for a core audience and they become prospects for you.

Prescott "Pete" Lustig
Senior Marketing Strategist
www.loopconsulting.com