6 Stages to Getting the Click

Do you repeat yourself in your personal email copy? Probably not, so why would you repeat yourself in your marketing copy? What does it take to get someone to engage and click on your offer?

The truth is:
Recipients look at your message and make decisions to engage in a very linear way...follow their decision path and ensure you aren't giving away valuable real estate...

The 6 Stages of Getting the Click

Stage 1 = The From line
Recipients look at your from name and email 1st/before any other metric and make a decision to read on/delete based on this initial info.

Stage 2 = The Subject line
Recipients look at your subject line and depending on what they can see (< 45 char = baseline; < 16 char for mobile) and how relevant the topic is- make a decision to read more/delete. DO not repeat your name here- you are wasting valuable real estate. Instead- front load your subject line with the attractive part...make sure they see it.

Stage 3 = The Preview Pane
After glancing at your from and subject line, recipients next look at your message in their preview window. (sometimes the same as stage 4/above the fold) and make the decision to read on or delete. It's important to understand how your email renders with images turned off- because industry standards say 50% will not see those images and only 11% will scroll down out of this preview area. Don' repeat your name or subject line info in the snippet text or H1 area...make it a continuation of your message.

Stage 4 = Above the Fold
Some recipients will see the whole above the fold area as their preview window, like Outlook for example. But there are ESP's who only show the top left of a message as the standard preview, like AOL, and for those recipients they will need to expand your message to see this above the fold area. Always design as though the preview area was the 300x300 section in the top left of your message- its the only for sure method for designing for a preview area.

Stage 5 = The Complete Email
As this linear decision wraps up, some recipients will be satisfied enough with a text call to action and might have clicked already, but for those that really want the whole picture they will open the email to view the whole message. This still doesn't guarantee that they will have their images turned on, but if you have been sending responsibly through the same email for a while, you have a much better chance of being delivered with images on.

Stage 6 = Your CTA / Clickable Link
Finally- the last step is a recipient being so interested in what you are driving them to do that they click on your CTA. What's a reputable click through rate? Depends on your product/offer/list, etc but a good guess for a high dollar purchased good/service is 2-5% with the excellent range in the 5-10%.