#1 The more, the merrier readers.

From a pool of 9 billion (yes, billion) e-mails sent through MailChimp, email communication sent 1-2 times a month received the highest unsubscribe rate. People develop a routine when checking their e-mail. Regularly sending e-mail blasts gets readers in the habit of receiving communications from your organization. In fact, sending 1-3 blasts per week hasn’t returned a high unsubscribe rate on average.

#2 Subject is everything.

Subject lines that are timely, provide readers with reference information and give a sense of exclusivity result in higher open rates. Avoid words like reward, magic and raffle in your subject (unless your goal is to have your e-mail  marked as spam).

#3 Link-to-link value.

The more links you provide in the content of your e-mail, the more value you provide your readers. On average, having more links will increase your click through rate.

#4 A case of the Tuesdays.

While it varies market to market, it was found the highest click through rate was over the weekend (Saturday/Sunday). Tuesday generated the highest unsubscribe rate and lowest click through.

#5 Walk the line.

88% of those surveyed through MailChimp reported they no longer differentiate between business and personal e-mail accounts. The B2B and B2C lines have been blurred with one inbox accounting for both aspects of e-mail readers’ lives.

#6 The early bird gets the e-mail.

Regardless of the day, it was reported that e-mails sent between 6 am and 7 am resulted in the highest open rates and click through rates. On the contrary, these early morning hours are also high in unsubscribes (largely due to the higher open rates).

#7 Be smart with smartphones.

80.8% of those surveyed reported they read e-mail through their smartphone or mobile device. A comScore study from November 2010 found that 70.1 million mobile users have accessed their e-mail through a mobile device.

#8 New subscriber bliss.

New subscribers were found to click through e-mails the most. This click through rate dwindles the longer a subscriber has been on your list. These users were also reported to unsubscribe the most, so provide new users with value to inclusion on your e-mail list (special offers, tips, etc.).

Now, more than ever, is a great time to re-evaluate how you use e-mail marketing.

Even before you finished reading the title of this article, we not only knew that you were reading it, but we were gathering information about you in relationship to your online activities. If you are reading this article via the eBlast campaign, such information includes your name, what exact time you opened this email, how many times you opened this message, and even the various links you may have clicked.

Scary huh?

No we aren’t behind you and there are no cameras.

Email marketing enables senders to track critical metrics on their recipients and usage. While we are aware of the Orwellian potential here, we promise it is no thought crime. Responsible and proper use of these metrics can streamline and greatly increase the impact of your email marketing efforts.

It allows you to:

• compare information from multiple campaigns
• determine which content users find relevant and useful
• know the time of day and day of the week when campaigns are most successful
• rest assured that you are not spamming
• control your subscriber lists and control your suppression list — (allowing you to question Jennifer in accounting when she chooses to unsubscribe from the company newsletter. Maybe playing “Big Brother” can be a little fun.)

Interested? Handfruit, Paradigm’s email marketing application, is for you: effective management of eBlast campaigns, up-to-the-second data about your subscribers’ habits, and user-friendly graphs and visuals representing your data.

Aren’t you ready to take the reins on your eBlast campaigns?