3 Ways to Increase Conversion Rates with Automated Emails
In this post I share the three ways you can get people clicking on your emails and then clicking on the links inside the emails. This applies to whenever you’re sending one-off emails such as newsletters and broadcasts as well as when sending automated emails e.g. “ a welcome sequence”.
Why should a business owner care if a subscriber opens and clicks on the emails?
Well, when people open to read your emails, and if your copy is captivating enough, they’ll be more inclined to click on the URLs inside those emails.
In layman terms, more clicks equals more revenue for your business.
Also, when people open to read your emails they’re essentially ‘engaging with your emails’. This email engagement sends a positive message to mail servers such as Hotmails, and Gmails to mean that your emails are trustworthy.
(On a side note: here’s another post you might find relevant that talks about email deliverability and domain reputation: How to Improve your Click-Through Rates with a 30/60/90 Day rule & DKIM setting)
So, let’s break down the 3 easiest ways to get people to open your automated emails. I also share a Bonus tip at the end so keep reading!
1. Personalisation works wonders with automated emails.
There are two ways we can explain Personalisation when used inside the emails:
- a) Merge fields such as FIRSTNAME, FULLNAME, etc
- b) Interest-specific segmentations such as the contact’s browsing behaviour on your website.
a) Using personalised merge fields in your subject lines or in the body of the email, not only increases trust with your contacts, but it also benefits the email deliverability score. What this means is that, by adding the merge field, it sends a positive signal to receiving mail servers (think hotmail, gmail, etc) that show that you know this contact, and the contact most likely gave their permission to be emailed.
This in turn builds familiar relationships with customers but also with mail servers.
b) Creating segments in your database around contact’s interests will make you more in-tune with what your contacts are most interested in, therefore they’d be more likely to click on relevant links. For example, if your website is selling shoes, and a contact looks at shoes with a size 7, then your emails should send them links that take them to the page displaying size 7 shoes. If the landing page you send them to includes ALL shoes with ALL sizes, (as is the case with most emails I come across!), as a business you appear clueless about who your customers are. Not only that, you’re perceived as impersonal to your customers.
2. Short subject lines capture the reader’s attention on mobile devices.
Just like when designing websites, you should always design for ‘mobile view’ too – this is what the majority of people will use when they visit your website.
The same applies to when you’re writing subject lines in your emails. You should keep them short and snappy.
The rule of thumb is having around 25-30 characters to suit most mobile devices.
The company called AppSumo does a really great job of writing email subject lines with 3-4 words max!
For example in the newsletters I’ve received from them recently, these were examples of the subject lines AppSumo used:
- You were right…
- Open if you dare….
- Ghost story
#3 – Use emojis sparingly in your subject lines.
If in doubt, emojify!
Yes, ‘emojify’ is a word. I’ve just made it up.
The use of ‘emojis’ in your subject lines can add a bit of intrigue and grab the contact’s attention. It directs their eyes to your email first over others they see queued in their Inbox.
At Bumper Leads, we use emojis from a website called Get Emojis.
We also recommend not to use emojis on EVERY email though. Especially if it’s not in line with your branding, but also people can start glazing over them if there’s too many of them.
4. BONUS: What gets people to click on links?
Before you read the rest of this article …. remember this: Words move people to action.
This is why in your emails you should:
Provide valuable and relevant information that your ideal audience will find useful.
In other words, don’t spam them with content they’re not interested in.
The content of emails is key to increasing your chances of clicks and opens.
The one question you should ask yourself when sending out an automated email is the following:
“Is this information valuable to my subscribers?”
“What promise am I making to my subscribers?” What will they learn?
If it’s valuable and informative, people will engage more with your emails and click on links!
Fun Fact: Use URLs with clear call-to-action steps aka CTAs to increase your Click-Through-Rates
For example, if you want people to buy your new product or course, then word your emails in a clear way to ask for the sale. For instance, the “Buy Now” CTA is very clear on what you want the reader to do.
OVER TO YOU
If you implement the three tips I shared with you here today, you’ll find that your open and click-through-rates will increase significantly, thus improving your overall email conversions. The best thing you could do to persuade people to click on your emails is to send them relevant content! As described in bullet point one, the first thing you can do with your email list is to segment your contacts! This way you create a small group of people with common interests. By sending emails to a smaller group of people with the same likes and interests, you’re bound to increase your click-through-rates and hence generate more revenue from your emails.
If you are unsure about how to organise and segment your email subscribers please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team here. We have been doing this for over five years so we know what yields results for an eCommerce, B2B and SaaS businesses.

Milena Vujnic
eCommerce Strategist at Bumper Leads
Milena loves helping small business owners grow their business through smart systems and automations.
Milena lives in Adelaide, Australia with her Chileno husband and her best friend Netflix. She suffers from mild email OCD, ie hates small font and cluttered newsletters. Milena is on a mission to make online business a less confusing place for a business owner.
She loves anything podcasting, eCommerce and is honoured to be supporting clients all over the world with her coaching.
You can follow Milena on Twitter (@MilenaTheGreat)