Not enough opens and fewer clicks - request feedback

[L96481]

Request for feedback, please. My first newsletter, on September 15, went to 100 people only.  It had a 50% open rate, but only a 1.1% click rate -  dismal.  https://myemail.constantcontact.com/From-Autumn-Leaves-to-AI-Dreams.html?soid=1140549418469&aid=jnB5... My second newsletter, October 4,  went to just under 2,500 people.  The open rate was 4.8% and the click rate was .2%https://conta.cc/3F1QyGk My third newsletter, November 16,  went to 2,492 people.  It had an open rate of 4.0% and a click rate of .1%.  https://app.constantcontact.com/pages/campaigns/email-details/reporting/activity/a299c9f7-cb1c-424a-... The first was sent to principals and superintendents of school districts in Texas. The next two were sent to some of the people who have subscribed to my newsletter since January 1, 2023. I have considered possibilities as to why more people are not opening: 1.  Too close to the date to prepare for some of the activities suggested.  (especially for Native American Heritage) 2.  Subject line? 3.  Subscriber list is way too small I am planning on breaking the newsletters down into smaller in terms of the amount of information and sending those out weekly. If you could take a look at them and provide feedback, I would greatly appreciate it. 

[L96481]

My first newsletter went to 100 people only. It had a 50% open rate, but only a 1.1% click rate - dismal.
https://myemail.constantcontact.com/From-Autumn-Leaves-to-AI-Dreams.html?soid=1140549418469&aid=jnB5...

My second newsletter, October 4, went to just under 2,500 people. The open rate was 4.8% and the click rate was .2%
https://conta.cc/3F1QyGk

My third newsletter, November 16, went to 2,492 people. It had an open rate of 4.0% and a click rate of .1%. https://app.constantcontact.com/pages/campaigns/email-details/reporting/activity/a299c9f7-cb1c-424a-...

The first was sent to principals and superintendents of school districts in Texas.

The next two were sent to some of the people who have subscribed to my newsletter since January 1, 2023.

I have considered possibilities as to as why more people are not opening:

1. Too close to the date to prepare for some of the activities offered. (especially for Native American Heritage)

2. Subject line?

3. Subscriber list is way too small

I am thinking of breaking the newsletters down to smaller in terms of amount of information, and sending those out weekly.

If you could take a look at them and provide feedback, I would greatly appreciate it.

Anne Shaw
www.21stcenturyschools.com

[William_A · Accepted solution]

Hello @L96481 ,

The first and foremost issue you'd need to address is getting your account setup for self-authentication. With you sending to school domains, they'll likely have pretty tight gatekeeping for any external emails being sent to their servers, especially if the email is coming from a service provider source like ours. Having your account self-authenticated will make your emails being sent through us (or any ESP for that mater) a lot more trustworthy.

With the high bounce and low open rates for the 2nd and 3rd emails, the lack of self-authentication was likely the source of its lack of engagement and exposure. Even if the emails managed to survive being bounced back from the receiving servers, they might've still gotten spammed out or quarantined due to that lack of authentication. Even your first email's only clicker was one person who clicked every link in the email within the same minute it was opened - indicating they're using a security program that auto-clicks links to check for malware. 

I'd recommend taking a look at some of the pointers in this advice article. If you'd like live help implementing these, or would like some 1:1 guidance, our general phone support is also available. If you're wanting greater insight on your particular content, then I'd advise looking into either our Marketing Advisor or Specialist premium services.