3. Subject lines. Here’s what people will click on…
Best practices:
- Personalize the subject line with recipient’s first or last name. This increases open rates. An example: Amit, we are thrilled to share…
- Don’t repeat subject lines. Keep them fresh.
- Keep them short and crisp. You’ve got 3 seconds to grab the attention of the reader.
- Always A/B test your subject lines after an email marketing campaign.
- Use a personal email id (name@company.com) when sending emails. reply@company.com is an absolute no, no! Who likes to talk to robot?
- Do not make false promises. Don’t trick your readers.
- If the reader has downloaded something from your website, always make it exclusive by having a subject line which says, “Your new E-book is inside!” or “Your guide awaits!” rather than a plain “Thank you for downloading!”
- Make readers take immediate action by adding an ‘urgent’ tone - “today only”, “24 hour giveaway”.
- Is the reader really benefiting from your email? Which one will you open?
- “Increase your open rates by 50% now” OR “How to increase open rates?”
- Timing is everything. Example: It’s Friday and you are just about to leave office. You get an email – “Happy Hours start at 5 Pm at XYZ! See you soon!” Now, how cool is that?
- Use numbers. They work.
4. Sentence case OR Title Case…the never ending debate?
While writing a professional business email, use only sentence case (like the content in this e-book).
This is sentence case. This Is Title Case.
Get the point? In the former, only the first alphabet of the first word has been capitalised, like a regular sentence. In the latter, first letter of each word has been capitalised. When we talk about capital letter, yes, they are important, but it totally depends on where and how you use them.
5. There’s a reason we have spell check buttons!
Use them! Avoid unnecessary typos. Here’s why:
- When you are reading an email, what if you see a few ridiculous spelling mistakes? A major turn off right? Similarly, when you are writing an email, correct spellings communicate what you are trying to write. When the reader has a handle on what you are trying to put forth, response time and chances of them communicating back amplify multi-fold.
- When you are trying to pool in a new client, make an instant impact with concise writing and correct spellings.
- Because the attention span of your reader is highly limited, if you make spelling errors in the content of the email, there are elevated odds that the reader will stop reading mid-way.
6. What is the tonality of your email?
Not to misunderstand it with anything else, tonality is the way you put forth the content. Most marketers either become too formal while some go overboard with !!! ??? and punctuations.
“Remember that the tone of your voice often conveys more accurately what is in your mind than do your words.” ~ Napoleon Hill
What we suggest is, keep it simple by using friendly language with regular punctuation, just like having a one-on-one chat with a friend over coffee.
7. Have you incorporated all applicable info in the email?
Don’t beat about the bush!
- Set goals – No matter what it is, a goal in mind makes the task easier to accomplish within the predetermined time isn’t it? What goals are you looking at when writing an email –Solving a problem? Product driven or content driven email? Clicks or social shares? Derive your KPIs and then create the content plan
- Rich content – The kind of content that goes in the email should list the benefits that the customer will get at the end and the kind of demographic you are writing to.
- Trustworthy - Your content should have a soul not just a bot! Your readers should know they can trust you else why will they invest their time in reading an email from you?
- Use data to your advantage - Personalize your emails with user-generated data. A great example of this is Quora. They send out weekly emails with details about what topics the particular subscriber has liked, questions/discussions they have been a part of and also topics that may interest them. This also means that no two subscribers receive the same email. This offers exclusivity and social proof offers trust.
a) Make sure sentences are complete to impart clear communication.
b) Always have polite messages like Thank You, How are you, or the like.
c) Have well-mannered greetings to begin and end your emails. You look more human this way.
8. Make sure sentences are complete to impart clear communication.
9. Always have polite messages like Thank You, How are you, or the like.
10. Have well-mannered greetings to begin and end your emails. You look more human this way.
11. Reply, Reply All OR Bcc?
While giving an opinion, desist from using the ‘Reply All’ feature. Use BCC instead.
✓Reply only to the sender to show exclusivity.
✓Use Reply All function only when you need to ensure that your reply should be visible to the original sender and also that other people associated with the email.
12. Is your name showing properly in the ‘From’ field? Ex: From Radha Rani.
13. Do not make your emails difficult to read by adding showy backgrounds.
14. No fancy fonts. Stick to customary ones.
15. When you’re attaching bin files, always them “zip” them.
16. When sending across emails on contentious or political issues, stay sharp. People may react and not like your POV.
17. Always end emails with “Thank you,” “Best Regards” etc.
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