Need Email Marketing Help? Here Are 9 Necessary Steps to Getting Customers to Open (And Read) Your Emails

Let’s say you dump your old email marketing software and employ the fanciest one on the planet. Are your sales going to increase because of it? Not even marginally. Steve Jobs once said that “it’s not the tools that you have faith in - tools are just tools.” He hit the nail right on the head (pun intended). A better email marketing tool will not make you a better marketer. It will simply aid you and hone the skills you already bring to the table.

This is why people get disappointed when they get something “better” and it’s not doing them any good. You have to help your software help you; and in email marketing, mastering it is mostly a matter of knowing what to say in your subject line and, of course, in the body. Once you learn how to compose an email correctly, you’ll catch your customer’s eye and entice him into reading your message with a properly-written body. Here are some steps you should follow to make sure each email you send is successful to some degree:

For Your Subject Line

• Charge up the subject line with powerful language. I just received an email from an IT supplies store I frequent, with the subject “We know you want it!” It raises curiosity and can be a powerful weapon in the right hands. Refer to the senses when you can to make the message even more powerful. One example of sensory messaging for a restaurant could be: “Deals so great they’ll make your mouth water!” If you’re a retailer, you can write: “This week’s most delicious promotions.”
• Use numbers. The title of this article might have caught your eye with the number at the beginning. For some reason, people tend to be more attracted to numbers at the beginning of titles rather than words. Don’t write out the numbers. Use digits and you’ll see how your opening rate will climb slightly. Here’s a creative way to do that: “50% off on these stylish winter coats!”
• Avoid being mysterious. While “We know you want it!” could be a powerful phrase, it’s not as powerful as one that’s more specific. Something like “Come see our best refurbished cameras!” works better and still manages to maintain the curiosity factor.

For The Body

• Mention your client by name. You’ll get better rapport from a person if you mention them by their first name. Be up close and personal.
• Avoid making your email look like a boilerplate. Nothing turns off a prospect more than sounding like you’re talking to everybody on “the list.” Make the email as personal as possible. Let the reader know you’re talking to him/her, rather than “them.”
• Don’t meander. Avoid writing long blocks of text that will bore your reader. Keep it below 300 words. A person’s attention span isn’t in top shape when cruising through the internet. They have work to do and you’re taking up their time!
• Change up the greeting. Don’t greet people the same way each time. Keep it different and creative. This serves as a reminder to the reader that the person who typed up the email is an actual human being, not a robot with a lever.
• Don’t focus too much on getting the grammar right. A little bit of proofreading can’t hurt, but don’t write your email like an essay. Write it like you’re having a conversation with your client. Picture yourself sitting down for a cup of coffee with this person, minus any awkward silences.
• Run promotions correctly! Don’t just tell your client that you’re having a sale. Put a deadline on it. It makes people hurry up to throw their money at you.

Oh, and one more thing: Let your customers reply to your emails!! If there’s one thing you should get out of all this, it’s that everything revolves around treating your customer like a human being. The more human you are with them, the more they’d like to get to know your business. Keep to this rule and - in all likelihood - your opening rate (the percentage of people who actually open your emails) will climb closer to its full potential.