Email marketing tips: Writing emails that get opened, read, and clicked

By nature, composing and sending an email is a personal medium of communication.

Thanks to technology, it is by far the simplest way to reach people. However, not every email is the same. Emails that serve a higher purpose than just saying ‘hello’ to a friend also carry grander responsibility. That’s it if you want your each and every email that you sent gets actually be opened, read, and clicked.

Email writing requires a great deal of planning and some creativity on your behalf. With the business strategy and purpose in mind, your task is to craft influential and convincing emails to the already busy audience.

Atul Kumar Pandey, Blogger at AtulHost
Email Marketing
Email Marketing

They’ll get many similar emails from other businesses, so yours email must be different and the most inviting one to succeed. If you need ways to increase the clicks on your emails, our list of 30 great tips will help a lot.

Since it is a little longer, I have divided the tips into 3 major parts as:

  • The tone of your email (some basic writing tips).
  • The subject line (increase chance of more action).
  • The actual email (let readers dive in your email).

Let’s read all of them one by one…

The tone of your emails.

There are plenty of things related to your email that you must pay special attention to. Before you even get started, think about the tone you’ll use in your email. Here are some tips:

#1. Create an email that the target audience expects.

What better way to attract someone and make them take action than by giving them what they need? Researching your target audience takes the first spot in any of your marketing strategies for a great number of reasons. One of them is being able to attract them with the right offers.

#2. Personal approach is the key.

Your audience won’t really care about your subscribers or your goals. Don’t share irrelevant information with them, no matter how proud you are with your achievements. The goal is to make the email more personal and make the reader feel like that email is intended specifically for them.

#3. Don’t be too friendly.

Being personal is fine, but overdoing it just makes you creepy. These people aren’t your friends, so don’t push it. Use their name, but not too often. Be friendly, but also professional.

#4. Get yourself out there.

Don’t be afraid to put your name on the email to make the communication more personal. After all, you are the one ‘disturbing’ customers with your emails, so they surely deserve to know who is contacting them.

#5. Make yourself useful.

The goal of your email is to get clicks and make people take action. But, you can’t really expect people to give you everything without getting anything in return, do you? To get an actual click, offer something to the readers. Be friendly, open, helpful, and generous.

#6. Be clear about your goals.

Don’t fail to share the actual message just because you tried to be more personal and friendly. Use all those tricks to get people to click, but ensure that your emails contain the actionable part. Being trustworthy is the most important part of your email.

#7. Connect with them.

People are more likely to open and click on emails that offer what they need, but your odds at getting this are even higher if you manage to connect with them. Be on your reader’s side. Tell them that you know what they need and understand their needs.

The subject line.

The subject line is very important. It is what makes people open your email and without this part, you literally have no shot at making them read or click. It is the first and key part of your strategy. Here are some tips that will help you create an eye-catching subject line:

#8. Promise them things.

If you want to make people interested in what you offer, open with it. The sooner they know what you offer them, the higher are your chances of getting them to open the email.

#9. Throw some numbers.

Numbers have a lot of power if used right. If you can show numbers that can amaze the reader, it is best to do it right away – in the subject line.

#10. Use some power words.

Power words attract the attention of the reader, which is exactly what you want to achieve with the subject line.

#11. Go for specific and simple.

Don’t make the mistake of trying to appear clever in your subject lines. Simple and specific works much better.

#12. Stand out.

The subject line is the place you use to stand out. Don’t be afraid to test your creativity and be different. People are used to reading the same things over and over, so a creative experiment will surely get their attention.

#13. Choose the right length.

There are different thoughts on how long a subject line can be. There isn’t a specific average, but the ideal length is the shortest you can get while still sharing your message. The longer your subject line is, the lower are the odds of people reading it.

The actual email.

Now that you’ve written a subject line and set the tone, it is time for the actual email writing part. Here’s what you should do:

#14. Keep it short.

The same rule applies to the subject line and the email content – the shorter, the better. People don’t have much time and large pieces of content will push them away before they even get a closer look at your email.

#15. Write without stopping.

The first draft is always the most passionate one, so don’t stop to look for errors or research. When you start writing, write without stopping. You’ll fix it afterward.

#16. Erase the unnecessary.

Now that you have written the first draft of the email, write the second one ‘with a knife’. Take away everything that isn’t relevant and makes the email long.

#17. Ask some questions.

Questions make your communication more personal, so don’t be afraid to ask some questions in your email.

#18. Don’t use automated greetings.

Instead of those obvious, automated greetings, go for something warmer and more personal. Mix it up every time you send an email – people notice these things.

#19. Add a personal spark.

To make the email personal, you need to add a personal spark. In addition to sharing your name with them, share a story, a quote, or anything else that screams ‘personal’.

#20. Use ‘You’.

Using ‘you’ does not make you unprofessional. It is actually known to be the best word to use to establish a relationship with customers.

#21. Use short and strong sentences.

Instead of lengthy writing, go for short sentences. They are less overwhelming and easier to grasp.

#22. Build trust first, then sell.

You don’t have to start selling right away. Yes, you should be honest and share the actual message clearly in the email, but try to first establish a connection with the reader before you do this. Remember – people don’t want to give out things without getting something in return.

#23. Hand them the benefits.

Just telling people about your products and services doesn’t suffice and won’t help you sell things. Sell the benefits instead of selling the name. Customers look for answers and solutions, not punch lines.

#24. Don’t make formulaic messages.

This is obvious to the reader right away. Stay away from email formulas – many people use them, which makes them annoying to the audience.

#25. Use marketing tricks.

There are plenty of marketing tricks you can use to make people take action. Offer coupon codes and discounts, introduce contests, hand out free things, etc. This should be a good enough enticement to get people interested.

#26. Tell stories.

Stories can help you make the email personal and reach the audience. If you tell them right, they can lead the audience to the actual sales message and push them to take action.

#27. Insert more than one link.

One link to your website might not be enough. Use more links to the same website, perhaps different pages. This only increases the chances of a click.

#28. Set a deadline.

People respond much faster to sales messages when there’s a deadline involved. Set a deadline for your products. For instance, make a time-limited sale. A sense of urgency helps people beat procrastination.

#29. Insert a call-to-action.

A call-to-action is a must if you want the reader to actually take action. It makes this much easier for them and reminds them to buy.

#30. Tell people what they’d be missing.

Somewhere around the ending of your email, remind people what they’d be missing if they don’t buy your product or meet that deadline.

We hope that these 30 tips will help you in creating a successful email campaign. Use your creativity and experiment a bit, because there is always a learning curve which you need to explore. Good luck!

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