Emailing is probably the best marketing medium out there. You can use it for everything from cold outreach to permission marketing.
3.9 billion people actively use email. Over 293 billion people send and receive emails every single day. And about 40% of people check their email 6 to 20 times per day.
If you master email marketing, you should be able to reach any of the marketing goals you have. So, here’s a quick guide on the 4 most important components of the perfect email and how to get them right…
A curiosity generating subject line
The subject line is probably the most important part of the email. If you ace it, you will convince more people to open the email and check out the rest of the content. So, spend an ample amount of time writing this part, especially if this is a cold email approach.
Remember that the main job of the subject line is to convince people to open the email and read the rest. Quite often people try to add the end goal of the email here and they end up writing a subject line that doesn’t generate any curiosity.
Here are a few advanced tactics you can use to write a better subject line…
Keep them short: A study from Sendgrid found that 3 word subject lines have the highest engagement rate at 21.2%. So, remember that less is more when it comes to email subject lines. Don’t try to write a sophisticated subject line just because you ‘need to’. Instead, in a few simple words get your main point across.
Only start the first word with a capital letter or don’t use any capitals at all: When you email friends or family do you use any capital letters in your subject lines?
I am guessing that you don’t, as most people write them quickly without using any capital characters at all.
This is the same tactic you should be using when you write emails to potential clients or customers. Most of your competitors are capitalizing each word in their emails. Therefore, when you send an email with no capitals in the subject line, it will stand out and draw the attention of the receiver and they will be more likely to open it.
Split test different subject lines: Another tactic you can try is to split test subject lines. This is where you create 2 or more versions of the subject line and test them out to see which one drives the highest engagement. The best way to do this is when you run big outreach campaigns using an email service provider as you can set the software to send emails with different subject lines to different people and then pick the winner.
It is possible to use this technique with cold outreach as well, but you will need to use an email tracker and analyze results manually.
The email introduction:
The next part of the email is the introduction. This is where you introduce yourself and add in some personalization to show the receiver that you wrote this email specifically with them in mind. You can easily do this by typing in ‘Hi’ and placing their name right after that. And then writing a couple of lines about what you like about the receiver’s work or the company they work at.
This personalization will help you build some rapport with the receiver.
Here are a couple of rules to follow while writing the subject line…
Write at the level of a 3rd grader: People receive an average of 88 emails per day. Going through all of them and replying is a straining task. This chore will cause their attention span to dwindle. This is why to ensure your email gets read, you need to keep it as simple as possible. The easier your email is to read more people will read it fully.
So, use a tool like Hemingway to edit and reduce the reading level of the email to that of a 3rd or 4th grader.
Make it all about the receiver: In order to make an impression, you need to get the receiver to like you. So, instead of talking about yourself, make it all about them. If necessary, conduct some research online to learn as much as you can about the receiver.
Main email content:
The next part is the main email content where you let the receiver know the reason why you are sending this email. Don’t try to dilly dally here and get to the point quickly. There’s no need to write your life history. As aforementioned people receive several emails daily and they don’t want to spend hours reading unnecessary text. In a few lines just let them know what you want and the next steps they need to take.
The email introduction along with the main email content should be no longer than 300 words.
Here are a couple of tips that will ensure your main email content gets the job done…
Include a call to action: You should ensure that the main message of your emails ends with a call to action and a link that gets people to take action. You can actually try using a button call to action instead of the usual anchor text with a link option as buttons can increase click-throughs by 28%.
Check grammar: As I mentioned earlier, people receive several emails daily. Therefore, it is your job to make a good impression and stand out from the rest.
One way to do this is to make sure you write your email with impeccable grammar. When your writing is clear, more people will read it completely and follow through with the call to action.
So, take your time to write the email and proofread it a couple of times before hitting send. If necessary, you can use a browser extension that checks for errors.
The Email Signature:
The signature is what you end your email with. A basic signature should start with a greeting like ‘Thank you’ and should be followed with your details and links to your website. There are so many variations for email signatures. For some ideas check out these examples of email signatures.
A good signature should establish credibility and increase the chances of a response. So, add in details such as companies you have worked with and sites you have been featured on. You can even include links to your social networks (especially if you have a lot of followers) to show that you are the real deal.
Bonus: 3 tips for writing a better email
Here are some bonus tips to help you get the most out of the above 4 components…
Have one goal:
The key to great emailing skills is to have one goal. When you have too many goals for each email it leads to the paradox of choice and the reader doesn’t follow through on any of them. So, think about what your most important goal is: is it get more traffic or get a reply or get a sale or something else like getting a backlink for SEO and then build up towards it in your email.
Optimize for mobile:
49.1% of people will read your email on mobile devices. To ensure that these people have the best experience while reading your emails you will need to optimize your emails for mobile. If you share any links, images or attachments in your emails make sure they are optimized for mobile as well.
Follow up:
People can sometimes miss your email because they have had a busy day or week or because your email could have ended up in the spam folder. So, make sure you follow up with people who don’t open in 2 to 3 weeks. You can try using a different subject line.
Conclusion:
These are the 4 most important components of an email. If you want more people to open your emails, read them completely and take action you will need to include all 4 of them in every email you send. And to get even better results, you can make use of the 3 extra bonus tips I shared.
