14 Steps to Writing Effective Emails That Work!

Email typically generates a response rate between 1 – 20%, although some do better and a few do worse. The copy in your email plays a big role in whether your message ends up at the bottom or the top of that range. Here are 14 proven techniques for maximizing the number of email recipients who click through to your website or respond in some other way:

1. The email “From” line identifies you as the sender if you’re emailing to your in-house list. If you’re emailing to a rented list, the From line might identify the list owner as the sender. This is especially effective with opt-in lists where the list owner (such as a website) has a good relationship with its users.

2. Some marketers think the From line is unimportant; others think it’s critical.

The Subject line of the email should be constructed like a short, attention-grabbing, curiosity-arousing teaser, compelling recipients to read further – without being so blatantly promotional it turns them off.

For instance, if you are sending an email to a rented list of computer people to promote a new software product, your From and Subject lines might read as follows:

FROM: The Apple Product Development Team

SUBJECT: New Apple iPhone screen is 24% bigger!

3. Despite the fact that the word FREE is a proven, powerful response-booster in traditional direct marketing, and that internet culture is biased in favor of free offers, some marketers avoid putting FREE in the Subject line. This is because the “spam filter” software that screens people’s email may identify any message with FREE in the Subject line as promotional and block it.

4. Begin the message copy with a killer headline or lead-in sentence. You need to get a terrific benefit right upfront. Pretend you’re writing envelope teaser copy or a headline for a sales letter.

5. In the first paragraph, deliver a mini-version of your complete message. State the offer and provide an immediate response mechanism, such as clicking on a link to a web page. This appeals to internet prospects with short attention spans.

6. After the first paragraph, present expanded copy that covers the features, benefits, proof, and other information the buyer needs to make a decision. This appeals to the prospect who needs more details than your first short paragraph can provide.

7. The offer and response mechanism should be repeated in the close of the email, as in a traditional direct-mail letter. But they should almost always appear at the very beginning, too. That way, busy internet users who give each email only a second or two get the whole story.

8. If you put multiple response links in your email, 80 – 95% of clickthrough responses will come from the first two. Therefore, you should probably limit the number of links in your email to three. An exception might be an e-Newsletter or e-Zine broken into five or six short items, where each item is on a different subject and therefore has its own link.

9. Use wide margins. You don’t want to have weird wraps or breaks. Limit yourself to about 55 – 60 characters per line. If you think a line is going to be too long, insert a character return.

10. Take it easy on the capital letters. You can use words IN ALL CAPS but do so carefully. They can be a little hard to read – and in email, all caps give the impression that you’re shouting.

11. In general, shorter is better. This is not the case in classic mail order selling, where as a general principle, “the more you tell, the more you sell.” With email, readers are quickly sorting through their inbox and don’t have time to read a long message.

12. Regardless of length, get the important points across quickly. If you want to include a lot of product information, put it lower down in the message or include a link to a landing page where the reader can find more information. People who need more information can always scroll down. The key benefits and deal should be communicated in the first paragraph, or very soon afterward.

13. The tone should be helpful, friendly, informative, and educational, not promotional or hard-sell. “Information is the gold in cyberspace.” Trying to sell readers with a traditional hyped-up sales letter won’t work. People online want information and lots of it. You’ll have to add solid material to your puffed-up sales letter to make it work online. Refrain from saying your service is “the best” or that you offer “quality.” Those are empty, meaningless phrases. Be specific. How are you the best? What exactly do you mean by quality? And who says it besides you? And even though information is gold, readers don’t want to be bored. Just like the rest of us, they seek excitement. Give it to them.

14. Including an opt-out statement prevents being flamed by recipients who feel they have been spammed by stating that you wish to respect their privacy, and making it easy for them to prevent further emails from being sent to them. All they have to do is click on an Unsubscribe link that takes them to a web page where they click on a button to unsubscribe.

Example: “We respect your online time and privacy, and pledge not to abuse this medium. If you prefer not to receive further emails from us of this type, click the unsubscribe button below.”