How to get more people to read your emails

Let′s say that you are sending out emails to people other than your friends and people who already know you. How do you go about it? How do you make sure that they open the email, read it and react to it?

Since the time that your email appears in my inbox you got 5 seconds to impress me before I decide whether to open (and read) or delete. FIVE. So what are you going to say in your subject line and then in your email that is going to make me curious enough to take the time to open and read your email?

Here is a list of the ‘components’ that you need to take into consideration when you put an email together, so that you can improve the performance of those you send:

1.      Authority

Authority helps your potential reader decide to act upon receiving your communication. Part of the authority has to do with the company/institution that you are using. If you are writing from a well-known company or institution, your email will have more authority than a small company.

However, if the recipients know your name or know you personally - and they like you -, then you have a lot of authority. Authority can be enriched over time if you build brand equity; or reputation around your area of speciality.

Another way to build authority is to work in collaboration with well-known and respected companies, institutions or individuals. Name dropping people / companies that you have in common with the recipient, for example, helps build authority over time

2.      Buy in

Buy in is the direct relationship that the people you are email have with the topic you are writing about. Normally this is measured first and foremost by the subject line, and then by the information you give people in your email.

The specific and focused you are in the topic you are covering – and the rarer the information is to come across – the more likelihood you have of people taking the time with your email. If you are talking about generalities, topics I am only somewhat interested in, you have less chance of your audience engaging with you.

You can also increase your buy in if people know you directly. Your family will probably always open and read your emails, because they love you. So will your friends. But when you are emailing people who don′t know you too well, or with whom you are trying to set up a commercial relationship, you need to get cleverer about how you communicate and raise your buy in among them.

3.      Message

It is no mystery that short, to-the-point messages perform better than long, rambling ones. Is there a chance people will read your lengthy messages? Yes, but it will be low.

Think also of personalization. Does your email look like a mass-mailing? If it does, and it isn′t personalized, it is less likely I am going to pay much attention to it.

The probability that somebody will take the time to read your message and understand it has a direct relationship with how much buy in they have not only with your message, but also with yourself. If you are paying people to read the message, no matter how long it is most people will read it. But if you are trying to convince your clients you are the best option compared to your competitors, and you make it long and boring, you are guaranteed very few, if any, reads.

4.      Readability – Comprehensibility

This point is in direct relationship with the point about message. Making your message entertaining, easy to read and understand is key to it being understood and interiorized. Simple language, short words and ensuring your message doesn′t bit around the bush is key.

An important point here is that every email you send should make one point only, especially if your buy in is low, to increase your chances of people actually getting through it. Think about it, your family or your boss can probably send you a 42-point email and you will still read it. But will you read anything with a complex or long message from somebody you don′t know? You won′t

5.      Priority

Priority is another important element when deciding if I should pay attention to your email. Is the subject you are bringing to my attention urgent? Different things are urgent in different time perspectives. If I am writing about having a business meeting with you 4 months down the line you will most likely think it′s not a priority. But if my meeting proposal is 4 days from now it will highlight in your brain as – this is priority, I must get back to Belén.

Priority has a lot to do with the main projects/jobs you are doing in your job. Some information is certainly interesting, but not central (or business essential) to what I am doing right this minute. If it isn′t too urgent, the likelihood is that I will get another 200 emails on top of yours and simply forget altogether to get back to you. Sad face L

6.      Time

The date and time you send an email has got a lot to do with how I interact with your email. Mondays are busy. I am back from the weekend and I got loads to do. If it is something I got to reply to, 9am on Monday is unlikely to have a huge priority to me. Most likely it will get forgotten, buried in my inbox.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are better days to send email. Not too early – as I got work to get too – and don′t wait till lunch, cause then I am hungry and rushing through whatever I am doing. Friday is not really advisable since I am already thinking about the weekend. It can be a good day for communications that require more reflection than action, such as newsletters.

A special troublesome situation is when you need to send emails across timezones or in different regions – when, for example, people have different days as their weekend. Then you have to be very calculating of when is the best time to hit your audience – or stagger the sending times so that they don′t all happen at the same time.

7.      Clear call to action

Think before you even start typing your email… What is the point of the email you are writing? What is it that you would like people to do as a reaction to your email? When you know what the point is, make sure you tell people exactly that with a clear CALL TO ACTION in your email.

For example, if the point of my email is to get you to buy conference tickets, I will tell you to register here now and provide a link to the registration page as the call to action. Make no mistake, there is no point you sending an email if you don′t have a clear call to action. People are too busy to be trying to decipher what you want them to do with your cleverly worded email. Just tell them clearly what it is you would like them to do: join my group here, donate to my campaign here, book a business meeting with me here… or whatever else.

If you are offering people meetings /calls etc always offer two alternative times you can meet /do a call with them and always make it so it isn′t more than 3-4 days after the email. Otherwise, again, it isn′t a priority and it will be simply forgotten in the land of non-priority items.

If you want to see the effectiveness of your emails grow, contact me today so that we can discuss how I can help you achieve the objectives of your mailing campaign. See? Now you know exactly what I want with my communication! :)