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It is
unfortunate that because of a few people who have abused the email
system, genuine business messages are now NOT being delivered. ISPs
(Internet Service Providers) have had to take drastic action and
implement rigid spam filters and many people have set up rules in
their email software which discard messages that contain certain
words, phrases, subjects etc.
Getting Your Messages Delivered, Opened & Read
So even before
you start thinking about writing an email message, you need to be sure
it gets delivered. Your chances of having your email arrive, be
opened and read greatly increase if you:
1. Personalise
your email, ie. include the person’s name in the subject line as well
as the body of the message.
2. Only send
messages to people you know and who know you. (We will cover creating
your mailing list next time.)
3. Avoid using
words such as “free”, “make money”, “extra income”, “lose weight”,
“satisfaction guaranteed”, “IMPORTANT”
4. Do not send
attachments
5. Send text
messages rather than HTML emails
6. Do not use
ALL CAPS
7. Ensure your
emails have a meaningful subject that relates to your message
Creating Compelling Messages
So you’ve had
your message delivered and even opened. Congratulations you are half
way there! Let’s now look at some points to ensure your message is
read and actioned.
1. For a
good-looking email, format your message to 65 characters or less per
line. Use a hard return (that means hit the ‘Enter’ key when you get
to 65 characters). Use a fixed width font, like Courier New.
2. Personalise,
personalise, personalise. People love seeing their name and business
name in print. Use it in the subject line and in the body.
3. Write just
like you talk. Use plain, easy to understanding English. Be friendly
and personable in your writing.
4. Get to the
point right away. Your first two sentences should include a summary
of the whole email.
5. Put passion
into your email. Let your customer know you are excited about the
offer.
6. Write to one
person. Think of your customer and pretend like you are talking only
to him/her.
7. Keep your
sentences and paragraphs short and simple.
8. Use
subheadings. Think of them as mini headlines. These are great for
breaking up large bodies of text.
9. Use action
verbs whenever possible.
10. Create
urgency. Let recipients know the issue is time sensitive.
11. Encourage
people to forward your message onto others
12. Explain who
you are and how readers can contact you.
13. Do a spell
check and grammar check
14. Avoid URLs
(website addresses) that wrap. Ensure links are short, so that they
do not stretch over 2 lines. If you can’t control the length of the
URL, tell the readers how to put it together in their web browser.
15. Use only
ASCII characters. Many email readers can’t display text other than
the standard set of ASCII characters (roughly equal to what you see on
your keyboard)
16. Always offer
an option to unsubscribe.
17. Include a
PS. at the end of the email. Use it to effectively highlight a
reminder or a point of interest.
The best ways and times to put email to work
1. Acquire new
customers at incredibly low costs
2. New product announcements
3. Holiday season and event specials
4. Stay in touch and on customer’s mind
5. Endorse and cross sell other products
In the next
issue we will cover ways to collect email addresses and how to manage
your email list.
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