Blogger Mohit Sharma has an interesting site full of tips here: getsidekick.com/blog. I’ve been reading his tips about writing emails, and I’d like to share some with you.
What you write in your email subject line is vitally important. According to Sharma, 33% of email recipients open (or don’t open) an email based on the words in the subject line alone. Using the words “Sale”, “New”, or “Video” in the subject line boosts open rates. Especially VIDEO. People love to look at free video.
If your email is selling something, such as a holiday package as described by a travel agent, your email should have a call-to-action.
There should be just ONE THING you want the email reader to do.
According to Sharma, 69% of email recipients report an email as SPAM based solely on the words in the subject line.
And his research shows that most emails are opened on a mobile first. Not at a desk. Remember, the average mobile phone screen can only fit 6-7 words across the screen. This means your email shouldn’t have looong sentences without a return.
Some specifics:
- Emails with “Free” in the subject line were opened 10% more often than those without.
- Emails with “You” in the subject line were opened 5% less often than those without.
- Emails with “Quick” in the subject line were opened 17% less often than those without.
It pays to hyperlink certain words in your email. This enables the reader to go where you’re pointing them with ONE CLICK. In my case I’d hyperlink keywords like: proofreading, creative writing, become a Life Coach.
Note: a keyword can be a single word like ‘photography’, or a string of words like ‘How to make a start at writing your first novel’.
More specifics:
- Emails with “Tomorrow” in the subject line were opened 10% more often than those without.
- Emails with “Meeting” in the subject line were opened 7% less often than those without. Why? Because we all hate attending stupid meetings.
- According to Sharma, emails with no subject words were opened 8% more often than those with a subject line. But he says there’s a 18% decrease in open rates when the word “newsletter” is used in subject lines. Amazingly, there’s a 62% increase in opens when the word “alert” is in the subject line.
- I wonder. Blokes don’t usually respond to alerts and warnings.
- Subject lines with under 30 characters have the best open rate; ones with more than three words are opened 15% less than those with just 1-2-3 words.
- Personalised subject lines (Hi, Brian,) are 22% more likely to be opened; subject lines with a sense of urgency have a 22% higher open rate.
So there you have it. Email is the best way to reach your supporters and fans. So get emailing!
– Brian Morris. Reproduced for educational purposes.
