When writing a business email the line between too little and too much may be very small, therefore is important to pay attention to some of the advices that the specialists offered during the years into how to write a successful email.
Being yourself in emails can bring you more long-term response than any other email tip, tactic or “technique” combined. Let your unique personality shine through in every word. Showing your partners the real you, will take you far. The business people are fed up of receiving robotic- mechanical email, full of the same key phrases that actually don’t say a thing. Introduce yourself, and your company, right away. Existing customers will greet you like an old friend, while potential shoppers won’t be forced to wonder if you are a shady scam artist.
Target your message to the right audience. Never forget what you are selling and to whom you are selling it. Remember that even the best crafted pitch is worthless if it’s delivered to someone who doesn’t want it.
Get to the point. According to Jupiter Communications research, only 15 percent of web users read all email messages in their entirety. More than half (51.2 percent) read the first few sentences and then decide whether or not to continue. Forcing your customer to wade through paragraphs of superfluous information is the quickest route to the delete key and to the death of a sale.
Be clear. Make sure that the information is presented in a clear matter. Use paragraphs, bold words, to highlight the most important part of the content and make sure it stands out and is not forgotten. Moreover, avoid the temptation to be too sophisticated in your design. Many systems still won’t support fancy formatting. Plus, most of it gets lost on the trip through the network anyway. Keep it easy on the eye.
Be an editor. Your customer needs to know he is buying from the best. Proofread. Break up run-on sentences. Use simple language. Catchy phrases don’t make up for sloppy punctuation and typos. And if you can’t write, hire someone who can.
Try a joke. Nothing works better than a good sense of humor, use at the right time and with the right amount of spice. Not an easy to do task at all, but one that proved to be quite efficient in time.
Tell stories. Stories are a great way to sell in emails, no matter the brand of the product or the service you are trying to pitch. If you succeeded in making the other side drawn into your story, then for sure you have a winning email. The reason is quite simple: people like to be emerged easily into the content, to be charmed, not to have the impression even from the beginning that you want to sell them something or the fact that this is your plan all along. Let the person reading the email be entertained, carried through the layers of the email and the information you are providing him. It will be much easy to be processed and understood.
And, in many cases, it’s the most persuasive way to get someone to do what you want. Whether it’s persuading someone to buy your product or persuading a child to be careful of talking to strangers — stories inspire and motivate people to take action.
Personalize it. Make sure you know to whom you are writing and address it accordingly, by name and position. Few things are more annoying that receiving a “bulk” email, addressed wrongly. Knowing a little about the person you are writing to and making sure you are saying it gets you a long way on the selling process.
The guys at hubspot.com give you even more ideas here.
