Random email tips that have worked for me !

In a previous post I wrote about some general email campaign do's & don'ts - in this one I thought of sharing some tactics that have shown good results in campaigns that I have run. A word to the wise though - these are not prescriptions so use carefully only when the situation is appropriate.

1. Many people use mail clients like Outlook & view the mail box in split screen - a list of mails with basic info. & often a preview of the first line on one side & an actual preview of the mail on the other half of the screen. This suggests a couple of tactics - for starters I try to keep the actual mail short enough to get all the "meat" as close to the top of the mail & hence appearing in the portion that would fit into the half screen preview with the sign-off & the signature going "below the fold".

2.  Now almost all mails are addressed to the recipient by first name but I also try to name the target segment they belong to in the first sentence to reinforce that the mail is topical - so something like "I thought it would interest you to know how other Medical Insurance leaders have addressed customer support challenges...". This also helps get this reference into the preview that comes up on the mailbox list - seeing something interesting there may mean the difference between the mail getting opened or canned.

3.  A few personal rules about the content of the mail - I try to keep my claims realistic & as obviously sincere as possible so no hyperbole like "perfect", "raving customers" & the like !    

4. As far as possible I look to include no more than 1 hyperlink in the mail. Ideally that link should be to a specific section in the site that holds some very relevant information to the target segment. As a general rule I try not to direct people to a home page or something as generic as that. In those cases we are depending on the prospect making the effort to look for something more appealing & then clicking through. Chances are that is not likely to happen.

5. It sounds obvious but the mail should be tailored to invite the desired CTA - if that is to click through a link then the mail should specifically drive towards that, if the mail in intended to convince the recipient to give time for a demo or a meeting then one tactic I have found useful is to provide just enough information to pique interest but not enough to tempt the prospect to think they have all the information  they need to take a decision on their own.

6. I also try to anticipate the most common "objection" & deal with it in my closing - so something like "Many organisations with existing vendor relationships in this area have still found value in talking to us because of our unique combination of skill sets."

7. Perhaps most counter-intuitive but I have had some success with emails that include an error or an obvious mistake in the title or the early text - people often feel compelled to read through or even to write back & point the mistake out. This is a high risk-strategy though - mistakes can reflect on your brand so I sometimes hedge by including a reference to the mistake towards the end of the mail & make it clear that it was deliberate. 

So there you have it folks - some personal tips that I have found useful. I would be interested to hear from others if there are things they have tried that have worked for them - no doubt we can all use all the help that we can get ! 

  
(Image Courtesy - Wikimedia Commons)