Email Marketing: How To Write Emails That Others Will Open... And Read

If content is king and the money’s in your email list, then how the heck do you get those people on your list to open and read the content of your emails?

We all understand the importance of an effective email marketing campaign. With its high ROI and usefulness to distribute content to readers, it’s clearly a top marketing strategy.

But what really makes for an effective email?

One that others will want to open, read and act on by clicking a link? How can we up our email game plan to deliver consistent value to our audience, and convert their interest into sales?

We've turned to the online marketing authorities to curate the best tactics and strategies for crafting outstanding emails... ones that will actually get opened and read! So, let’s get started.

Trust Me

For an email campaign to be effective, your subscribers need to establish a foundation of trust with you. They must feel secure in the knowledge that you’re not going to sell their personal information to third parties or flood their inboxes with spam. They’re looking for value in exchange for their time and attention, and an email campaign is an ideal method to deepen that relationship with your readers.

And the three steps to building trust via emails are:

1. Establish your perceptual position as an expert in your field. This you do by providing useful, valuable content on a consistent basis.
2. Master the art of persuasion. This is achieved by understanding the emotional needs and desires of your readers. Then you relate your understanding of their struggles with solutions. Which comes by providing useful, valuable content on a consistent basis.
3. And finally, you need to walk the talk and provide evidence to back your claims. This comes in the forms of stats, listing benefits, social proof and testimonials. And, yes, naturally, providing useful, valuable content on a consistent basis!

Trust must be built before you try to sell. To train your readers to open your emails, you want to start out by providing great content to keep your reader's attention and interest. So, load your emails with fantastic, relevant rewards to keep your subscribers opening your correspondence.

The Subject Line

To capture your readers’ attention, you must have a powerful subject line that will create interest. Very similar to an effective heading for a blog post, a compelling subject line should be constructed using the same fundamentals.

A good subject line needs to hold your readers’ attention and summarize your message in a clear, simple way. It also needs to:

• Promise something of value your readers need or want, emphasizing the desired.
• Make use of power words to evoke an emotional response.
• Create curiosity or sense of exclusivity.
• Establish your trustworthiness. Over-deliver on the promise in your subject line as this will train your readers to expect rewards in your emails.
• Be specific and crystal clear. Because clarity and accuracy are crucial to getting your readers’ attention in order to read your email.

The Body

Once you’ve managed to get your readers to open your email, you now want them to read your message all the way to your call to action. So, make it easy for them by applying the following tactics:

• Optimize the first lines for preview panes. Take advantage of the growing number of people who use a mail app with a preview pane, and create the first few lines of text to have immediate appeal. Consider the subject line like an introduction and use it to further pique interest in reading your message.

• Make it mobile friendly. Almost half of the emails today are opened on a mobile device. Take advantage of this growing trend by ensuring your emails are formatted to look good on smartphones and tablets.

• Speak directly to your ideal customer. Make your tone friendly and informal while retaining common courtesy.

• Use proven keywords your readers care about. “The same keywords that you’ve proven to work on your site should be present in your emails, because they grab readers’ attention.”

• Make your emails easy to read. Create short, clear and concise copy that’s easily scannable to make it easy for your readers to find the content they want

• Use a standard story structure. Follow the AIDA acronym of Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action to relate to your readers’ in a story like manner.

• Get to the point. No one has the time or patience for long, drawn-out messages that meander aimlessly. Get to the point before they jump ship.

• Have a clear call to action. Let your readers know exactly what they should do next to fully benefit from taking the time to read your email.

Some Other Considerations

• Only email when you have something worthwhile to say.
• Use an autoresponder to support a consistent delivery schedule.
• Use analytics to determine the performance of your emails. And A/B test all components of your email campaign for optimal effectiveness.
• Ask questions in your blog posts. Your subscribers are your most valuable resource to determine truly interesting topics, so ask lots of questions and welcome their opinion.

And there you have it. Tips on how to best craft an email that others will open and read: with an appealing subject line, an effective introduction and a message that will build trust and establish you as the authority in your niche. And that’s a pretty nice return for a simple email.

Steve Aedy is an avid blogger, content writer at Fresh Essays and passionate web surfer. He provides professional assistance to those who want to write better and write effectively. Steve will be happy if you circle him on Google+ or follow on Twitter.