Better Email Gets Better Responses

If you get as many emails as I do, you probably sort through alot of unwanted emails (spam), unimportant emails (friends sending jokes) and important email (clients, payments, etc.). If you want people to read your email and not delete it, read the articles Things to Consider Before Email Advertising and Too Much Junk Mail? Tips to Reduce Spam or Junk Mail in Your Email. Now that you have a reasonable name, email address and subject line, what do you want to say? And what don't you want to say? If your email is not getting replies or the responses you desire, pay attention.

The recipient doesn't know who you are. Okay, I will repeat this for those who did not read the articles mentioned. Do not use strange nicknames, funny email addresses (or free ones if possible) or poor subject lines. Email recipients assume these emails are spam (junk mail) and delete them. If the recipient doesn't know you, he/she may still read your email if you use your REAL name and your REAL email address (ex. email@powerpageswebdesign.com instead of bikerbabe@yahoo.com)

The recipient doesn't know what the email is about. Use a descriptive subject line. If your subject line says hi, miss you, or none because you forgot to add a subject line, this also looks unimportant. Do not try to trick people by saying "RE" or "in response to your email", because deception does not attract clients. Automailers place garbage in the subject line and often get filtered or deleted. So type "Request a link exchange" or "Thank you for your interest in our internship" or whatever is the general subject of your email.

The recipient is incorrectly addressed. There are many old-fashioned people in the world who still insist on sending letters and email to "Dear Sir" instead of "Dear Sir or Madam". Being a woman, I find this both improper and impersonal. If you are too lazy to discover I am a woman, please address the email as "Dear Yvette Kuhns". Unless you have a military, doctor or religious title, I probably wouldn't include the salutation.

If you know the department to which the email should go, use that. Dear Human Resources Department or Dear Webmaster. If you know the person's name, use it. Most names can be found on the Contact Us page of the website or at the end of an article. Emails addressed to me personally tell me you at least visited my website or bothered to find my name. I am more likely to read and care about your email.

Those who use automailers can still personalize emails. Boogie Jack sends a newsletter to numerous people and my name appears within sentences in the email. It appears more personal. Of course, nothing compares with personally replying to an email.

The focus of the email is uncertain. If you talk about your family, the weather and other things, be brief. That can be the first paragraph, but not the last one. If you change the subject at the end of the email, the recipient will forget why you emailed and may not respond as you wanted. Write a few short paragraphs about the main subject, what you want the recipient to know and what you want him/her to do. If you expect a reply, say so. If you want him/her to visit your website, include a link to your website in your request to visit it. Be brief and clear.

The recipient doesn't understand your email. I write in American English which is not native English. I apologize for any confusion in my language. Avoid using improper words (slang, profanities) or phrases that are difficult to translate or understand. Do not use big words to the general audience. Unless your audience is computer techs, do not use technical terms.

Use common, simple words especially when explaining a concept that is difficult to understand. Imagine calling tech support, because you can't get one of your computers to access the Internet in your office. If you don't know what a LAN, WAN, router, cable modem, 56k modem or related items are, you can get lost and frustrated. Describe the items and go through each step slowly. Email is worse than the phone, because the person cannot ask you what you meant directly. Then you send many emails to each other. Write in a manner that is easy to understand and follow.

The recipient isn't very interested in your email. If you are advertising a product or service, you hope to get the reader interested in visiting your website, contacting your business or making a purchase. Your email is an advertisement and may contain pictures, but it must contain information. It should tell the reader what you are selling and why he/she wants or needs it. Include a link such as "Click to visit our website", "contact us" or "find out more". Replace "enter our contest" with "Win a FREE Harley! Click here." that links to your contest. Better wording gets better results.

The recipient REALLY isn't interested in your email. You may be sending email to the wrong people. Sending an email to me to subscribe to Sports Illustrated would be a waste of time, since I am not a sports fan. Be sure you are sending email to your target audience and that you send to opt-in subscribers. If this is not possible, send a one-time email that says at the end of the email that this is a one-time email and/or include instructions how to be removed from future email. Be sure that you do not send another email to that person. You do not want to be accused of sending spam.

Before sending your email, read it. Replace the name of your company and product with another and pretend to be the recipient. Would you open the email? Would you read it? Would you respond to it? Why or why not? Revise and reread. Like your website, you can make changes to your emails. Better emails get better responses.

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