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11 Proven Keys for Getting Your Emails Read

Get Your Emais ReadYou’ve read about the importance of having a strong email list, so you’ve worked hard to build up a big list, and you’re ready to start marketing to them. It’s wonderful if you can get your emails out to a broad audience, but there’s more to effective email marketing than just having a lot of people on your list.

Are the people you’re sending your emails to actually taking the time to read them? If not, the biggest list in the world won’t matter. After all, there should be a purpose behind sending your emails, and that purpose should have something to do with getting people to (eventually at least) buy something. So getting your emails read is of great importance to your success as an email marketer.

Here are 11 tips to help you get your emails read by more people:

1. Know Your Audience

One of the most common mailing list mistakes people make is not getting to know their subscribers.  They might know particular qualities about their readers, but don’t know enough.  Your goal is to get the highest number of clicks possible, so knowing what it is that your audience wants is crucial.  Do you recall the last time you asked your readers what they want, or is this something you’ve never even considered doing?  By asking your target audience for their ideas and feedback, you will no longer have to play a guessing game when it comes to providing them with what they want.

2. Help Them Become Consumers

Having people sign up for your newsletter or mailing list is a wonderful start, but your ultimate goal should be to have them actually read what you have to say. One effective and easy way to achieve this goal is to make sure that your points of interest are clearly highlighted.  An example of this would be to include a preview of the information found in the body of your newsletter. Your preview may read something like the following:

Dear Jack,

In this week’s bulletin, I will be sharing with you SEO tips and tricks that will result in more traffic to your website.  In addition, I have included some links to sites that I feel may pertain to you and your business, so don’t miss it! Have a wonderful day!

All My Best,
 
Juan Jones
Senior Editor

Can you see how offering a preview of this nature will tempt your audience to read further? By including a preview like this, your audience will become excited to read more of what you have to say.  If a person who runs a website is on your list and sees that you’re offering advice on how to drive more traffic to their site, they will definitely choose to read on so that they can gain as much insight as possible.

3. Identify Yourself

It has been proven that a person can gain up to 43% new subscribers who will actually take the time to read their newsletter by simply identifying themselves within the first paragraph. Rather than saying something like, “Announcing a preferred customer discount of up to 30% off”, try to make it more personal.  An example would be something like, “This is Juan Jones here to offer you, my preferred customer, up to 30% off on your next order!” This is a simple and subtle change, and also a very effective one as well.

4. Mention Any Advantages Early

We have already discussed the importance of identifying yourself. Now it is time to examine the importance of identifying your readers. This can be achieved by inserting the reader’s name. (i.e., Dear Jack). There is an even more effective method, however. By personalizing the benefit that your reader will have, they will feel even more like you are speaking directly to them. The following is a good example of how this works:

Dear Jack,

In this week’s bulletin, I will be sharing with you, JACK, SEO tips and tricks that will result in more traffic to your website.  In addition, I have included some links to sites that I feel may pertain to you and your business.  Have a wonderful day, JACK!

All My Best,
 
Juan Jones
Senior Editor

 
By focusing on JACK, you are showing him that he really matters to you. You may be thinking, “I don’t have time to personalize all of the newsletters that I’ve got to send out.”  No worries. There are programs on the market that specialize in exactly what it is you are looking to do – input your readers’ names. This will save you tons of time and will also help your audience feel as though they matter.

5. Keep an Eye on The Competition

Another easy, yet helpful thing that you can do is to get to know your competitors better. Take the time to join their mailing lists and examine the different techniques they are using in order to keep their subscribers happy.  You can even go so far as to purchase one of their products and monitor how they are using their emails before, during, and after a sale is completed. By subscribing to their mailings, you will have the opportunity to see exactly how they’ve chosen to structure their mailings.

This may seem underhanded, but let’s be realistic.  The old saying, “Hold your friends close & hold your enemies closer” rings true. By knowing exactly how your competitors are using their email campaign, you will be able to improve upon their methods and always remain a step ahead of them.

6. Write in a Conversational Tone

One of the most over-looked, yet simple things you can do to get people to be responsive to your emails is to write them in a conversational tone. Writing at your audience is the wrong approach. Rather, write to your audience in the same tone that you would write an email to a close friend or relative.

How exactly is this achieved? Simply write in the same tone that you speak. Compose your mailings as if you were speaking the words rather than typing them out.  A great way to ensure that you’re doing this properly is to write your mailings with a specific person in mind. Whether the person is your wife, grandmother, or cat, the important thing is that you are writing to one person and not to a huge list of people. Never forget that one person will be reading your email at a time, so compose it as though you are speaking directly to that person.

7. Link in Many Places

When composing your email, do your best to work your link in numerous times throughout the mailing.  You will notice a much higher click rate when you strategically place your links in more than one place throughout the bulletin.  The best places to include your link will be one halfway through the email and also one toward the end.  If your email message is fairly long, don’t be afraid to integrate your link in several different places, just don’t go overboard with your links.

8. Test it Out

To make sure that your mailing is effective, try sending it out on a much smaller scale prior to releasing it to your entire list.  By finding some small advertising space, you will be able to test more than one version of your bulletin out and make an educated decision once you’ve learned which bulletin will result in the most responses.

9. Email Your Existing Customers

Your existing customers can be your most receptive audience.  Go the extra mile by creating special offers that are exclusive to existing customers. It’s guaranteed that if they are already happy with their first purchase, they will be much more likely to buy from you again.

You may be wondering how to approach your existing customers with offers. Why not attach a special offer to the “Thank you for your order” section of the page? Another option is to send out a “Thank you for your order” email in which you attach a special deal for existing customers. This is a wonderful way to increase profits without spending a dime on advertising.

10. Continue to Promote the Same Offer

If something isn’t broken, why try to fix it?  If you’ve had great success with a particular offer, don’t make the mistake of dumping the offer because you think that it’s already been done and no additional people will be interested. Walking away from a tried and true method can cost you dearly. You may not want to put the offer back on the table right away, but don’t take it off of the table all together. Give it some time and then promote the offer once again. More times than not, doing this produces success.

11. Close on a Personal Note

It goes without saying that you want customer loyalty while maintaining your credibility. The more people trust you, the more likely they are to click your link. By always closing your mailings with a personal message, you are supplying your readers with more of a personal feeling that helps to reinforce your credibility. An example of this would be as follows:

If you’ve got any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to contact me at juanjones[at]juanjones[dot]com. I am more than happy to assist you in any way I can!

All My Best,
 
Juan Jones

This sounds easy enough, doesn’t it? Amazingly enough, something this simple can increase your clicks by more than 27%.  This is because it makes your reader feel as though you are really there for them. They will generally click where you tell them to, and if they have any questions they have confidence that they can contact you for a better understanding.

Conclusion:  So, there you have it; 11 different ideas to help you with your email campaign. Don’t make the mistake of reading these tips and then not applying them.  Set aside some time to take action and you’ll notice a drastic increase in profits before you know it!

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