Getting through to decision makers via email is tougher than ever these days.
According to Business Week magazine, the average business person receives more than 100 emails per day – and, by some estimates, as many as 80% of email messages are spam. This translates into approximately $21.6 billion per year in lost productivity due to time spent identifying, managing, and deleting junk email. As a result, organizations are taking drastic steps to block unsolicited email – and decision makers are all the more selective about which emails they’ll even bother to open, let alone read through to the end.
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In this environment, how can you make sure your prospects will read and remember your emails?
To stand out among the thousands of other emails that land in your prospects’ inboxes each month, you need to craft crisp, relevant messages that not only capture and sustain their interest, but also spur them to action – preferably, an action other than hitting the “delete” key. And there’s no more surefire way to end up in your prospect’s “deleted” folder than to follow these five easy steps:
Step One: Begin with an unmemorable, hyperbolic, or offensive subject header
Nothing screams “delete me!” louder than a dull, ambiguous, or alarmist subject header riddled with capital letters, exclamation points, and words like “URGENT!” “ACT NOW” or “TIME IS RUNNING OUT!!!”
People want to read emails that offer them something, be it a tip, an insight, a solution to a problem, or an answer to a question – not emails that bully, bore, or frighten them. Use your subject line to make a promise – and the body of the email to fulfill it.
Step Two: Personalization? We don’t need no stinkin’ personalization!
No one likes being on the receiving end of a random, mass email – just take a look in your own “deleted items” folder as proof.
Beginning with something as simple as your prospect’s first name, company name, or a reference to something you know they’ll be interested in will capture their attention long enough to allow you to get your message across.
Step Three: Take Your Time
As much as you might like to believe your prospects have nothing better to do with their day than meander through a long, rambling email from a stranger looking to sell them something, if you don’t get to your first point quickly you’ll never get a chance to make a second one.
Avoid such “throat clearing” tactics as lengthy company introductions or painstaking explanations of why you are contacting this individual. As long as you’ve included an informative subject line and personalized intro, they’ll already know why you’re contacting them – and they’ll be eager to learn more.
Step Four: Cram in as much text and as many big words as you can possibly fit on the page
You have important things to say, and email is so limiting! What better way to get your meaning across than to fill the screen with block after block of incomprehensible text, paragraph-long sentences, and meaningless marketing fluff? Surely your prospect will be impressed with your command of the language and read straight through to the end….right?
Sorry. In email marketing, brevity – and white space – are your two best friends. Long sentences are easy to write but exhausting to read. Before pressing the “send” key, try reading your message out loud. If you have to stop and take a breath mid-sentence, that’s your signal to split it with a period or semicolon. And, as a final check, try sending your email to yourself first – preferably to a PDA or BlackBerry – so you can see how it “plays” onscreen. If you see your key points getting lost, trim back the text and set important thoughts apart as single-line paragraphs.
Step Five: Forget about the offer/call to action
Assuming your prospect has made it to the end of your message, don’t just wander off into the sunset and hope they’ll pick up the phone and call you.
Close strong with an offer, an invitation, or a proposed next step, and make sure to follow through. If you’ve done your job right with the rest of your email, they’ll remember it – and you.
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Posted by Corporate Visions Inc. 
