Email Marketing 101: How to Get Your Email Read

According to Review42.com, the average office worker receives about 121 emails daily. Of those, approximately 40% get opened. What exactly happens to the other 60%? How can you increase the likelihood that your email gets opened? There are many important things to consider when sending an email. Three easy steps to improving your email include using a professional email address for the sender, making sure it has a strong subject line, and keeping your content short, sweet, and to the point.

Use a Professional Email Address

Most likely, the sender’s email address is the first thing a person is going to see when they receive an email. That is a crucial element when deciding whether to open an email in the first place. There are a few different ways you can create a professional email address, if one is not already provided by your employer. You can simply use your first name with the domain (bob@sampledomain.com), your first and last name with the domain (bobsmith@sampledomain.com), or you can use the first initial of your first name and your full last name with the domain (bsmith@sampledomain.com). Regardless of which option you choose, it’s important to incorporate your name in your professional email address or it may look like spam.

Use a Strong Subject Line

The subject line of an email is another essential element that determines if it is going to be opened or not. From media contacts, current clients, and other prospects reaching out, almost everyone that sends an email is competing for attention. It’s crucial that your message stands out. It all starts with a powerful, attentive subject line. The best subject lines create a sense of curiosity or urgency in the reader through the use of engaging text. That said, you don’t want to make any false promises and you should avoid using all caps or multiple exclamation points. Ideally, your subject line should tell the reader what to expect in the body of the email. Additionally, it’s important to note that subject lines will get cut off if they are too long. For that reason, you should keep the subject of the email as short as possible. According to hubspot.com, 77% of emails are opened on a mobile device so any subject line longer than 50 characters will typically get cut off. If you have a subject line that is interesting enough to pique the interest of a recipient, you strongly increase the likelihood of your email being included in the 40% that get opened.

Keep Your Content Short, Sweet, and to the Point

If you have created a professional email address and a strong, eye appealing subject line, you are inching yourself closer to ensuring your email at least gets opened. With that being said, getting a recipient to open your email is only the initial step to delivering your intended message. The final piece you should focus on is the content of your email. Most busy professionals in the workplace don’t have extra time to read a long email, so you need to keep the body of the email as short and concise as possible. It is best to get straight to the point and make every sentence in the body of your email relevant.

Content is not limited to text either. Images, graphics, or charts make great additions to the body of an email, as they can be helpful in further expanding on existing content and are also appealing to the eye.  If you do choose to include any visual content, it is important that the visuals aren’t random. They need to serve a direct purpose to the email itself, or they will most likely be distracting or confusing to the reader. When graphics are used correctly and appropriately, they can improve the reader’s understanding of the email.

Ensuring a professional email address is used, the subject line is focused, and the body of the email is kept short and to the point will all greatly affect whether or not an email gets opened and read. It can often be difficult to make one specific email stand out from the multitude of other emails received daily in the workplace. Focus on the topic and reasoning behind the email and leave out any filler sentences, and you will increase your chances of making sure the message was delivered, opened, and read.

About Automated Systems, Inc.
Since 1981, Automated Systems, Inc. has been a leader in providing innovative core banking, digital banking, and data processing solutions to community banks nationwide.  An array of integrated applications provide partnered banks with tailored, cost-effective, competitive choices.  ASI delivers industry-leading technology backed by unparalleled in-house conversion, training and support teams; paving the way for progressive, top-notch customer service.  ASI corporate headquarters are located at 1201 Libra Drive, Lincoln, NE 68512, 1.800.279.7312.  For more information about banking solutions from ASI, visit www.asiweb.com.

About Insite Data Services
IDS data application hosting services combines secure and cost-effective core banking applications, enterprise-class servers and storage, and proven virtualization technology.  IDS hosts all of the bank’s servers in secure data centers that use state of the art security systems including identity verification and biometric scanning.  Insite Data Services also offers IDS On-Time, a full-service solution dedicated to back-office bank processing.  These operations experts allow partnered banks to focus on their most important asset, their customers.  For more information visit www.insitedataservices.com.

Sources:
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/improve-your-email-subject-line
https://review42.com/resources/how-many-emails-are-sent-per-day/