There’s been a recurring theme in the world of email and inboxes this week (for me, at least). Too many email marketers ignore the fact that they’re speaking to a person. And by that I don’t mean a lack of personalisation...
You see, any email sent lands in the inbox of a real live very busy person. One who probably has hundreds of emails to sift through.
Image Credit: Jason Gulledge
There are a few things you can keep in mind when designing your email to make sure it actually gets my attention. We’re all faced with hundreds of daily emails; the only way to make sure I read yours is to make it as easy as possible to read.
The Three Whats
When someone opens your email they ask three questions:
• What’s it about?
• What’s in it for me?
• What do I do now?
That’s it. You have but a few seconds to provide the answer to all three to ensure they remain interested, read your email and follow through with an interaction. So, what do you need?
Firstly, a clear heading, summary, or visual explanation of what your email is about. Secondly, a clear benefit (be it valuable insights, a prize or a promotion) and, last but not least, a clear call-to-action (CTA).
About that CTA...
The call-to-action tells you what it is you need to do. Believe it or not; people prefer being told what is expected of them, rather than having to spend time figuring it out themselves.
CTAs that are short and direct often perform best. Test variations of your copy to determine what works best. However, to respond to your CTA, your reader first needs to be able to see it. Make sure it stands out visually, whether by placing text in a button, or placing a button next to it, adding an image, or simply surrounding your text with white space, thereby isolating it from the rest of your content. Speaking of your content...
Put it where they look for it
Email readers tend to favour the top horizontal section of your email, as well as the content down the left. That’s where their eyes travel first. Incidentally, preview panes favour the top left hand corner of your email. Keep this in mind when layingyou’re your content. If there’s something particularly important you’d like your readers to know, try to keep it to the top or left-hand side of your email. Alternatively, make sure that the content placed in these areas has a strong enough pull to ensure that your recipient will scan further than just these areas of your email.
Keep it scan-able
So, I’ve covered the fact that readers are busy and have an inbox full of emails to get through. It’s also no secret that we tend to absorb information in bite-sized bits, especially when we’re online. Try to make your email scan-friendly. Either break your content into shorter, easy to process segments or blocks; or highlight phrases that will help the reader skim through your content to get the general gist. If it is of interest to them, they’ll then backtrack and read the email in full.
Consider the person on the receiving end of your email. After all, what works for them will eventually work for you.
Also check out:
- Email Marketing made (kinda) easy
- Five Tips for Testing Newsletter Variable for Conversion-Driven Results
- Email, Facebook and Twitter: What you're getting out of each
