5 Key Steps to Getting People to Read Your Emails

Sending an email for the sake of sending an email is about as worthwhile as giving your car a good cleaning before taking it mudding with your buddies. (Southern Reference)

However, on the flip side, if your emails are effective, it is immeasurably valuable to your organization.

Creating a strategy, writing copy, and designing the template all take significant time. That's why it's key to make sure your emails are set up for success and positioned to get read. But, at the end of the day, your emails need to get opened to be worth the effort.

Marketing emails should make your company money, not cost it money.

According to Neil Patel - “Almost 75% of people don’t open emails and about 95% of those who do open them don’t bother to follow any of the links.”

Say what?

If we're going to send marketing emails, we should focus all of our energy on getting our contacts to actually read our emails. In this article, we will explore first impressions, how-to strategies, timing, and more as we look at this key way to increase your readership.

How To Get More People to Actually Read Your Emails

It's one thing to get people to read your emails, it's another to have a message that resonates with them when they read it.

Is it any wonder why the majority of businesses fail in a world full of "me too" marketing? If your emails are a bunch of "me too" language, it will do no good to get a high open rate. 

What do you need to know? Watch these videos.

The Best Methods to Make Sure Your Emails Get Opened Are:

1. Deliver Value Through Your Emails
2. Craft Compelling Subject Lines
3. Write Sequential Emails Together
4. Use Unicode Symbols and Personalization
5. Send Emails at the Right Time

Okay, so enough with the teaser. Now you know why it’s so important and what the main points are… With no further adieu, let’s go over these one-by-one with a fine-toothed comb.

5 Key Steps to Getting People to Read Your Emails

In the world of revenue creation, getting people to read your emails remains a fundamental element that can't be overlooked. The best way to get your emails read is to offer something valuable that intrigues the reader enough to cause them to slow down and consume your content.

This leads us to our first point.

1. Deliver Value Through Your Emails

First, keep your email short and sweet to keep your reader’s attention. We’re looking for quality here, not quantity.

Feel free to utilize email as a place to extend offers that the reader wouldn’t receive otherwise.

You might also make use of the “greased chute” opener.

Renowned copywriter Joe Sugarman likens a good sales pitch to a grease-covered slide at a playground - your reader slides down smoothly and without resistance.

The first sentence should be short and to the point, attention-grabbing, and curiosity-based in hopes of drawing the reader in further. Use your brand voice to convey the message in a funny, clear, and informative fashion.

2. Craft a Compelling Subject Line

Make that subject line demand an open!

Use short, descriptive subject lines that don’t require a ton of reading right off the bat. Complicated subject lines bore readers.

If you didn’t get great results with a particular email, don’t hesitate to tweak your subject line! Simply resend the email to subscribers at a later date.

Try incorporating one of the following practices for punchy subject lines:

1. Create curiosity by using mysteriously ambiguous statements
2. Make it relevant/beneficial to your subscriber’s concerns
3. Show value (urgency or scarcity)
4. Generate an emotional response with bold (but true) claims
5. Make claims with case study results to back them up

3. Batch the Writing of Emails Together

If your email is part of a drip campaign, consider writing them all at the same time. By doing so, you are able to keep your writing style consistent throughout, avoiding choppy content. You also have more intuition on the ability to nurture leads through the funnel with your multi-email campaigns, if they are written all in one setting.

4. Use Unicode Symbols and Personalization

If you’re looking for that special touch to get noticed, Unicode symbols and glyphs can definitely make your subject lines stand out. However, pull these out of your holster sparingly - overuse will make your emails seem sensationalized and gimmicky.

Personalized symbols in subject lines are a fun way to give your emails that extra something, and will almost always outperform generic versions. So instead of using an asterisk or an arrow, consider, for instance, a paw-print if you’re marketing a pet business.

It also takes very little time, and going the extra mile can really pay off.

5. Send Emails at the Right Time

If subscribers receive your email during off hours, there is a good chance they will view it on their phones and put it off till later - and there it will sit forever, unopened and forgotten.

By waiting to send the email when your subscribers are likely to be in the office, you will increase your chances of getting that click. Shoot for mid-morning or afternoon, avoiding common lunch hours. And keep respective time zones in mind. Right Inbox's email scheduling tool allows you to schedule emails that will reach the recipients inbox at the right time.

Increase the Readership of Your Emails

One thing is for sure - the world of technology is constantly changing.

Email subscribers are likely to be flooded with progressively more email blasts, often from competing companies. Getting emails opened can be challenging. However, by implementing the above tips, you will be sure to improve open rates and get your emails read more.

Did we miss something? We would love to hear your tips on getting emails read.