Email Campaigns: 3 Simple Steps to Improve Your Reach

Show of hands: Who is using email to stay in touch with clients/customers and VIPs? Excellent. Now, are you keeping an eye on your response rate? As email continues to be the most important tool for work, getting people to read and react to your incoming message can become more daunting in the midst of a jam-packed inbox.

Here’s 3 ways to help your message get through:

1. Tidy Up Your Contacts List
   Keep an eye on your “Bounce” list. Can you identify typos in any emails that are undeliverable? Do you happen to know if anyone on your list may have moved or left a job in recent months? Best to delete those or give them a call to see if they have new contact information so you can update your list.
2. Be Specific in Your Subject Line
   Your clients and prospects are far more likely to open and read an email with a compelling headline about the contents. Ditch the “Oct Newsletter” subject lines for “5 Tips to Better Health,” “New Report on [industry topic]” or “Winning Fall Garden Ideas”. But don’t get too clever. The subject line should relate to … the subject! When the metaphor is super obvious or extra obtuse, skip it.
3. Be Concise and Interesting
   Nearly no one will read lengthy articles in your newsletters these days, particularly if they are reading it on their smartphone or other mobile device. Either summarize a story and link to an external source for the rest of it OR break up your story and lead with the first paragraph or so in the email version. This approach can improve your open rate AND move more people to revisit your web site for expert advice or information.

Once you’ve activated this approach, check your response rate. See if you can continue to fine-tune the active language in your subject lines and massage your content to inspire even more recipients to open, read and share your emails.