Email Marketing: How To Hook Your Reader

By guest blogger, Wendy Bryant.

There are several elements to an e-mail campaign. We’ve talked about the subject line as the first element and the one that gets your reader to click and open your email. Now you need the audience to actually read your email. Here are elements 2 ,3 and 4…..I’ll post the remaining 5 to 7 elements in the next few days. I highly recommend the book “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” if you already haven’t read. This will really put you in the seat of the customer and will help fine-tune your message.

#2: The first sentence – You need an opening sentence that identifies who you are. Your email should have a real person behind it. This establishes rapport with your audience and personalizes your message.  A successful e-mail campaign creates a dialogue and deepens the relationship. You want your message to elicit a reaction—for people to think “They do know me or I want to learn more about their product or offering…”

#3: Stay on Point –  I’ve received many e-mails that force too many points. The trick to executing is using the inverted pyramid (an upside down triangle). The broad base represents the most newsworthy information while the narrowest or tip represents the least important information.  Think of your main message as a form of an advertisement—be clear; use short succinct bullet points to get your message across and hook the reader.

#4: One message – Stay on point and stick to one message. If you send a lengthy message the reader will just scan and look for points that interest them. If your e-mail has too many messages then it will be difficult to sell your product or get the reader to follow the call to action that you’re after. Remember,  readers have a short attention span and multiple messages make for a bad combination in e-mail marketing.