E-mail marketing – which you can also launch via marketing automation platforms like Hubspot – is one of the foundations of communication with an online customer. It serves not only to maintain contact with the current client, but also to obtain new leads. It is also a useful tool in remarketing. Therefore – even knowing how much of the e-mail is ignored by the recipients – you can not ignore this tool.

Effective mailing – what makes it so?

However, if you want to be effective, you need to know how to write sales mails to reach your target audience. A few key elements to which attention must be paid are suggested by Boomerang. The specialists looked at more than 40 million sales e-mails and checked what statistically increased the probability that:

– they will be opened at all,
– the recipient “good” to the end of the content,
– the recipient will take the desired action – eg click on the link or answer.

What are the conclusions? The following are of importance in the telegraphic brief:

1. Emotional Emotions of the Email – Those “charged” with emotions, positive or negative, brought a 15% higher probability of reaction (but attention! With emotions can not be overdoed – too much “sweetening” will result inverse to expectations),
2. The style in which the e-mail was written – the higher the level of “complexity” of the content, the lower its readability and, consequently, the lower conversion rate,
3. Length of the message.

What is the ideal length of an advertising email?

The e-mail should not be too short or too long. Valuable advice, is not it? But what exactly does it mean to find this “golden mean”? Well, from the studies cited, it appears that e-mails are most read that contain 50 to 125 words – they met with a response of up to 50% of recipients. Remember, however, that this result applies to content in English.

On the other hand, the Paraphrase-Online study shows that the highest clickthrough rate (CTR) have e-mails containing approx. 20 lines of text, which translates to approximately 200 words in English.

How to draw a conclusion from this? Such that:

– mail should be rather short and specific than long and lengthy,
– its content should not exceed approx. 200 words.

Not only length matters

Although the length of the e-mail is a very important issue, it is not the only one you should take care of to reach the recipient. Also remember to:

1. write simple, transparent messages

Your e-mail should have a high readability index, and therefore be understandable, more or less, by the student of the last grades of the primary school. And what determines the readability factor? From:

– the degree of complexity of sentences – the more complex they are and the more components they have, the more work the reader has to put into “acquiring” them,
– complexity of words – words that have 4 or more syllables are considered more difficult in English.

Be guided by the principle: the simpler the better. You will reach the recipient more effectively, which – if you decide to open the e-mail address – will rather “scan” it than read every word carefully.

2. always put a question

It may appear at the beginning or end of the content. Let it inspire and stimulate thinking, and at the same time encourages interaction. But be careful! Do not overdo it with their quantity. Research shows that one email should be from one to a maximum of three questions. Again, we go back to the “golden mean”.

3. prepare a short, concise subject of the message

Apparently, 3-4 words are the best. What counts, however, is also the “catchiness” of the topic – so how much it will arouse the interest of the recipient. Well then? How do you “trample” the recipient to click?

4. do not overestimate the graphics value

A good graphic layout of the sales e-mail, and yes, it matters. But if you overdo the amount of the image and make it obscure, do not count on a high CTR.

5. personalize the message

The recipient should feel that you are addressing him. It does not hurt to use his name in the content or even to adapt the way the reader is addressed to the sexes.

How to translate theory into practice?

Finally, a few practical tips that will allow you to work on the length and content of sent e-mails.

1. Check the “readability” of the text.
For mailing to be effective, be sure … read it before sending. Shorten sentences that are only suitable for this. Correct typos, use shorter words and more direct phrases – eg instead of “worth checking” simply use the word “check”.

2. Always close the email with some request to the recipient
It does not necessarily have to be an incentive to click. It all depends on the purpose of the message and its content. For example, if the e-mail to direct the recipient to send a short answer – so that, for example, the counselor could call him back with a specific offer, make this request at the very end of the e-mail. The previous content should be built around this request – in order to create a proper context for it.

3. Do not waste words on passing irrelevant information
You only have dozens of them to use. And if so, give me polite formulas like “Dear John” or, oh, horror, “Hello” and go straight to the point. Do it creatively. For example: “I noticed that you have recently been looking for information about …” or, for example, if you are creating an email for a travel agency, “Where are you going on vacation this year?”. Personally, I always start the classic email “Good morning”, but it’s possible that your group of recipients will respond better to the quick transition to the details.

4. Remove unnecessary water splashes
Many people tend to build overly complex sentences – for example, to soften the message and make a more positive impression. The problem is that your message should be clear, transparent and specific. Therefore, before you send an email “into the world”, look at it with a critical eye and think about whether it is possible to say the same less and with a larger “claw”? It’s basically the first point duplication, but it’s a key thing, so it’s worth repeating. For example, instead of writing: “I think it would be a good idea to jointly analyze your needs and develop optimal solutions during the next meeting”, write “Let’s meet at the earliest possible date to determine how we can help you.”

It takes time to develop an effective email communication language. However, if you will work on it, following the above instructions, you will increase your efficiency step by step and start to notice the results.