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Does Your Email Get Read

Written by: Donald F. Pooley

Article Overview: Spam makes it harder for legitimate email to get through. More and more is immediately deleted.

Does Your Email Get Read

Spam makes it harder for legitimate email to get through. More and more is immediately deleted.
Here are 6 simple techniques to increase the odds that your message will be read by its intended recipient:
1. Your Return Address must be easily identified.
Don't send from strange or “cute” addresses. Last week I almost deleted an email from a man who sent it from his assistant’s email address, which I didn’t recognize. It resembled one from a porn site so my first inclination was to delete it.
2. Make your Subject Line as descriptive as possible. Never send emails with blank subject lines, or a single word, like “Update.” Describe its contents as specifically as you can.
Avoid generic subject lines, like “Roger C. Parker's April Newsletter.” It doesn't arouse curiosity or tease the recipient into opening the newsletter. Instead, shorten its title, and describe the topic covered, for example, “RCP April News: Subject Lines that Sell.”
When sending emails to individuals for the first time, such as those you met at a conference or networking event, add your name to the subject line; i.e. “Roger Parker confirms meeting you at High-Tech Summit.”
3. Emphasize benefits by using them in your subject lines instead of “news” subject lines. Subject lines are like headlines: they must engage the reader and tease them into opening your mail. Replace unfulfilling subject lines like “Mind Mapping Software” with a subject lines: “Write More in Less Time.”
4. Describe multiple topics in your subject line. An email covering two or more topics should not have a subject line describing just one of them. Instead, reference each topic in the subject line. This makes it easier for the recipient to find the email containing the desired topic, rather than forcing them to open every email in hopes of locating one that’s hidden inside a long message with a different title.
5. Avoid Run On Topics, i.e. multiple back-and-forth emails with the same subject line. This makes it difficult to find precisely the message with the desired information. Instead of continuing a string of messages with “Teleconferencing Questions,” break the cycle and use an updated subject line like “Final Teleconference Questions.”
6. Shorter is Better where subject lines are concerned, so edit them to the bone. Short subject lines introduce white space into the recipient’s email in-box, attracting your recipient’s eyes. A single short (but descriptive) subject line stands out when it appears among a series of longer subject lines.
Roger C. Parker, NY Times-recommended author, and Guerrilla Marketing Coach has clients throughout the world. Click here and ask him for his “Effective E-Mail” Guerrilla Marketing & Design newsletter.

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