There are many parts to an email that can affect its look and how well it’s received by your subscriber. The main parts are the subject line, the opener, the call-to-action and the p.s. Of course, your subject matter, or the body is important as well. If possible, you’ll want your branding apparent as well. Let’s take a look at some of the parts:
Subject line
The subject line is what your subscribers see in their inbox before they even click open your emails. It’s what most email marketers obsess about. If you don’t have a good subject line your email will not get opened. The subject line is where your subscribers get their first impression. It’s your hook. In fact, think of it as mini-billboard or newspaper headline.
Your subject line should be:
- Descriptive and upfront. It should tell your subscribers immediately what the email is about.
- It should arouse the curiosity of your reader so they want to open it.
- You want it to be personalized with your company’s personality as well as your individual personality.
- Professionally crafted. Make sure it’s free of grammatical and punctuation errors.
- Keep it short and clear.
Opener
The opener is the beginning of the email. Once they’ve opened your email, your opener is what sets the tone for the main part of the email. In the very first words they read, your subscriber is making a judgment about you and what you want. It determines whether they will continue to read or click away.
You want to make it personal but still professional. Use the person’s name if you know it. If not, then use “Hi” instead of some generic business greeting. This is your chance to build a relationship with that subscriber.
Call-to-action
The call-to-action is, most likely, the reason you emailed in the first place. It tells them what you want them to do right now in order to take advantage of your offer. It should include a clickable link that takes them to the payment page or the website page you want them to visit.
- Avoid using “Click Here,” even though it does tell your subscriber what you want them to do because it doesn’t tell them why you want them to click here.
- Don’t bury your call-to-action. Keep your body copy concise and to the point. You can use snippets of text with links if you have a lot to say in your email. Keep the layout simple since many people scan through emails. A simple layout makes it easier for subscribers to see and act on your call-to-action.
- Include your call-to-action in the body, preferably in two or three spots as well as in the P.S.
- A call-to-action can be an image, brand names, logos or large, bold text.
The P.S.
The postscript, which is abbreviated to P.S., is a sentence or two that’s added after the main body and your signature. This is another area you can include your call-to-action. The P.S. contains your last thoughts.
- Use your P.S. as a lure, with the clickable link as a hook, to stress the main selling point again from a different angle.
- The P.S. is your last effort to get personal.
- Use the P.S. to introduce a bonus.
- The P.S. is also a great place to give testimonials.
That’s the four different parts of an email that you should be paying close attention to. These are the areas that you want to grab your subscriber’s attention.
Now, take a look at the last email you sent to your list, how can you improve it to more readers to open it. Leave a comment below to let me know what you learned from your review.