The email data analysis company Yesware, based in Boston, developed several tips to improve the art of emailing, after reviewing more than 500,000 sales emails sent by its users. Here the five most important points.
Which subject put?
Following the presidential elections in the United States, in 2012, members of the campaign team of Barack Obama revealed that the most successful “matter” had been used as a title for their mailings containing only the word “Hey” (Hello). This idea gave them millions of dollars. Could you do likewise? Yesware policymakers believe that not.
In their study, the company concluded that mails headline with the word “Hey” get lower rates of opening and reply to other common words. “There’s not a magical subject line,” says Bernie Reeder in the company blog.
For example, if you want someone to make a place in your schedule for a call, you better put the issue “call”, rather than “calendar”. 62% of emails with the word call were opened and of these, 35% were answered.
Contrary to what you might think, the length of the sentence to be included as a matter of no importance, determined Yesware research.
It is best to copy
Although the art of emailing is not an exact science, there is something you can do to immediately increase the response rate of your emails. When you send an email to two, is better than one display copy (CC). Email sent to a person with a copy to the other received a response rate 12% higher than those sent directly to two people.
This could be what is known in psychology as “Diffusion of responsibility”: when a task to a group of people is assigned, people tend to assume that someone will take over, so nobody just so.
That’s better than one recipient appears in the field of Email, and another copy only, thus there is only one person responsible for answering. And, in addition, the presence of a second person to copy will increase pressure to ensure a response.
Insists
If your email is going to be opened, 91% of the time takes place in one day since you sent it. If it opens on that first day, about half of the emails will be answered in the first three hours, according to company data.
What that means is you have to be proactive. If you see that your email has been opened, the clock starts counting. It is likely that, if there is a response, either that same day, so don’t simply wait, if you do not receive a response in a day or two: again send the mail. But it is difficult to know where it is the border between productive tracks and become a heavy.
Yesware data show that if you do not receive an answer the first post, you have a 21% chance of getting an answer to the second post. If this is not met, breathe deeply and re-submit. There is still a 25% chance that the recipient answers.
Explain your reasons
A study conducted by Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer found that people are more willing to heed a request if does it use the word “because”. What this means is that if you ask someone to do you a favor, you will have more success if you give him a reason to. Because in this world full of tasks and accelerated, answer an email from someone, maybe you do not know, it’s a favor.
Keep it short, simple and personal
Brevity is a virtue. So it should not surprise us that it is, too, in the case of emails. Shorter emails get better response times and produce an increase in productivity.
So do not waste time. Be considerate of your audience and uses appropriate spacing, numbers, lists, everything you can to visually divide your message and make it easier to digest. Marshall Van Alstyne, visiting professor at MIT, said the length of a tweet (140 characters) is ideal.
Furthermore, customize is key. Try to draw the attention of the recipient putting his name in the subject.