Question for you: How soon after waking up do you check your email? Have you ever woken up, rolled over, grabbed your phone and checked your emails first thing?

I know I am definitely raising my hand, and I bet you are too. You probably will not be surprised to learn that we are not alone. A recent study by Sleep Advisor found that:

  • 55% of people check their email some time before they go into work.
  • 17% of Americans check their email immediately upon waking up.
  • 1 in 3 of millennials check their email as soon as they wake up.

Now, I know, I know, this “checking your email first thing” habit is actually one we should all be trying to BREAK, and trust me, I’m working on it.

But the reason I’m sharing these stats with you is because they reveal a truth that we as marketers and business owners can’t ignore. Human beings are obsessed with checking emails. We’re all a little like Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in “You’ve Got Mail”, anxiously awaiting the next must-read email.

The average person gets more than 100 emails per day. So how are you making sure that the person receiving your email is opening your email, reading it, and actually taking action on it?

Well, in today’s episode, I’m going to share some tips for formatting and structuring your email to help make sure that when people open your email, they’re more likely to read it and take action on it.

5 Email Marketing Rules to Live By:

1. Be consistent in emailing your list

Your audience is MOST into you when they first sign up to your list. You know when you first start dating someone, and every text or DM they send is like, the most exciting thing ever?

This is kind of like that. You really want to take advantage of this and establish a rock-solid relationship from the start. You’ve likely heard that you should have a welcome sequence in place, also sometimes called a nurture sequence. Aka, an automated series of emails that drip out over a few days to welcome your new subscriber and introduce them to your world.

2.Write to ONE person and yes, use their name

Your email shouldn’t begin with “Hey, guys! Or “Hi, everyone!” Even if you have a course and you’re writing to dozens of hundreds of people. This is all part of creating a more intimate relationship.

3.One email, one goal, ONE call to action

Every email you send, including those in your welcome sequence, should have ONE overarching goal or purpose. Why are you sending this email? What’s the point?

4.Speaking of the P.S., USE IT

Back in the days when direct mail was king, stats once showed that as many as 79 percent of people who opened a direct mail letter would read the PS first. You can ask a question and encourage a reply. Share something you have coming up or remind them about a current promotion. Ask them to book a call or leave a review.

5.Formatting

This tip is one of the least sexy, but it is actually one of the biggest reasons people will or will not read your emails. I am a huge proponent of a plain text email that literally looks like your mom or your bestie is writing you an email.

  • Length of paragraphs – I recommend that you keep your paragraphs to 1 to 3 lines.
  • Bold certain lines for emphasis
  • Easy to read font – bold enough that people don’t have to strain to read it.

Next time you sit down to write an email, can you implement 1-2 of these and see if you experience a higher click-through rate or more engagement from your email list?

If you want to see these email rules in action, you can sign up to my email list and sneak a peek at how I format my emails, what kind of things I include in the P.S., and how I integrate calls to action.

To get on my list, just head to www.erikaholmes.com/course, and you’ll get my free 5-day mini-email course on how to write copy that converts and sounds like you.

That’s it for today, thank you so so much for listening, it truly means the world and I’ll see you next time on Make Over Your Marketing.

P.S. I’d love to hear from you — did you find this episode helpful, were you already using some or all of these tips? Were they new to you? Message me on Instagram or better yet, share this episode and tag me so I know you’re listening.

Links

www.erikaholmes.com/course

www.itunes.com/makeoveryourmarketing

www.instagram.com/erikavholmes

www.sleepadvisor.org