Email Marketing-How to Write a Responsive Email

Creating and promotional email letter that draws response is the key to any successful email marketing campaign. But what, exactly, does that consist of? There are five components to a responsive email letter. These are:

The subject line "tease" - in effect, this is the envelope of your email message. Whether it gets opened or deleted on the spot depends on the "tease" you put in the subject line. Teases should speak to the offer to be found inside - but not too much - make them open it to find out for sure. Good teases might be things like: "We can lower your costs..." or "Boost your sales by up to 200%...."

The offer headline - once someone has opened the envelope it's important to gratify their action right away. Instead of starting out with Dear , start out by expanding on the tease. For example, if the tease was "Boost your sales by up to 200%, expand on it the first thing - "Yes, Boost your sales by up to 200% by using our specialized advertising services...."

The salutation - then greet. "Dear Mr. Smith," And yes, a personalized greeting is better than a generic one. If you don't have access to names, then skip the salutation altogether. Go from the offer headline right into the body of the letter.

The email body - this is the part where many people get confused by email marketing. You may have a lot to say. The trick is to say it in a way that is easy to read, and clearly lays out the offer. Use underlining, bold and italics as ways to call attention to important elements. Don't overdo it as it can actual decrease readability. The idea is that if someone is scanning the email they can quickly identify things they care about and then read in more detail. End the body of the letter always with the offer and exactly what action you want the reader to take.

The closing - the closing should always be by the most senior person in your organization - preferably someone with a title. This is about credibility. But don't stop there. Add a "P.S." that underlines the offer and call-to-action again. For example: "P.S. Start boosting your sales today - click here for immediate information!"

There are volumes and volumes written on responsive email marketing. One thing to keep in mind is that you can always test one email approach versus another. Simply divide your list in half by selecting every other name, mail version A to one half, and version B to the other. Compare results. What works well and what doesn't will soon become apparent.