Think Inside the Inbox with this email marketing training

Address the Envelope

Some 68% of emails aren’t getting opened — let alone read. In fact, an average of 276 emails languish unread in inboxes at any given time. That’s an increase of 300% in just four years.

In this environment, what’s a communicator to do?

In this session, you’ll learn how to grab attention in the inbox to get your online-marketing messages opened. Specifically, you’ll learn how to:

• Go beyond the subject line. Make the most of the four key elements recipients consider before deciding whether to open your message — or to delete it without reading further.
• Write email subject lines that aren’t too long. Chances are, yours is twice as long as the recommended benchmark.
• Tap the No. 1 technique for getting opened. Carnegie Mellon researchers proved it … now it’s up to us to use it.
• Avoid 3 common subject line approaches that reduce opens. That trick you’re using to draw them in? It may be keeping them out.

Get Read

Recipients read, on average, fewer than 200 words of each email newsletter they receive. Assuming your recipients do open your message, what are the chances they’ll be paying attention to it?

In this session, you’ll learn how to:

• Tap the No. 1 reason people find newsletters valuable. And avoid the No. 1 reason they quit, which is responsible for 67% of unsubscribes.
• Decide when to personalize. Yes, slapping a name on the subject line may boost opens. But it can also creep readers out and make them worry about their privacy — unless you also do these two other things.
• Make it clever … but not too clever. Readers complain when your email isn’t edgy, insightful or witty enough. They also complain if it’s too cutesy. Find the fine line between interesting and silly.
• Pass the 1-2-3-4 test to put your message where your subscribers’ eyes are. Tip: Test your emails on your smartphone for best results.
• Stop sending emails that don’t get read. Steal our four great email leads to try — including one fill-in-the-blanks formula that will change your life — and stay away from our four bad email leads to avoid. (Use these for your blog posts, too.)
• Plus: How to use ChatGPT to write emails

Cut Through the Clutter

The No. 1 piece of advice email recipients give a writer who writes email newsletter content is to keep it short. So how do you write concise emails that recipients will read?

In this session, you’ll learn to:

• Solve the Goldilocks Conundrum. Recipients are turned off by e-zines with too much information — and by those that don’t offer enough. So how much is just right?
• Pass the 1-2-3-4-5 Test for getting your email paragraphs read on mobile phones.
• Choose among three top e-zine formats. If you’re struggling with opens, unsubscribes and conversion rates, bring one of these email designs to the rescue.
• Avoid the Mobile Paradox. The No. 1 activity for mobile users is wasting time. But mobile users get “visibly angry” at verbose e-zines that waste their time. How do you avoid enraging readers on mobile devices?

Reach Recipients Where They Look

People skim 69% of their e-zines. They read only 19%. (That’s the good news. On mobile, they skim 74% of their e-newsletters.)

In this environment, how do you reach the three-quarters of subscribers who don’t read our paragraphs? Before you click Send, make sure your email messages:

• Avoid the worst link problem. It decreases accessibility, reduces scanning and cuts your chance of getting clicked.
• Pass the Squint Test. Because if your piece looks easier to read, more people will read it.
• Don’t get your head cut off. What’s the right length for email headlines that don’t get cut off by email apps, social media — or humans?
• Avoid the Curse of the Smartphone. More than half of recipients have unsubscribed from brand emails because they don’t work well on mobile.