One must know and practice the dos and don’ts in email marketing for content marketers. This can cause you to lose or gain reputation and trust with your prospects. When sending emails, just like any other marketing tactics, what out for the following:
Be clear and direct in your subject line
The subject line of an email is very important to get the email opened or deleted. This is true for emails where recipients judge the contents of the email by looking at the subject line and then prioritize which to open and which to delete from the inbox.
The best opportunity you have to increase your email open rate is the subject line. Make sure it is not vague with a double meaning. Be clear to the point without overusing words.
Did I also mention that it is rude to capitalize all the words in your subject line? All caps in the subject line look like you are forcing, imposing, or shouting at the recipient.
Email contents should be written first before entering the recipient’s email address
Email messages must be written first before the email address of the recipient is entered into the TO address column. This is because, at times, while you have not finished the email message, you can mistakenly send the incomplete message to the recipient.
When you are sending a reply, and the recipient email address is already present in the TO email address column, I suggest you write the email in Windows Notepad or TextMate on Mac, instead of writing the email in the compose area of the email application. This way, you are sure to complete the email before you copy and paste it into the compose area for sending to the recipient.
Always double-check the recipient email or emails before you click the send button
“Shit happens”. So before sending an email to a single person or group of persons, please double-check the email and associated name to be sure that you are sending it to the right person or persons. It only takes less than a minute to double-check the recipient’s email.
It is better to be careful than to be sorry, knowing that you sent the wrong message to an unintended person. Once an email I sent, it is almost impossible to reverse it. Some email providers have recently started providing the ability to undo an email that you have sent – in about a few minutes timeframe.
As soon as you have the time, reply to your emails
Emails are close to instant messaging that we still have in the world. Ignoring emails that require your reply and attention for far too long is not good. Attend to every important email that requires your reply as soon as possible.
Piling up email messages for later attention, can clutter your inbox and put a heavy burden on your mind. Dispense with any important email within a specific timeframe – say within 1 or 2 working days. If you are not the right person to answer an email, then forward the email to the right department for their attention and inform the sender about that.
Professional email messages require good grammar
Are you writing emails from a company email or as a professional in your field? Then your emails must use good grammar and style.
Reading a grammatically poorly written email from a firm or professional is very disheartening and reduces trust. It also turns off customers. If however, you are writing to your casual friends and acquaintances, you can be less formal in your email messages. However, it is still in your best interest to always be formal and use good grammar when writing to friends.
Most email programs now include an inbuilt grammar checker to help you in this regard.
Proofread your email at least twice before sending it
Proofread your emails to correct mistakes in punctuation, sentence structure, and spelling. Email programs now include a spell checker to help you with spelling.
Proofreading also helps you with anything you missed that you should have included or anything you should have removed from the message. Ask yourself if your email message is really addressing the issues you want to address.
AVOID ALL CAPS IN YOUR EMAIL MESSAGE
DO NOT USE ALL CAPS IN YOUR MESSAGE. It is seen to be rude to use all caps in your message. All-caps messages are hard to read and shout! At the recipient.
Even if you want to emphasize a word or sentence, it is better to not do so. Email spam filters tend to send all-caps emails into the spam folder of the recipient.
Conclusion
Other simple etiquette to follow are; use appropriate greetings and salutations, be respectful in your message, don’t misspell the receiver’s name, use proper tone of voice, and empathize with your receiver when writing your email.
There are more email etiquette to follow, but remember most importantly that words are as powerful as swords, therefore use words with care and intention, so as not to cause any harm to your recipient. Making someone’s day using an email message is a good way to share joy all around and make the world a better place.