Emailing is an art. If you just started, chances are you won’t get it right on the first try. Don’t despair, If you learn from your mistakes, you will eventually succeed. Here are some tips all newbie email marketers should keep in mind.

Spell it right

Again, I don’t necessarily advocate magazine-style writing skills (even though a few interesting turns of phrase could give you a boost in clickthrough rates), but if you cen’t rite anglish then outsource your content creation to someone even remotely proficient. The majority of native English speakers are put off by confusions between your and you’re or its and it’s, so you can safely assume that your unsubscribe rates will go through the roof if your English is even worse.

KISS

No, you don’t have to kiss anybody to make your email campaign work. KISS stands for the design principle: Keep it Simple, Stupid. Don’t overemphasize your point, keep everything short and punchy. Keep paragraphs simple (1-3 phrases at most), as it makes everything easier to read. Make use of bulleted lists whenever you need to get several ideas through in a concise and easy to follow manner. Don’t use overly complicated words (e.g. don’t use “the storm abated after a few hours”, let up is more understandable by English speakers of lower proficiency levels).

Call to action

Always begin your copy with the idea that you are going to elaborate on throughout your newsletter, and wrap it up by challenging your readers to do something. Don’t just leave the end hanging in thin air, don’t let your readers wonder “I’ve read this, now what?”. If your copy is something purely informative (like an article you only distribute to your newsletter subscribers) you can simply end it up by thanking your readers for their attention and offering them an incentive to invite their friends to your mailing list. Say something along the lines of “Stay tuned for next week’s tips and tricks and don’t forget that we are donating [insert your favorite charity here] ten cents for every user you refer to our newsletter”.

Pressure and urgency

To get the best clickthrough rates, your email will have to put some sort of pressure on the reader and impose a sense of urgency. You don’t want your readers to slack off, you want them to do whatever you asked in the call to action and do it now. You can do this by putting time limits on your offers and other restrictions that will force the reader to take action immediately.