Getting your audience’s attention in a full inbox can be a challenge. Getting them to act on your e-mail doubly so. Here are a few tips to help you catch your audience’s attention and get them to click on that call to action.
The subject line
An engaging subject line should hook the reader into opening the email, summarising your most important message in one short line. It should tell the reader what’s inside your email. Most email clients only display between 38 and 47 characters in the preview, so any more characters possibly won’t even be seen by the reader. So make those first 35 count!
Personalising the message
The recipient of your email should be addressed by name and the language and tone of voice should appeal to your target audience.
The body text
The body text invites the reader to click on a “call to action” (CTA) button somewhere in the email. The content should present a clear message, providing the clear benefit of your company and what they could be potentially missing. Make the text easy to scan and end with a single sentence, repeating the benefit / offer and prompting them with a textual CTA link.
The call to action
Your CTA text should communicate a specific message and include a benefit to the reader. Use command verbs like “Register”, “Buy”, “Download” or “Join now” to help your customers take action and indicate what will happen when the button or link is clicked. Make sure your CTA takes the reader directly to the relevant page and not a generic landing page. The wording of the CTA should convey what the reader should do, where they will go and why they should go there.
Use of images
Images are often blocked by default in email clients – and some readers only read emails in plain text. So make sure your email message does not rely only on images. This will allow the reader a chance to grasp your message without having to fulfil a second action to see the initial CTA.
Avoid additional links
It is important to feature a link to the page where you want to send to your reader. However adding additional links, even to related pages, could distract the reader from the original offer and are not advised.
