4 Secrets for Making Your Emails More Readable

Do you ever feel like you and your customers are speaking two different languages? You send out an email about a program or a sale that explains it in detail, only to get emails and calls in response asking about the program or sale. What gives? Can’t people just read the email?

Actually…they might not. Your emails should be built with your customers in mind – if they’re reading this on the go and have only 30 seconds to process what it says, what information do they need to take away? Dave Charest of Constant Contact has four ways to make it easier to read your emails:

First, answer: “What action do you want the reader to take?”

Many times the reason people ignore emails is because there’s just too much information in them.

Think about how often you check your email while in line at the grocery store or in between meetings. Not a lot of time to dig into tons of information.

By asking the question, “What action do you want the reader to take?,” you focus yourself, so you only include information that supports the reader taking that action.

When something sneaks in that doesn’t help with your goal, you know to exclude it from your email. Less is more.

Tip: Not sure what action you want readers to take? Check out our infographic to see examples of creative call to actions.

Keep your content concise and scannable.

Now that your email content is focused and driving toward one particular goal, you still need to present it in a way that’s easy for the reader to consume.

People typically see the email before they read it. If the content of the email looks intimidating to them…DELETE.

Keep the content concise and put the most important information up top. Make your email text scannable by using short sentences and break up large blocks of text into short paragraphs. Be sure to use bullet points when listing items.

How long should your email be?

A good rule of thumb: picture, paragraph, and call to action.

• Relate your image to the topic of your email. Choose an image that shows what the reader may expect, feel, or experience if they take the action you want them to take.
• Use a headline to grab the reader’s attention. Headline text should be larger than body copy to pull them into your email. Use 22-point font.
• Make sure your call to action stands out. Use a button or white space around your link.

Use a mobile-responsive email template.

If it’s not easy for your reader to see your email, especially on a mobile device, you’re in trouble.

A mobile-responsive email template responds to the device it’s being read on. Whether it’s on a mobile phone, tablet, or desktop computer, you can be sure your email looks great and is easy to read.

Constant Contact has a full selection of mobile-responsive templates, so you don’t have to worry about your message looking great — on any device.

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