4 Triggers That Will Get Your Emails Opened

Email marketing can be a tricky exercise.

You must find the right words for your subject line to get your email opened then follow it up with a killer first paragraph to get them hooked and round it off with an offer they can’t refuse.

Mind you, before any of that can happen you’ve got to make sure you don’t trip any spam filters.

What a nightmare.

Before I go on about the 4 triggers I mentioned earlier, let’s take a look at the spam issue.

Spam filters look at a long list of criteria, such as spammy phrases like ‘Click here’, ‘Free’, ‘Buy now’, but also:

• Using loads of exclamation marks
• Using CAPITAL LETTERS FOR YOUR ENTIRE SUBJECT LINE
• Colouring of fonts
• Sloppy HTML
• Creating an HTML email that’s just one big image with little or no text
• Using the word ‘test’ in your subject line
• Sending a test to multiple recipients within the same company
• Designing an HTML email in Word and exporting the code to HTML

 Source: Mail Chimp – How to Avoid Spam Filters PDF)

Getting back to the phrases and words that can trigger spam filters, HubSpot has put together a lengthy list of words that are known for triggering spam filters. You can see the list here. However, I would just like to point out that I can’t guarantee the quality of this list as no information source has been given.

4 Triggers to Get Your Email Opened

Right, back to those triggers that I promised you.

Basically, your readers have 4 buttons that, when pushed, will result in an emotional response. Therefore if you email presses 1 (or more), it stands a good chance of being opened, read and acted upon.

Your email should focus on 1 or more of these areas:

1. Gain

You, like your customers, enjoy getting something for nothing, so there should be a link in your email that, when followed, gives your reader something of value.

It could be information, a report, discount voucher, or something along those lines.

Offering something for nothing creates an emotional response.

2. Logic

Not everyone’s buying decisions are made emotionally, so what about appealing to your reader’s logical buying side?

Offering statistics and expert opinions will help push your reader further along the buying path. This practical information will appeal to them and give them reassurance about what they are about to buy.

3. Fear

Tread carefully with this one. Fear can be used effectively when talking about, for example, protecting your family’s future. Life assurance is a prime example of this. Who doesn’t want to make sure their loved ones are looked after?

Again, this one works on an emotional level.

4. Limited

By making your offer time limited, or limiting the supply of your product, you’ll make it irresistible to your reader. They won’t want to miss out, so will be more inclined to make an impulse purchase.

But those 4 triggers alone may not be enough.

In conjunction with them, your email’s subject line must also be:

• Actionable – using verbs to create a sense of urgency
• Personalised – segment your list to make sure your offer goes out to the right people
• Clear – don’t use an ambiguous subject line
• Brief – keep it relatively short and packed with benefits
• Consistent – make sure the promise in the subject line is backed up by the rest of your email

As you can see, there’s a lot to email marketing, but by keeping this information in mind, you should find it plain sailing.

Author: Sally Ormond