Email that gets read

If you publish an email newsletter, that's awesome! Now comes the hard  part. See, it's not enough to just do the work of publishing--the template design, the writing, the sending, the sticking to a consistent schedule...

Nope, you've also gotta get that message read! If you don't, then all the time you invest is for naught, and that's just plain frustrating. How do you get that message read? Today I've got three tips to share with you:

1. A name (that's consistent) in the from field. Many small businesses make the mistake of sending their email newsletter "from" the company. Don't do that. We don't read email from companies, we read email from people. Now, obviously, for big businesses this is different, but for companies with fewer than 50 employees, you're almost always best off sending the email from one specific person and using the same person every time.
   
   (By the way, there are tools out there that let you send a newsletter from multiple company contacts. So, let's say you have three account managers--you can have the newsletter sent by each of those account managers to his/her contacts. So, Client A who deals with Account Manager A would get the newsletter from Account Manager A. This can be a great way to build relationships and to make sure your readers recognize the name in their inbox.)
2. A subject line that looks good. When thinking up subject lines, obviously they need to be compelling--they've got to get people wanting to open up right away. But, also consider how the subject line will actually *look*. I know that sounds pedantic, but the truth is people see how something looks before they read the words you've used. So, if your subject line is looooong, that's what they notice before they see that you've used a dozen delicious words. Or, if your subject line includes words that look like other words at a quick glance, the reader might just mistake your newsletter for something else.
   
   (Remember, they're skimming their message list fast! Keep it simple in the subject line.)
3. Email design that doesn't make heavy use of images. Once someone's opened your message, they won't read it if it looks all blank (the way it will if your message is all images and the reader doesn't have images turned on for your messages). Rather than relying too heavily on images, use other design tricks to make the newsletter look interesting and engaging--consider any photos or illustrations to be seasonings rather than the whole main course.
   
   (There are ways to increase the number of readers who are opening your images, but even if the majority of your readers view your email design with images turned on, you'll usually want to communicate the most important parts of your message without them.)

By using these three guidelines, you can get more of your readers to read your newsletter, ensuring that the time you spend putting together each issue won't go to waste.