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{Email | Post #3}: Your emails look like this?

Rui Bom

• 2 min read
{Email | Post #3}: Your emails look like this?
I know I said it all before but now I mean it.
Most emails are read on a mobile device so please do both of us a favor and be intentional about your subject line and first paragraph. Try to convey the juicy stuff within the first 8 seconds as that will help getting the convo going. Ahh, and before I forget: doesn't matter how slow you go as long as you don't stop. For more, read last week's post.

30% of people open my emails, he chuckled, after I shared the average open rate is at 18%. Well, then maybe you should be the one mentoring, I said. As he screen-shared his funnel, it became clear 30% was actually 3%.

Always know your numbers. I learned that the hard way actually, during my first month at my first job. Every Monday morning, the CEO would randomly follow people to the toilette and, during that awkward moment, ask if you knew how much your brand had sold over the weekend. Ohh, you don't? Next time I'll find someone who does.

It's the same thing with emails. You can't improve what you don't track. So before we go any further, let's check your numbers. Do you know how many people are opening your emails? How many clicks? How many replies? Ohh, you don't? I'll...

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Our relationship needs to be based on accountability. Time for you to start collecting data to see how well your current emailing strategy is doing. Without that, how can we assess if what I'm preaching is any good?

I'm no David Blaine but I have been working on my mentalist skills. I am confident I can accurately guess that your cold emails look like this:

  • Subject line: neither compelling nor exciting; not personalized, no sense of urgency. Subject lines are the #2 reason people open an email (34%). No personalization screams templated, spammy content. Clearer now why most people aren't opening your emails?
  • 2-line preview: 'My name is [name] and I am the [role] at company [name] intro is so lazy. Actually, let's call it ridiculous. The sender has already seen your name, highlighted in bold, right above the subject line. You're just wasting premium email real estate by repeating it.
  • Last paragraph: Are you free for a call next [date + time]? I don't even know you and you're already asking me to spend some time with you on the phone? Well, good luck with that.
Intro&Call template: soon to go extinct.

I'm quite sure this Intro & Call approach did work back in the day, when email was rapidly becoming part of our technological fauna. But just like it happens in the African savannah, every morning the lion wakes up it knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve to death. Whether you're a lion or a gazelle, when the sun comes up, you better be running.

I'm no king of the jungle, but my 3R+1S framework will make you email royalty. Just wait for next week.

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