How to Do an Email Blast
Have a clear purpose for the blast., Write a compelling subject line., Make the first three sentences of your blast catchy., Use action-oriented language., Personalize the email blast., Keep the email short., Ensure that your email meets spam...
Step-by-Step Guide
-
Step 1: Have a clear purpose for the blast.
Email blasting customers or partners is not an arbitrary task.
Each blast should have a concise purpose before you begin to draft it.
Determine what you're trying to deliver and how you want the recipients to react to the email.
The blast's purpose could be enticing customers to purchase something, updating employees on a new project or initiative, or a newsletter to recap the month's events.
Once you determine the purpose of the blast, you can work on making the message more clear to your recipients.For example, your organization is running a promotional offer, but if customers don't know about it, you can send a blast with the purpose of informing people of your promotion as well as encouraging them to purchase your product online.
If you are sending a newsletter, make sure that it goes out around the same time each month. -
Step 2: Write a compelling subject line.
The subject of your email will be the first thing that people will see when viewing it.
Because of the immense amount of spam that exists, it's important that you draw the recipient in enough so that they open the message.
The subject line should invite the reader to some benefit or include a sense of urgency which requires action.
Avoid cliche marketing terminology like "act now" or "free limited offer" as these subject lines can make recipients feel suspicious and turned off.
Your subject line should be 50 characters or less.An example of a compelling subject line would be "Act Today, 25% off of all linen tops."Another subject line could be something like, "Stop the Northeast High from shutting down.
Call the mayor today." Aim to make your subject compelling but clear.
If the reader doesn't know what the email is about, they are less likely to open it.
Avoid excess punctuation or capital letters as this can be perceived as spam. , The first couple of sentences within your email blast will determine whether the recipient decides to read the rest of it.
The intro should draw people in with a sense of urgency or excitement.
You can elaborate more on the subject line within your first sentence to give additional clarity to what the email is about, or you can create a sense of urgency and intrigue that compels them to open the email to learn more about the issue.The preheader is the text that people see next to the subject line when they open their inbox.
A compelling and catchy subject line accompanied with a convincing preheader will cause many people to open your blasts.An example would be something like, "Our Halloween savings extravaganza is here.
For this week only there's 50% off of all jeans, winter jackets, and boots.
Order online today with the promo code HAL17."
Your email blast should have some "call to action" or something that the recipient can do after reading the message.
This call to action should be short and specific.
Tell the reader exactly what you want them to do, and why it will benefit them.
Having a single purpose or call to action will improve your click-through rates significantly.
Avoid packaging multiple offers or events within one email.
Action-oriented language can be something like "Buy the new season of Shameless and get 10% off your next order!" Actions could include calling Senator about a bill, purchasing a new product, or leaving feedback. , E-blast applications allow the writer to cater each email to their recipients with responsive fields.
Instead of addressing an email to everyone, you can make it feel as if you sent the email directly to the recipient.
Whenever you can, aim to customize the email so that the reader feels more invested in it.
You'll need a database with names or a spreadsheet that has everyone's name in a specific field in order to personalize your email blasts.
Personalizing emails improve click-through rates and the amount of people who decide to open your email.Typically fields for personalization will look something like <FirstName>
, or some other variation depending on the software you are using.
Personalizing an email with a name may prevent your blast from triggering some email providers spam filters. , If you write an email that's too long, there's a chance that recipients will skim over it or stop reading it at a certain point.This could mean that they miss your call to action, or what you're trying to get across.
Try to edit out pieces of information that aren't critical to the overall message.
Make messages as short and concise as possible.
Avoid over-elaboration or background that can clutter your blast.
Break up your text into paragraphs that contain a cohesive theme, so it doesn't look like one block of text.
The best emails will be under 750 words., The CAN-SPAM Act are laws that govern how you can craft emails.
To stay compliant with the act, there are several things you must include and things you must avoid doing to ensure that your emails aren't considered spam.For one, there must be an unsubscribe button somewhere in the email so that people can opt out of receiving them.
Another rule is that recipients must know who they are receiving the email from, so include an accurate header or reply address where they can point their concerns or comments.Spam filters for different mailing services will flag emails that have sent spam in the past, and filter emails based on other criteria as the type of content and how it's formatted. -
Step 3: Make the first three sentences of your blast catchy.
-
Step 4: Use action-oriented language.
-
Step 5: Personalize the email blast.
-
Step 6: Keep the email short.
-
Step 7: Ensure that your email meets spam guidelines.
Detailed Guide
Email blasting customers or partners is not an arbitrary task.
Each blast should have a concise purpose before you begin to draft it.
Determine what you're trying to deliver and how you want the recipients to react to the email.
The blast's purpose could be enticing customers to purchase something, updating employees on a new project or initiative, or a newsletter to recap the month's events.
Once you determine the purpose of the blast, you can work on making the message more clear to your recipients.For example, your organization is running a promotional offer, but if customers don't know about it, you can send a blast with the purpose of informing people of your promotion as well as encouraging them to purchase your product online.
If you are sending a newsletter, make sure that it goes out around the same time each month.
The subject of your email will be the first thing that people will see when viewing it.
Because of the immense amount of spam that exists, it's important that you draw the recipient in enough so that they open the message.
The subject line should invite the reader to some benefit or include a sense of urgency which requires action.
Avoid cliche marketing terminology like "act now" or "free limited offer" as these subject lines can make recipients feel suspicious and turned off.
Your subject line should be 50 characters or less.An example of a compelling subject line would be "Act Today, 25% off of all linen tops."Another subject line could be something like, "Stop the Northeast High from shutting down.
Call the mayor today." Aim to make your subject compelling but clear.
If the reader doesn't know what the email is about, they are less likely to open it.
Avoid excess punctuation or capital letters as this can be perceived as spam. , The first couple of sentences within your email blast will determine whether the recipient decides to read the rest of it.
The intro should draw people in with a sense of urgency or excitement.
You can elaborate more on the subject line within your first sentence to give additional clarity to what the email is about, or you can create a sense of urgency and intrigue that compels them to open the email to learn more about the issue.The preheader is the text that people see next to the subject line when they open their inbox.
A compelling and catchy subject line accompanied with a convincing preheader will cause many people to open your blasts.An example would be something like, "Our Halloween savings extravaganza is here.
For this week only there's 50% off of all jeans, winter jackets, and boots.
Order online today with the promo code HAL17."
Your email blast should have some "call to action" or something that the recipient can do after reading the message.
This call to action should be short and specific.
Tell the reader exactly what you want them to do, and why it will benefit them.
Having a single purpose or call to action will improve your click-through rates significantly.
Avoid packaging multiple offers or events within one email.
Action-oriented language can be something like "Buy the new season of Shameless and get 10% off your next order!" Actions could include calling Senator about a bill, purchasing a new product, or leaving feedback. , E-blast applications allow the writer to cater each email to their recipients with responsive fields.
Instead of addressing an email to everyone, you can make it feel as if you sent the email directly to the recipient.
Whenever you can, aim to customize the email so that the reader feels more invested in it.
You'll need a database with names or a spreadsheet that has everyone's name in a specific field in order to personalize your email blasts.
Personalizing emails improve click-through rates and the amount of people who decide to open your email.Typically fields for personalization will look something like <FirstName>
, or some other variation depending on the software you are using.
Personalizing an email with a name may prevent your blast from triggering some email providers spam filters. , If you write an email that's too long, there's a chance that recipients will skim over it or stop reading it at a certain point.This could mean that they miss your call to action, or what you're trying to get across.
Try to edit out pieces of information that aren't critical to the overall message.
Make messages as short and concise as possible.
Avoid over-elaboration or background that can clutter your blast.
Break up your text into paragraphs that contain a cohesive theme, so it doesn't look like one block of text.
The best emails will be under 750 words., The CAN-SPAM Act are laws that govern how you can craft emails.
To stay compliant with the act, there are several things you must include and things you must avoid doing to ensure that your emails aren't considered spam.For one, there must be an unsubscribe button somewhere in the email so that people can opt out of receiving them.
Another rule is that recipients must know who they are receiving the email from, so include an accurate header or reply address where they can point their concerns or comments.Spam filters for different mailing services will flag emails that have sent spam in the past, and filter emails based on other criteria as the type of content and how it's formatted.
About the Author
Megan Torres
Enthusiastic about teaching hobbies techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
Rate This Guide
How helpful was this guide? Click to rate: