…and I’m writing you to tell you how to get your email newsletters opened and read. I want you to get good at this because it is the best way you can build relationships one-on-one with the people on your list. And when you do that they will get to know you, like you, and trust you.
And, well, we all know what that means! They will eventually buy something from you, or hire you for your services.
Now, why did I start this post with my name? It’s an experiment in getting up close and personal. Some internet experts stress the need to get real friendly, even though you are writing online to people at the other end of a computer screen.
In fact, Nick Usbourne of excessive voice has this to say about that:
Whatever the purpose of your email, whether it’s promotional, customer service or just an automated email response – try to include a salutation followed by a few lines of personal, conversational text.
Why?
Because there is tremendous power in connecting with your reader on a personal level. Opening with a personal voice signals that the email comes not just from a corporation, but from an individual person.
When you do this well, each email you send slowly builds and reinforces a one-to-one relationship with the reader.
That personal relationship, however slight, will help get your emails opened each time you send one.
And if your voice becomes associated with a sense of trust, it will also help in raising your response rates.
I hear endless excuses as to why it just “wouldn’t work” for such and such a company or situation. Well, I don’t buy that. I think you can insert a genuine, personal voice into any kind of communication, and any kind of email.
If you choose not to, you are ignoring one of the greatest strengths of email as a communications medium.
You have only to look through your emails from friends, family and even colleagues to see how personal and conversational email can be.
Ignore that opportunity, and you can be sure that your readers will quickly associate your emails with all the other corporate, impersonal and consequently less interesting email they receive.
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