We all know that emailing can be an effective way to communicate to large audiences of people. But not all emails are effective in getting people to read them.

And we know the emails I’m talking about. The ones that seem to have been written by a robot. They aren’t personalized at all. And they have these canned phrases that don’t really accomplish anything.

And while they may be easy to set up, and fire off to a big number of people, they really aren’t that effective. They're almost just a waste of time.

So what does it take to create an email that gets someone to click and interact with it?

Here are some great email writing tips that will have you seeing results in no time!

1. The subject line

This is often the place that people start when it comes to writing an email. I don’t like to do it that way.

I try to look at the subject line as the headline of the email you are sending. It’s the first thing the recipient will read and decide whether or not they are actually going to open the email.

So, craft your message first then go back and write your subject line. That way you have a good understanding of what you wrote and how it all played out.

And if you are looking at the subject line as the headline for the email then it needs to be something that is grabby, but doesn’t give away everything.

The goal is to leave the reader wanting more from the email. It should leave them wanting to actually open it up.

Think about it.

If you are on a news site you probably only click on the interesting headlines or the ones that are of interest to you.

The same goes for an email. Make sure that subject line is captivating as well as beneficial for the recipient. Remember it's all about them, and making sure that you show why they would want to read on.

2. The messaging

Okay so now that you have them interested in the email to some extent with the subject line, it’s time to really pique that interest even more.

You want to sell to them and give them reasons as to what they should take a certain action. Oftentimes that's the goal. Getting them to take an action that will push them towards whatever goal you want to reach with your emails.

That means your first line needs to grab their attention and reel them in. Something catchy like a statistic or a question to get them thinking and wanting more.

Giving them the benefits that you and your company can provide them. This is important to keep in mind. You want to show how you can benefit people. Not just feature what you do or sell. But show the benefits of what you do.

The easiest way to show those benefits is to answer the question why? Why are you doing what you are doing? Why you are beneficial to your clients or customers. 

And part of that is having an understanding of what your buyer personas, so that you can cater your message to what you know will sell to them based on their likes, hobbies and interests.

Okay so now that you are able to get someone interested in what you are doing, you need to build that desire. That is the desire that leads them to take the action that you want them to take.

That means you once again keep showing them the benefits of what you provide, by providing tips and solutions to the problem they came to you to solve.

That is the desire that leads to you getting what you want out of this individual. Which is getting them to take an action.

Whatever that action is. From just getting them to fill out a form, to leading them to your websites product page, getting them to book a meeting with you or even just getting them to click a button. That’s what this all comes down to. Which is why you need to show them how you benefit them over and over and over again.

And in order to get them to take this action, you should look at this as a transaction. Meaning you should give them something of benefit. That can be anything. From good content, to a free offer. Give them something to get them to take the action.

One thing to remember when you are writing emails is to get to the point. That is not to say you can’t use good writing that pulls at people's emotions and paints a picture, but it's not a novel, it's an email.

So try to avoid that “fluffy” language and get to it.

Also, along those same lines, spacing is your friend. Writing with big meandering paragraphs will not hold someone's attention. You need to be spacing out those thoughts, and maybe only have a line or two per paragraph that way it’s easy to read.

3. Personalize your message

So all of this writing with purpose is great, but it really only goes so far. It still can lead you down that road to an email that is generic and seems to have been written by a robot.

So what can be done? You're sending out hundreds of emails to your contacts so you have to make sure that you have the right email marketing software in place.

That allows you to use personalization tokens which can make those emails look as if they are written for each individual. Just by adding in their first name, and their company name, you are making it appear as if that email was written just for them.

That email was written to help just them, and show that you are the people they should be doing business with. That is the little bit of effort that can put you right over the top.

So get to work! Get people engaged with your emails!

Just a little bit of effort and a change in perspective to your writing process can yield big results for your next email campaign.