Learn how to write an Email that gets opened, read, and responded to in 5 easy steps.

Email Marketing statistics show an important problem to deal with. For instance, just in the US nearly 80% of adults receive unnecessary emails at least weekly. Only a 4% of these emails get clicked, just a 22% get opened and a big 78% get nothing.

On the other hand, there is a big opportunity when you take into account that for every $1 spent, email produces an average of $38 in return. This means that email is 40 times more powerful at customer acquisition than Social Media.

#1 Consider the Person

Personalized subject lines have 30% higher CTRs than the non personalized ones according to GetResponse. This means first you have to address your reader by name whenever that's possible.

Of course you have to use direct language, specially the word "You" and compose the emails conversationally, as if you were talking to the real person. Also, including personal details like location, past purchases or even pages they've viewed is useful to engage the reader much more.

#2 The Subject Line

The preview of your email should have a clear goal, whether it's one reason, one question, one outcome or one request. Subject lines that contain in between 51 to 60 characters have the highest read rate, and in between 6 to 10 words have the highest open rate.

According to Marketing Proofs, the best subject lines are intriguing without being click-bate; short without being cryptic; urgent without being slimy; action-driven without being dispassionate.

#3 Add Value

Forget the "sales mindset" and think of your recipient's mind, you have to answer the question: "What's in it for me?". Your emails must deliver valuable content for your reader.

For example, instead of "Click here to read more" use "click here to start your 30 day trial" and always end with a Call To Action such as "Learn how to write an email that gets opened".

#4 Research the Best Time

In general, the best open days are Tuesday, Wednesday or Monday and the worst open days are Saturday and Sunday. The perfect time goes from Monday to Saturday at 11 am, and Sunday at 9 pm. Don't forget to use "Urgency Triggers" such as now, today, tomorrow, announcing, limited or final, because all of these remind the reader that time is of essence.

#5 Short Length is Best

Entrepreneur suggests to write an average of 150 words and 5 sentences or less. The idea is to keep it short and to the point. Think visually and make it easy to scan by using lots of line breaks that add whitespace. And optimize it for mobile because 50% of emails are opened on mobile only and 42% of emails that don't display correctly on mobile get deleted.