60 Seconds on Email Writing Fundamentals

The nuts and bolts of what makes a great email can be mightily complex. But do yourself a favour and start with these best practices — you won’t go far wrong!

1) Remember you’re a human

It’s all easy to feel like you’re talking to a screen. But your email is going out to a bunch of humans. So you should probably sound like a human yourself.

Agreed?

Let your true colours show. Push the boundaries a bit. Show your vulnerability.

Be wonderfully, weirdly human — even if it’s scary to put it out there sometimes.

2) Double-down on your subject lines

Building curiosity without falling into clickbait 101 territory isn’t easy, But that’s the balance you’ve gotta strike. Ideally, in six words or less.

One of my best-performing subject lines when sending outreach emails is “specifically for first name.” It’s personal and generates intrigue without giving the game away.

And well? Open rates are consistently 70%+. The results speak for themselves.

3) Ditch the spam triggers

You probably won’t be surprised to hear that words such as “bargain” and “jackpot” can drag your emails into the spam folder. But email service providers are pretty sensitive these days…

Even a call-to-action like “click here” can raise red flags. So, always make sure to run a spam analysis on your emails before you send out new campaigns.

4) Remember your mobile readers

Anywhere from 50-90% of emails are read on smartphones, these days. Yet the default view option when creating emails is usually desktop.

It’s too easy to forget that your emails should be mobile-friendly. Keep your copy nice n’ crisp…

1-3 lines max with clear call-to-action links and/or buttons. Be an email saint and avoid making your readers squint!

Here is where I’ve been learning about email best practices today if you want to see more.

Thanks for reading!

Declan Davey

Health Copywriter & Email List Manager