Which email would you rather open first ‘More Bad News’ or ‘Quick Update on XYZ for You’? What about ‘Tax Time Again’ or ‘Ways to Save You Money’?

Emailing. It’s such a key piece in our day-to-day lives. We fire a quick email response off or “shoot from the fingertip” and it’s so easy to forget that we’re not top of the list for the person receiving it. They, like us, have loads of things clamouring for their attention. So how do we stay on their radar – how do we help them to help us by opening our messages and acting on them?

First off, by grabbing them by the eyeballs and making our email title interesting and compelling.

‘Quick question’ is a great one. If it is a quick question, say it is. Put it in the title.

Another one is ‘You’ll know the answer to this one’. People love to know that you think they’ll know and, in general, we all like to help each other.

‘Just found this out’ – if you have, say it in the title. New information is always interesting and if you have some, say so.

‘Only 2 days to go’ ­­– if there’s a time constraint or deadline you’re all working on, put it out there in the title.

‘An opportunity for you’ – again, if it is, say so. You know yourself you’re more likely to open this one than if it was titled ‘Learning and Development Plans’. Blah.

Working with clients on how to be more engaging, how to grab and keep attention, this is such a key piece. You may have the hottest news, the greatest opportunity, the most important instruction but if your email is scanned along with the hundreds of others and left until later – or never – then, so what? Some people don’t even put a title in the subject line and that is close to asking to be ignored.

So how do you decide on the title? By stopping for a second and considering what will compel or attract the person on the receiving end of your message. Consider what your reader wants or what they want to avoid.

Email is an amazing tool, so useful, simple and helps us keep in touch, get information across the world in a second. It’s also a great way to really upset and confuse people. The language you use, the layout, the sign off, all these pieces are key to getting your message across in a way that works for you, that helps you to be understood and gets you the response or reaction you want.

The first step is to get your email opened.