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According to CITA industry data, 99.7% of the U.S. population is in areas covered by 4G LTE, and 5G coverage is growing rapidly, which means accessing emails and messages is just a matter of seconds! Researchers estimate that text messages have an average open rate of up to 90% and an average response rate of 45%. Whereas emails have an open rate of up to 16.97%, with a 10.29% click-through rate. 

This begs the question – how can you have better open rates and response rates for your email and text campaign? The answer is by following some intelligent email and texting etiquette. 

The Purpose of Good Email Etiquette 

The purpose of creating an attention-grabbing email or text campaign is to update the prospects with your latest deals or information about your product or service. You never want to irritate them or spam them. Writing engaging emails is a critical factor along with a quality lead list and great email visual designs. This is how you improve your open rates. Practicing these best email practices is definitely going to bring better results for your business as they will reach your lead’s inbox and avoid spam filters.

12 Email Best Practices to Follow for Better Response Rates

Here’s what works best for bulk emails, and what to avoid. 

• Use a concise and effective subject line

An effective subject line influences your prospects to go through your email.

• Keep your email content short and clear

Your email should be short, sweet, and to the point so that your prospects can easily read and understand your message. 

• Be polite and use a conversational tone

You want to address your prospect by being polite and considerate in your messaging while also speaking to their experience and title. 

• Personalize your emails

How you start and end an email is vital to increasing your response rates. Personalizing your emails with first name tags is a great way to personalize your emails when sending them in bulk. Doing this is sure to impress and connect with your prospects. 

• Send your emails within business hours

Business hours are typically when your prospects will be checking their emails. Beyond normal business hours, your prospect’s email can be loaded down with both internal emails and other sales-related emails. So if you send your emails outside of your prospect’s working hours, you run the risk of your email getting lost in the shuffle. Additionally, it’s best not to schedule and send emails at the beginning or end of the workday when your prospect will either be just starting work or getting ready to go home. 

• Use easy sharing links

Don’t forget to insert important links in your email, which can lead your prospects to important web pages for more information on your business and the products and services you sell. 

• Use A/B tests

Prepare two sets of emails for your campaigns and switch between these emails to see which one is more effective.

• Ask questions throughout your campaigns

Create a conversation by prompting your prospects to respond to your email. A good example of this is a survey with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ button that prompts a response from your prospect. This is a great way to increase your response rate and to gather information about your target audience.

• Include an unsubscribe button

An unsubscribe button is really important! It allows your prospects and customers to opt out if they don’t need this kind of email. 

• Get a quality lead list to avoid bounce rates

A quality lead list is a major thing that you should work on as this will help you to get rid of non-functional emails and prospects who aren’t in your target market. 

• Avoid odd formatting

Don’t use different fonts and odd colors to bold or highlight your email. All this unnecessary formatting makes your email hard to read and can lead it into your prospect’s spam folder.

• Avoid spam words

Avoid using over-sensationalizing and over-promising words like, “make money” and “double-up” as they are spam triggers. Using these words is a surefire way to tank your open and response rates.

Text Messages Best Practices

Now that you know why writing engaging emails and following best practices is important, let’s talk about how to be effective when sending bulk text messages.

Top 9 Text Messaging Best Practices to Follow for Better Response Rates

• Short, to-the-point, and simple text messages 

People are busy, so communicate that you value their time by using short, crisp text with easy readability. This will definitely increase your response rate.

• Incorporate clear calls to action (CTAs)

Call to action links help for faster communication. It also encourages your leads and customers to take action. This can look like an easy response for your prospect to make or a link they can open on the go.

• Personalize text messages

Be courteous, let your customer know your name or business. Greet contacts and customers in a personalized and positive way.

• Send text message campaigns at the right time

According to Dan Zarella’s famous book ‘The Science of Marketing’, open rates are highest in the early morning hours and 6:00 a.m. is the best time to schedule your campaigns. Avoid peak hours, when people are either loaded with work or relaxing. For example, avoid Mondays, peak working hours, weekends, etc.

• Limit the text message frequency

Don’t send non-relevant mass texts to your customers. Send relevant messages which are important for your business and your customers.

• Include an option to opt out

Include links to stop the messages, if they don’t want to receive them. This gives your prospects the power to choose when they want to interact with your business or organization.

• Avoid asking for confidential information through text

Text messaging is not secured as it travels across carrier networks and gets stored in carrier servers. Avoid asking for any personal details.

• Don’t use shorthand words

Don’t use shortened words such as ‘K’ instead of Ok. You are sending a message to your clients and prospects, not your friends. So make sure you write in a professional manner.

• Avoid ALL CAPS

Words in ALL CAPS indicate you are angry, so it’s best to avoid them.

Need Some Help?

Following these best practices for bulk emails and text messages will optimize the results of your email or text campaign and will also keep you out of spam folders. If you need more guidance on this – connect with InsuredMine. We can help you design email and text campaigns that will yield better results.