Contrary to the availability of many varied ways of transmitting information, e-mail remains the main means of business communication. So, how should you write emails for them to be replied?
What day of the week is best?
It is argued that Monday and Tuesday are the best days to send an e-mail. Perhaps this opinion is connected with the fact that a person is most active on the early days of the working week, after a good rest, when he/she has enough power to perform unscheduled tasks. Whereas on a little Friday, pre-Friday and Friday, the recipients of the message are running out of the desire to accept an unnecessary burden.
In reality, there is no optimal day. According to the Yesware analysis, the probability of viewing and responding to the message is fairly evenly distributed from the first to the last day of the working week.
However, when it comes to the weekend, the situation is changing in favor of the sender, and his chances for a response increase. Researchers attribute this fact to fewer “competitors” in the recipient’s mailbox.
If you are sickened by the work on the weekend or you have a plan of traveling to a place where the Internet is inaccessible, use special services for sending messages according to schedule. For example, Boomerang, Right Inbox or MXToolbox.
What time of day is better to send an email?
It is an early bird that catches the worm. This is the case to some degree. Early letters are often seen by the recipient. But the other part of the truth is that late letters are no less effective.
The vast majority of letters are sent from 9:00 to 15:00. It would seem right in time. However, the emails sent between 7:00 and 08:00, and after 20:00, “get through” more often.
40% of the letters written in the early morning or in the evening get a reply.
How should you write the message subject?
You must have often heard that the subject of the message should be written according to the principle “the shorter, the better”. If so, you should be ready for a little surprise: the length of the message subject does not affect the probability of its reading and responding.
However, the researchers have identified some of the words that really influenced the frequency of reading and the speed of response.
For example, the letter with the words “steps”, “campaign” and “next” had the highest percentage of responses, and the words “calendar” and “online” earned the lowest number of responses.
How many recipients can be indicated?
One hit and four holes. This undeniable truth about a fork does not work in case of numerous email recipients. It is not necessary to indicate a lot of email recipients in the message.
It has been determined empirically that your message should contain a single entry in the “To” field, and the same number in the “Copy” line.
When you add a person to the “To” line, you are referring to a specific person for the answer. When you enter another person in the column “Copy”, you render the social pressure on the person from the field “To”. Also, you give yourself an extra chance to respond if the primary recipient does not reply.
How long should you wait for an reply?
A beggar, a ponytail, an annoying person are the half-hearted labels that you use to name yourself at the thought of sending the letter once again, or when you postpone sending it until later. In vain! There is no need to lose five days anticipating the promised response, as most of us do. Forget about your shyness and uncertainty!
The study says that 90% of the replies come within one day.
If you do not see the response at the end of the day – send a repeated letter without any hesitation. This increases your chance of getting a result by 21%.
