Why Email Works (And How to Use It)
Ping! The red notification icon just popped up on your email app.
If you’re like most Americans, your inbox fills up with daily emails from news sites, online retailers, bloggers and more. Ever seen that email with a flash deal that only lasts 24 hours? Chances are, you have.
The truth is, email works. But why? For one thing, we’re addicted to our phones. When we see the red notification icon on our email, we’re probably going to check it. And emails give us content previews that spark our curiosity and get us to dive deeper. Nearly all retailers are using email to reach their customers, and this strategy can be applied to employee communication. Here are pro tips to pack a punch in your employees’ inboxes.
- Stay Authentic
- Be Bite-Size
- Engage
- Add Value
- Give Them a Voice
- Get Flashy with GIFs
- Write Buzzworthy Headlines
- Provide Incentives
- Talk About Trends
- Make it Competitive
Talk with your employees, not at them. Don’t cover up unpleasant information. Tell it how it is in the language your employees understand and relate to.
Employees will read short, scannable information that’s easy to digest. Think quick, short paragraphs peppered with photos, icons or infographics. Remember, you don’t have to fill the entire space with words!
Enhance your email by linking to things like polls, social media outlets and other tools that provide relevance and help employees interact with and understand the content.
Don’t clutter your email by over-communicating your point. For example, give employees the information they need to choose their benefits, not use them. Provide clear calls to action so employees know exactly what you want them to do.
Feedback is essential to any company that wants to succeed. Use email to give employees a voice, whether it be a link to a survey, social media outlet, poll or other resource.
Want to give employees something unexpected? GIFs (Graphics Interchange Format) give an image movement in the email and are optimized for mobile. Use them to cut through the clutter and grab your employees’ attention.
If you want employees to open the email, you need to hook them from the start. Give the email a catchy, memorable subject line employees can’t resist.
Employees are more likely to click if there’s something in it for them or they’re afraid of missing out on something. Loss aversion (a fancy way of saying the fear of missing out) is a great tactic to use for this.
Everyone wants to sit at the cool-kids table. Highlight trends in the topic you’re communicating to peak employee interest.
Science tells us that employees are more likely to adopt a new behavior when the activity involves competition. Create a fun challenge or give an activity a social component when you advertise it in your email.
Want to see it to believe it? Look here to see how emails come to life.