Email marketing is 40 times more effective than social media, and the buying process happens three times faster with email than with social media. While email might be the most effective marketing tool available, it's also one of the most complex. 

Email users receive more than 500 business emails per week per person. With more than 350 billion emails sent every day, there are some rules you can follow to help your message stand out. Knowing what's relevant to your audience, design, and being selective with your words are all part of increasing engagement and influencing your audience's behavior. 

• 69% of email recipients report email as spam solely on the subject line

The subject line is arguably the most important piece of email content. It is the gatekeeper to engaging your audience. No matter the value of the email content, your audience may never see it if they don't get past the subject and delete your email. Create subject lines that draw in the audience. 

• Make it compelling using questions (relevant questions, not just generic questions).

• Use concise and empathetic language (it creates relevancy and connection)

• Keep it short ( 30-50 characters max)

• 81% of all emails are read on mobile devices. Don't ignore mobile!

Make sure your email template looks good on desktop (for people working from their computers), and it is responsive to work well on mobile. 

• Review your subject line and how much of it shows on a mobile preview. "Get your…" on mobile isn't as effective as "Get your free car now!" on a computer.

• Design is equally essential as thumb scrolling increases the speed viewers will be seeing your content and reduces their attention span (if they're on their phones, they may be multi-tasking or have quite a few distractions around them). Keep the mobile design simple and clean, without any distracting elements.

• Design Can Make or Break Your Success

The design includes more than just colors and fonts. Making it easy to read and making your call to action jump out will give you the best chance to influence the reader's behavior.

The average adult reads about 300 words per minute. The average reading time of an email is 11 seconds. That means any content beyond 50 words won't get seen. 

• Set the width at 600px. Most email providers provide responsive templates or set the default at 600 pixels. If they don't, manually set the width to 600px as it will be the best possibility for screen width and not mess with the formatting.

• Use color and boldness to make the Call to Action jump off the screen.

• Avoid background images. Many email providers, such as Outlook, don't support them and will eliminate them, messing with the format and design of your email without you knowing.

• Use web-safe typefaces and play it safe with the font sizes too. 14px for body copy and 22px for titles are good minimum font-sizes.

• Don't be afraid to use white space and leave some breathing room.

• Use pre-read text: many people "read" emails simply by reading the headline and preview text. Ensure those two communicate the whole message.

• Don't Make the Content All About Your Brand

That may seem counterintuitive since your brand is sending the message. But imagine meeting someone at a coffee shop, and all they do is talk about themselves. The recipient feels left out, not seen, and frankly gets bored. 

• Put the message in the language of your audience. Use slang and the language they speak to create a connection.

• Use examples, analogies, case studies, employee/customer spotlights, testimonials, or credible sources to illustrate a point.

You've got a great brand, offer,. and message that people will find interesting. The more you know about your audience, the better you can communicate with them. Take the time to craft your email marketing so you don't become part of the billions of emails in the trash. Be the email that gets forwarded and enhances people's lives.