4 Ways to Write Better Sales Emails

In an age of full inboxes—the average person gets 120 emails a day—and selective attention spans, getting your prospects to open and read your emails is about as likely as a cat ignoring an empty box.

But as the famed author of Paradise Lost, John Milton, said: “All is not lost.”

This article explores the art and science of how to write better sales emails. We’ll dive into the pivotal role of understanding your prospects, precise targeting, and how MediaRadar’s Outreach Writer can significantly ease the process.

1. Decipher Your Prospect’s Media DNA and Understand Their Pain Points

Scroll through your inbox and take note of the subject lines that grab your attention.

What do they have in common?

They all strike a chord. Whether that chord strums on an emotion, need, want, or something in between, the subject lines stood out because they meant something to you.

Think about this when sending emails to your prospects. But to do that, you must decipher their media DNA and understand their pain points.

Which channels are they investing in right now?
Which formats do they value?
Are they spending heavily to promote a product line?
What does their creative approach look like this year?

Take this insight and craft subject lines that genuinely resonate with your prospects. For example, “78% of your competitors are using YouTube. Are you?”

You could also challenge the status quo.

If your prospect is investing big ad dollars in traditional media, like TV ads, but their competitors are splurging on digital formats such as social media and OTT, a subject line like, “Did you know your [competitor name] spent $1mm on Facebook in Q1?” could grab their attention.

2. Timing Isn’t Just for Comedians. It’s for Sales, Too

Understanding your buyer’s fiscal calendar can be the difference between them opening your email or sending it straight to the trash.

It’s cliché but true. The right message at the right time can go a long way. More importantly, it can make your email not just another email but a solution to your prospect’s problems. This relevancy and timeliness will ultimately help you stand out in a world where people send and receive 333b emails a day.

Here are examples of time-based subject lines:

We noticed it’s your peak advertising season—let’s make it the most effective one yet.
Cyber Monday is around the corner. Are you prepared for the craze?
Are you expecting an RFP soon? We can give you the competitive edge you need.
You decreased ad spending by 50% this month. Let’s talk about it.
Is your company planning a product launch in Q1? We can help.

Each subject line creates a sense of urgency from an operational standpoint that can significantly increase the chance your prospect opens your email. In fact, urgent subject lines can increase open rates by 22%.

That level of granularity isn’t a necessity, though. Studies show that sending emails on certain days makes them inherently more likely to get opened. For example, emails sent on Monday have the highest open rate (22.0%), while emails sent on Tuesday get clicked the most (CTR of 2.4%).

If you want the best of both worlds, send emails on Tuesdays and Wednesdays because they get the highest click-to-open rate (~11%).

Additional subject line stats to nibble on:

Email subject lines with the word “free” included in them are opened 10% more
Having the word “video” in the subject line increases open rates by 7% to 13%
56% of brands using emojis in their subject lines have higher open rates
Subject lines between 61-70 characters are read the most
The word “newsletter” in a subject line can decrease the open rate by almost 19%

Pro Tip: Remember these stats, but don’t obsess over them. For example, if many salespeople send emails on Monday (when open rates are high), you could opt for a different day since your prospect’s inbox may be less crowded than usual.

3. Capture Attention with Numbers That Mean Something

Numbers don’t lie. They can also increase email open rates by 57%. That said, mindlessly throwing numbers into your subject lines and emails isn’t wise; the numbers must resonate with your prospects.

For example:

Boost Your CTR by 20% with our platform
Looking for $3.75 CPM? We can help!
You’re spending 75% of your ad budget on one product line
Your category investment in native advertising is up by 500% this year
Insight: Your biggest competitor spent $5mm on TV and print ads

These subject lines blow their generic counterparts out of the water.

Would you open an email with this subject line: “Your competitors are investing in native advertising”?

Probably not. That’s why using numbers and showing tangible results can pay such big dividends.

4. Crafting Sales Content from Scratch is Hard! MediaRadar Can Help.

In a world hit by recession and changing sales tactics, sending sales emails that convert is no longer just about having a snappy subject line. It’s about understanding your prospects, highlighting their pain points, spending patterns, and the media formats they value, and ultimately using this intel to craft timely, relevant, and impossible-to-ignore emails.

Let MediaRadar help. With tools like MediaRadar’s Outreach Writer, you’re not shooting in the dark. Instead, you’re a sharpshooter writing emails with precision with MediaRadar insights and templates that’ll automatically create compelling content that’s specific to the unique needs of each prospect.

Remember: Craft smarter, not harder. That’s the future of sales emails with MediaRadar.

Standing Out in Your Prospects’ Inboxes Isn’t As Hard As You Think

Your prospects are swimming in a sea of emails, but that makes sense given the tactic’s continued effectiveness, especially as third-party cookies and other identifiers go away. According to HubSpot, 37% of brands are increasing their email budget this year, while 33% of marketers send weekly emails and 26% send emails multiple times a month.

So, let’s do some math:

Let’s say your prospect gets 120 emails a day. According to HubSpot, the average email open rate across industries is 38.49%, which means your prospects, on average, open less than 50 emails. The remaining emails are left unread or sent straight to the trash.

How can you make sure your email is one of the 50 or so your prospects open and read?

Four things: