Rules for composing letters: 15 points that need to be checked before clicking the "send" button

You need to send a letter to your client and inform, for example, about a new promotion. Or a discount on the product he had been waiting for so long. Or invite him to participate in your project. You honestly made a letter, sent it to customers and wait for the result ... And nothing happens. This is at best - and at worst, the user will immediately send the next letter to your Spam folder. If this is your client or business partner, then this can be very sad. And the classic question immediately arises: what am I doing wrong? The reasons may be many. We present to your attention a simple checklist of 15 points that will allow you to send even the most important letters with peace of mind.

1. The letter should contain one main idea . If you want to invite a person, for example, to an event, do not immediately write that you have a 20% discount on teddy bears. If you really want to write about it - make a separate letter.
2. Indicate the target action. If you sent a commercial offer and you want the client to call you back, go to your website or answer the question - mark it in such a way that the user will immediately understand what they want from him. This item is easier to perform if you have completed the previous one - that is, you have decided what you want to tell your addressee.
3. Do not give a choice. “If something can be done wrong, it will be done wrong. Any variety of actions that you propose to commit to your addressee, a guarantee that will not do anything. The letter should lead the recipient to only one specific step.
4. Exit to the target action - without errors . If you want, for example, that the user replenishes the account - give a link to the payment page, if you want him to call you - enter the phone number, if you want him to come to you - give the address large and attach the location map. When prompting the user to take a targeted action, think about how he will perform it and try to warn him against mistakes on this path.
5. The content should be sharpened under the distribution channel. In our case - by email. In email, out of place flash, heavy graphics, complex layout of letters, etc. The more you try to impress with a frilly letter, the stronger the opposite effect will be when everything goes in different directions in the browser or mail program of the recipient.
6. Offline autonomy . Sometimes we receive letters in which the sender was not wise enough to not follow the previous advice, but smart enough to understand what it threatens him with - and put in a warning like "If this message is not displayed correctly, follow the link ." Such letters can not be written! The letter must perform its function even when it is opened in the mail client offline. This is also true, for example, for mobile devices.
7. The letter should remain readable even if not a single picture is displayed . Text is a carrier of meaning, pictures create an impression. You can not substitute one another. The meaning of your message should not suffer, for example, from the fact that the recipient's mail server cuts heavy pictures by default.
8. All important - at the beginning; everything in the beginning is the main thing . Journalists have a “pyramid” rule: first, the text contains the most basic information briefly, then details and background info. It is worth considering the experience of people whose profession is to write texts that are read. The converse is also true: everything that stands at the beginning of the text of the letter, the reader considers the main one. The lyrical digressions at the beginning of the letter are a sure guarantee that they will not finish reading it to the point, having decided that the “water” will continue.
9. Cling the recipient on the hook of his problems . When sending a letter in which you want to tell a person something important, think more about how important it is for him. What does he need, what bothers him? Rereading the letter that you have compiled, try to answer the question what problem it solves. The answer about whether it is needed will come by itself.
10. Branding first . Specify the name of the company in the name of the sender. Your addressee probably receives dozens of letters a day. Do not force him to go inside the letter to find out from whom it is. A letter from the sender “Security of your computer” will probably be sent to spam. A letter from a well-known anti-virus brand will be opened and read if the recipient is subscribed to his newsletter.
11. Write letters in advance . According to statistics, the letter lives a week - this is the period during which it can be opened and re-read. Do not send letters “Come tomorrow for the opening!” A person will read it the day after tomorrow, and it will already be useless informational garbage.
12. The message engages in a lively context, and does not reanimate it . Do not write letters in the “A talk?” Style asking general questions like “What do you think about this?” Such an awkward attempt to engage a person in a conversation most likely will not work. Ask the person something specific or ask them to join the discussion already underway - then there are more chances for positive feedback.
13. Your letter should be read without a magnifying glass . This point applies to those cases where you still decided to use a complex layout in the design of your letters. Avoid small print - you do not offer to sign a contract :) Spend a simple “sofa test” - if from a distance of a couple of meters in an open letter you can see from whom it is possible to read the topic, it means that the letter was written correctly. If the writing is impossible to disassemble, and the colors merge into an unreadable mass - we have bad news for you.
14. Check for errors . Already when you figured out the content and design, check the text for typos. We live in a very competent country, and we have a lot of people who will notice your typo and decide that they are dealing with uneducated people. The services of the proofreader, who subtracts a small letter, will cost a few pennies - the average rate for freelancing for proofreading is 30 rubles per 1000 characters. Think about how much your client’s trust is worth, which you can lose by sending an error message.
15. All technical fields must be filled in correctly . Oddly enough, sometimes users receive letters without a subject. Most often this applies to automatic systems for sending notifications - check that you send to other people.

Source: Olga Pavlova's report (UsabilityLab, St. Petersburg) “ User quality of mailing ” from the seminar “Practical email-marketing: increasing sales” .