Rich Newsome
Active email accounts are expected to hit 5.6 billion by the end of 2019, so it’s no wonder that email continues to stand out as the number one sales and marketing resource.
Considering its popularity, I’m sure architects, contractors and specifiers are experiencing a fair bit of noise in their inboxes, too. Therefore, the need to stand out is imperative.
So, how do we stand out?
For starters, avoid making the following mistakes which are sure-fire ways to ensure your emails end up in the spam folder.
Mistake #1 Misusing Reply All
Reply all can be used for good or bad.
Use reply all if…
- More than one person needs to know the email was responded to
- If people would be confused if they don’t see your response
- Your response will impact more than 70% of people in the thread
Use reply if…
- The email is addressed to you only
- Only one person needs to see your response
Mistake #2 Forgetting To Proofread
There’s no excuse for spelling and grammatical errors in today’s digital world. Always run your copy through an editing tool prior to sending out your email.
You’d be surprised at the silly mistakes you’re likely to make at 4pm on a Friday afternoon.
My favourite tools for proofreading are Microsoft Word and Grammarly.
Grammarly is a great Chrome extension that edits your work in real time-even in your email browser.
Read More:
- Email & Social Media For Your Building Products Brand
- Automating Emails For Your Building Products Company
- Different Kinds Of Email For Your Building Products Company
Mistake #3 Choosing A Lazy Greeting
The internet has made it virtually impossible not to be able to find the name, email address and professional title of the person you’re emailing.
Whether you’re following up on an architect or contractor, spend a couple of minutes on LinkedIn to find out who you’re speaking with.
Examples of a ‘lazy greeting’ would be ‘To whom it may concern’ or ‘Dear Sir or Madam.’
Mistake #4 Not Formatting Correctly
Think for a moment how architects might be opening their emails. It’s highly likely that they’ll be accessing them via their mobile.
With that in mind, consider how you format your emails. Emails that contain eight-sentence long paragraphs will put people off from reading it.
Instead, make your sentences short and snappy and include bulleted lists where possible. This makes your writing a lot easier to digest and comprehend.
Mistake #5 Sending Emails Late At Night
We get it. If you’re a start-up or a small building products company, you won’t always have time to send and respond to emails straight away.
However, emailing outside of work hours (8am-6pm) will give the perception that you’re understaffed, you’re not great with time management, or you’re desperate for business.
You don’t want to be sending out this message to your contact list of architects and specifiers. There’s nothing stopping you from composing emails during evenings and weekends, but we recommend that you schedule them first thing in the morning during the working week.
Mistake #6 Not Including A Signature
Signatures serve a multitude of purposes. Firstly, they provide that little bit of extra information about who you are and your company, without cluttering up the body of the email.
A simply detailed signature will also save you time. It means that you won’t have to spend time introducing yourself with a long introduction before your prospects are ready to learn more about you.
A well-crafted signature also gives off a certain level of authority which will establish you as a slick, professional representative of your building products brand.
Mistake #7 Having No Call To Action
Think about the purpose of your email. Is it to showcase your products? Is it to take you to a landing page to retrieve a discount? Every email you send should have a purpose and a request.
Not only does this encourage your audience to interact with your offering further, but it also provides you with measurable data to analyse later on.
How many clickthroughs did your email achieve? This measurable data will give you insights on how well certain CTAs are performing.
Mistake #8 Using A Creative Font
You’re a building products business. Architects and specifiers want something that is clear and to the point.
Simple fonts such as Times New Roman or Arial are proven to be easier to read. To analyse this further, fonts like these use a heavy serif design with contrasting line weights. They guide the reader’s eye from one letter to the next.
Conclusion
When emailing your list of prospects, you should always aim to give off the best impression of your brand. Architects are inundated with emails on a daily basis, so nurture them with personalised and clear messages.
And avoid making the mistakes outlined above.
For more information on how you can create personalised and effective email campaigns, get in touch today.
About Insynth
As the only HubSpot certified agency to major on construction marketing, we bring together construction marketing strategy, digital strategy, website design, SEO, content marketing, email marketing, sales automation, marketing automation and HubSpot CRM implementation to produce successful campaigns and great results for our clients.