You cannot get a second chance to make your first impression. By that I mean that a person judges you by the things they recognize first in you. When meeting new people you have to present yourself in the best light and show a glimpse of the person you really are. In the online era of today that first impression is in fact the introduction of the emails you write and send every day. Yes. You may think that the main focus should be put on the body of the email. But should we underestimate the power of a great email introduction? Speaking of that, you’ll get amazed by how much the introduction can contribute to the success of your whole email experience.
That’s why hop on to see the most efficient ways to write an awesome email introduction that will shake the ground and distinct you from the sea of boring email intros. I will show you how to attract the recipients like a magnet with it and convince them in your brilliance.
Hello, it’s me!
Everyone likes to feel closeness when reading the email. They want to feel that their opinion matters and that someone is expecting their reply. You have to give them that. How? It’s actually quite simple. Write ‘Hi’ or ‘Hello’ in the beginning and address your recipients by their name rather than calling them sir or madam. That way they’ll know that you’ve thought of them while writing the introduction and that you really mean what you say in your words. Also keep it casual. You don’t have to stuff your email introduction with tough complex sentence structures or SAT words.
For example, take a look at these two beginnings:
- Dear Sir/Madam,
I would be grateful if you could inform me about the new restaurant you open in Bronx. - Hello Mr. Smith,
How are you? I just wanted to ask you about the new restaurant you’re opening in Bronx.
You see how the first one sounds like you’ve generated it in some software. It is robotic and maybe too serious for the online world of today. Okay, sometimes you need to write professional and strict email introductions like that but they won’t work on your potential customers or subscribers at all. Talk to the recipients as to your friends like in the second example and you have nothing to worry about.
I care for you!
If you want the readers to show interest in your message then waste no time and express yours first. The introduction is the vital part of the email where you can do that. Make the recipient notice that you care. The best way to do that is by stating your intentions for writing to them and putting in a nice question or two about their well-being or current projects. Once you have the purpose defined in your head the introduction will flow perfectly.
Another great way to show your affection to the recipient is to write something that they’d mentioned in the previous mails. For instance, if they said they were going to breach the deadline by going to a friend’s party in the last mail, make sure to add a short question about how the party went and if it was fun.
To help you out, I offer a few of the most common sentences for expressing your interest according to Pro Lingua Associates’ book on business strategies:
- What are you working on?
- How’s it coming along?
- I think you did a nice/great job with/on ___.
- What’s going on with you?
Thank You
Another success-bringing part of your introduction is the ‘thank you’ bit. When you start your email make sure you thank the recipient first. It could be for writing to you, or just making you a favor by subscribing or buying your product/service. Basically, any reason connected to your mutual relationship deserves a ‘thank you’ in the introduction.
To illustrate, here’s an example of a proper introduction that guarantees replies.
“Hi Mr. Smith,
How are you? I would like to thank you for subscribing to my blog. Your support means everything to me. Can you please tell me your address as I would like to send you samples of my products.”
Obviously the mentioned Mr. Smith that represents your recipient will be content to hear this from you and will cooperate even more in your idea and your blog. It’s amazing what the power of two words can do to change the whole introduction for the better, is it not?
Short always wins
When you introduce yourself you surely want to say everything that pops into your mind in as few words as possible. However, that usually ends with you talking straight for ten minutes or writing a 200-word paragraph about yourself. Wrong. That’s completely wrong when writing your email introduction. Let’s be real. No one today has time to read on and on about your intentions or good will for writing to them. They just want you to get straight to the point and introduce the matter in a short paragraph. Don’t beat about the bush, but be concise and succinct.
Long introductions ruin the effect of the whole email and the purpose you’re elaborating in the body, for you’ll lose the recipient’s attention in a matter of seconds blabbing about unrelated topics. And not to mention that nowadays everyone checks their mails on mobiles, so they expect to find short and simple intros that fit the screen. Believe me when I say that time is money and short always wins.
Measure twice, cut once
Let’s say you constructed your awesome email introduction and you are planning to move on to the next paragraph. Wait right there. Just a second. Check your words first before proceeding. That’s crucial if you want to show your recipients an image of a professional and serious you. Imagine if you send the email with grammatical or spelling mistakes or even a wrong word order. I know that I’d cringe and think twice before reading on. That’s why look at the old saying – measure twice, cut once and make sure you always revise what you have written before moving on.
Here’s a tool to help you with the editing and proofreading.
You must have understood by now, how vital and paramount the introduction to your email is and how much it means to make it awesome and captivating. It’s not only for you, but for the whole reputation of your blog or company or whatever else you represent. That’s why come back to these points as frequently as possible and write your introductions with them lurking in your mind. Come on! Make your hands busy with constructing a more awesome email intro than the most awesome one out there!