Every email has a MVP (Most Valuable Point) which needs to be seen very quickly. That's why you want to take advantage of the most crucial visual real estate in every email message.
What is that location?
It's the Subject line. Followed by the first sentence.
Why? It's simple - we're all skimming our inboxes to find the most relevant, important messages. And if your reader is not "hooked" quickly in the first sentence or two, guess what? There's a lot of other compelling stuff clamoring for attention.
To earn a look, you have to have a hook.
There's some fascinating brain science behind this (including the Reticular Activating System, which is your brain's neurobiological filtering mechanism), but the point is, brevity and specificity wins attention.
Here are some shortcuts to make your emails more engaging:
Bring forward a specific action item or expected response in order to highlight the importance of the message.
Use bolding or other visually-arresting formatting to make sure that "the point" cannot be missed.
Don't bury the main point in a bunch of other verbiage (newspaper journalists call this "burying the lead").
The fact is, we are all busy and distracted, with dozens of messages coming at us every hour. Ambiguity and TMI (Too Much Information) risk losing our audience.
By making your emails brief and pointed, you stand the best chance of gaining engagement. First impressions matter. Make great use of the prime visual real estate and you'll earn engagement.
