I have been getting a ton of what I would call “spam emails” from after attending a conference that sound the same. You can do so much better than these vanilla emails and I’ll show you how.

If you’re like me you see the subject line of these emails and the first two lines of the email and you hit delete without even opening it because the email is all about the company sending it and not about the recipient (me).

It doesn’t feel personalized at all. And it doesn’t work as a marketing tactic. It’s a waste of a touchpoint in my opinion. It’s a waste of even getting that mailing list.

I often immediately unsubscribe, especially if the email doesn’t provide me content of value (a blog post, an invite to a future webinar, a white paper, YouTube videos, etc.)

In my position as an outsourced CMO and also a legal service provider myself, I help companies do a better job of creating emails that actually resonate with their audience.

And it’s not hard to do. Most of you have so much valuable content already that you can repurpose in these emails, you just need to spend the time to curate it.

When you’re writing a follow-up email or sending an email blast in general, the golden rule is to always put your audience first.

• What action do you want them to take?

• How can you stand out in a crowded market?

• How can you provide insights and value to them?

• Which thought leadership pieces (blog posts, articles, white papers, videos, etc) can you highlight?

• To which upcoming events/webinars can you invite them?

Also always ask yourself:

• Is the content of the email client-centric?

• Does it help them solve a problem, address a pain point or blind spot?

If the email is all about you, it doesn’t really do that.

If the content of the email is extolling the highlights of working with you or the benefits of your product or services, that also misses the mark – the email needs to also provide value-added content.

The email doesn’t need to spell out why you are the greatest at what you do – that will be implicit.

I often decide whether I open an email on a subject line.

Most of the emails I have received lately as conference follow-ups have had a similar subject line. You can do better.

Spend the time crafting email subject lines that are more like headlines and are actionable and client centric.

Its also important to hook in the reader in the first few lines of the email as that is what is often displayed in their inboxes, so spend time crafting those opening sentences.

Before you hit send on your next email campaign – try tweaking your emails, email newsletters and even your social media posts with these tips in mind and watch your engagement increase.

Helping others and providing value is how you build loyalty, authority and eventually obtain clients.

How do you craft successful email blasts? Let me know in the comments!