Email Tip #7. Personalize Each Message
Personalization works. According to many recent research studies, email messages that are personalized have stronger message open and clickthrough rates.
Everyone likes being called by their name. In this impersonal world of email messages, people like to know that you know who they are, and that you care about them as a person.
Nothing is worse than a highly demanding email that is sent without being addressed to someone by name and is out of context. A message that starts: “Can you make these changes ASAP?” puts you on the defensive right way. You might think: Why should I care if they are in a hurry?
It’s so much nicer to have a message that begins with: “Ron – I hope you’re doing well. I just found out that we’re going to be mentioned on the front page of The Wall Street Journal tomorrow. Can you make these changes ASAP?”
Wow. I’m much more willing to help someone who personalizes the message to me, and gives me a non-threatening reason why this needs to really be done by tomorrow.