Your Email Appearance is Your First Impression

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28405228503_5972af2d31Your email appearance is truly your first impression, and your first impression always counts. Remember, every email address is a person with a circle of influence they could refer you to or deter you from.  Failing in our digital communication ca  detrimental to your small business as a whole and to your personal brand which is often tied to small businesses, independent representatives, and freelancers. How, then, can you impress your digital communication recipients with your email appearance?

Use your colors creatively

The right use of your colors can easily bring life, creativity and beauty to your email as it attracts your readers and says a lot about who you are and your small business. The simple trick for using colors for your email writing is to choose the right color that is consistent with your brand and is easy for your readers to read on a small screen.

Since different colors have different meanings, select a color that fits your message and your brand. For example, blue is seen as a soothing and trustworthy color. Attorneys will ask defendants to dress in navy blue suits because they come across as more honest and believable – believable blue is the phrase often used.  It is the reason that some brands choose it in their logo to be able to elicit those feelings of trustworthiness.  If there’s something in your message that you would like people to pay special attention to highlight it in different bright color, such as red.

Include emojis

Emojis are pictorial symbols used in web pages or emails to express emotions. The inclusion of emojis in your email writing makes your message stand out among many inbox messages, grabs your readers’ attention, increases the open rates of your message and adds some kinds of feeling to your message.

Notwithstanding, it is important for you to minimize your inclusion of emojis as excess use of these pictorial symbols can pass across as too cutesy and unprofessional.

Keep your font readable

Your writing font should be professional, easy-to-read and aesthetic, so that your subscribers will find delight in reading what you’ve got to offer. From experience, San serif fonts are usually screen-friendly and legible. Common examples of San serif fonts are Helvetica and Arial.

Use professional email address

One area where professionals and independent professionals fail is in their email address. Email marketing of many small businesses fails even before getting started is choosing the right email address. While Hotmail, AOL, Gmail, Yahoo and other generic email addresses are good, they are not as professional as using branded email identity.

A branded email address does not only appear professional; it protects your messages against being regarded as spam, builds your online presence, eases organization of your messages and builds your business credibility.

Ensure basic grammar and good writing skills

Although no one expects you to write like a professor of English language, your grammar, punctuation and spellings must be correct. A poorly written email is an eyesore to your subscribers, and it sends the wrong message to them. You also need to keep any email effective, concise, engaging and resourceful. If you are not a skillful or good writer, you can easily hire the services of any freelance email marketing writer on any of the available online marketplaces.

Whether it is your first or hundredth email or if it’s a business newsletter email, every interaction with you even your digital communication impresses your readers and will determine the speed or ability to move from them knowing you, to liking you and to trusting you.

Picture of Maria Elena Duron

Maria Elena Duron

Maria Elena Duron, is managing editor of the Personal Branding Blog, CEO (chief engagement officer) of buzz2bucks– a word of mouth marketing firm, and a professional speaker and trainer on developing social networks that work. She provides workshops, webinars, seminars and direct services that help create conversation, connection, credibility, community and commerce around your brand.  Maria Duron is founder and moderator of #brandchat- a weekly Twitter chat focused on every aspect of branding that is recognized by Mashable as one the 15 Essential Twitter Chats for Social Media Marketers.

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