September 2021 – A few years ago, I read this article on Inc.com and I tweeted about it. It is still one of my most successful tweets.
Apparently, many of my followers are fond of using a popular opening line in their emails:
“Hope this email finds you well…”
I receive at least one email per day with that exact same opening line. Often, the sender is not even someone who I know, yet they are supposedly hoping I am well.
I’ve noticed that it is a particularly popular practice amongst salespeople.
According to the author of the Inc.com article, weak and passive language in an email is a sure-fire way to ensure deletion. The word ‘hope’ is considered especially pathetic and a major turn-off.
“Hope you are having a nice summer. ”
“I hope things get better. ”
“I hope you are having a great day! ”
“Hope (fill in the blank) … “You get the idea.
Since reading about this phenomenon, I have made a conscious effort to eliminate the word ‘hope’ from my writing. It is not easy. When I Googled the top email opening lines, the first four included the word ‘hope’!
When it comes to email marketing, using language that contains no energy, no call to action, or no indication of what the desired outcome should be, is a common misstep that I see everyday. It prompted me to create a one-pager for our clients – Email Marketing Helpful Tips
This may be a hope (LESS) campaign that I am on, but I challenge you to get a bit more creative with your email opening lines ?.
And don’t even get me started on exclamation marks!!!
