{"id":7173,"date":"2018-04-24T20:23:13","date_gmt":"2018-04-24T20:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/?p=7173"},"modified":"2020-07-29T17:54:56","modified_gmt":"2020-07-29T17:54:56","slug":"how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Get Skimmers to Read and Act upon Your Emails"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>According to Litmus Email Analytics, nearly half the people who read your email message will <a href=\"https:\/\/litmus.com\/blog\/email-attention-spans-increasing-infographic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #3366ff;\">read it in less than 8 seconds<\/span><\/a>. This means you need to tell them what you want in the first paragraph in order to get a response.<\/p>\n<p>This applies to both promotional <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/email-services\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #3366ff;\">email campaigns<\/span><\/a> sent to customers and prospects, and to the email messages which you write to individuals.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Tips for Getting More Response from Your Emails<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Write like a news summary or Google search description, where your first paragraph describes the reason for your message and tells the recipient what you want them to do.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li>Use subsequent paragraphs and images to further explain your main ideas.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li>Don\u2019t write story problems which look like an SAT test. Instead, use bullet points or numbering to clearly identify your different subjects and desired actions.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li>Use bold or underlined fonts in subheads and to draw attention to the most important points.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"5\">\n<li>If your message is longer than a few paragraphs, restate your desired action in a final paragraph.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong><u>The most important point<\/u>:<\/strong> You\u2019ve got just a few seconds for most people to read and understand your email messages. Tell them what action you want in the first paragraph in order to improve your response.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nearly half the people who read your email message will read it in less than 8 seconds. Follow these tips to get more response from your emails.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,47,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-growth","category-email-mailing-lists","category-small-business"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Get Skimmers to Read and Act upon Your Emails - Hippo Direct<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Get Skimmers to Read and Act upon Your Emails\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nearly half the people who read your email message will read it in less than 8 seconds. Follow these tips to get more response from your emails.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hippo Direct\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HippoDirect\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-04-24T20:23:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-29T17:54:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Greg Branstetter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@hippodirect\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hippodirect\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Greg Branstetter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Greg Branstetter\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6ae29fba984a9bb9cf723ba1f154d62f\"},\"headline\":\"How to Get Skimmers to Read and Act upon Your Emails\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-24T20:23:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-29T17:54:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":218,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Business Growth\",\"Email Mailing Lists\",\"Small Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to Get Skimmers to Read and Act upon Your Emails - Hippo Direct\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-24T20:23:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-29T17:54:56+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Get Skimmers to Read and Act upon Your Emails\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hippo Direct\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Hippo Direct\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/11\\\/Hippo-Direct-Mailing-Lists-Email-Lists.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/11\\\/Hippo-Direct-Mailing-Lists-Email-Lists.png\",\"width\":312,\"height\":77,\"caption\":\"Hippo Direct\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/HippoDirect\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/hippodirect\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/hippodirect\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/hippo-direct\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/HippoDirect\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6ae29fba984a9bb9cf723ba1f154d62f\",\"name\":\"Greg Branstetter\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/401120c76e4b2a23dc6d52eaa0f112f03c6d5d7488dc339330e63496139fc725?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/401120c76e4b2a23dc6d52eaa0f112f03c6d5d7488dc339330e63496139fc725?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/401120c76e4b2a23dc6d52eaa0f112f03c6d5d7488dc339330e63496139fc725?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Greg Branstetter\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hippodirect.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/hippydudeblog\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Get Skimmers to Read and Act upon Your Emails - Hippo Direct","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Get Skimmers to Read and Act upon Your Emails","og_description":"Nearly half the people who read your email message will read it in less than 8 seconds. Follow these tips to get more response from your emails.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails\/","og_site_name":"Hippo Direct","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HippoDirect\/","article_published_time":"2018-04-24T20:23:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-29T17:54:56+00:00","author":"Greg Branstetter","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@hippodirect","twitter_site":"@hippodirect","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Greg Branstetter","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails\/"},"author":{"name":"Greg Branstetter","@id":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6ae29fba984a9bb9cf723ba1f154d62f"},"headline":"How to Get Skimmers to Read and Act upon Your Emails","datePublished":"2018-04-24T20:23:13+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-29T17:54:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails\/"},"wordCount":218,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Business Growth","Email Mailing Lists","Small Business"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails\/","name":"How to Get Skimmers to Read and Act upon Your Emails - Hippo Direct","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-04-24T20:23:13+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-29T17:54:56+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/how-to-get-skimmers-to-read-and-act-upon-your-emails\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Get Skimmers to Read and Act upon Your Emails"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/","name":"Hippo Direct","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Hippo Direct","url":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Hippo-Direct-Mailing-Lists-Email-Lists.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Hippo-Direct-Mailing-Lists-Email-Lists.png","width":312,"height":77,"caption":"Hippo Direct"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HippoDirect\/","https:\/\/x.com\/hippodirect","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/hippodirect\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/hippo-direct\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/HippoDirect"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6ae29fba984a9bb9cf723ba1f154d62f","name":"Greg Branstetter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/401120c76e4b2a23dc6d52eaa0f112f03c6d5d7488dc339330e63496139fc725?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/401120c76e4b2a23dc6d52eaa0f112f03c6d5d7488dc339330e63496139fc725?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/401120c76e4b2a23dc6d52eaa0f112f03c6d5d7488dc339330e63496139fc725?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Greg Branstetter"},"url":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/author\/hippydudeblog\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7173"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11304,"href":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7173\/revisions\/11304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hippodirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}