Best Practices + Templates
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      Marketing, Insurance, Advertising Email Best Practices

      Follow our best practices and guidelines for sending emails to ensure you are getting the optimal amount of responses!

      Sending out high-quality emails through Resquared has never been easier.  Use our best practices to set you up for success! The following tips and tricks are what we've seen consistently works in getting clients to not only open your emails, but engage with them and respond for more information.

      A few reminders to follow best practices...

      • Keep the subject line short. The goal is to get them to open the message. This is primarily determined by the subject line.  Keeping it short and casual usually results in higher open rates. If they know what the whole email is about without opening it, why open it? Bonus point for tailoring to your prospects. 
        • Ex. "Landscaping Services in Austin” , “SEO Tactics for Better Rankings”, “Get Your Office Cleaning Needs Met”
        • Send a short plain-text email. Emails that contain no special formatting, no images, no links, and no attachments are more likely to bypass spam filters.  As an added benefit of using plain-text emails, they usually get 10x higher reply rates. 
        • Email Body- Easier said than done, but you want to keep your email word count under 150 words. You have to imagine that all your emails are being opened on Mobile.
        • Email Content-The content of your email should follow this format “Why you reached out to them -> What you will solve -> Call them to an action.” That opens the door to a sale. Your first initial email should be a conversation starter.  The email is a 'hello are you interested?'  All emails should have one specific ask. Something that makes it easy for the prospect to reply. Make sure to include a previous success story or metric that your business has proven. ie. "2x website traffic", "client X reduced cost by 28%" etc. 
          • Template Outline Structure:
            • Why Them:  “Searching for your coffee shop on google and I couldn't find it. “
            • What you will solve: “Using search engine optimization we have increased the web traffic of other coffee shops in Citytopia.” 
            • Call to Action: “Are you open to learning how we have doubled website traffic for other coffee shops?”
              • Bonus points here because “we have doubled website traffic” is your previous metric story of success. 
      • Personalize your email!  When you address someone by their first name or include the name of their business,  the recipient feels important, like you are only reaching out to them—personalization results in higher response rates. Resquared will insert the business name for you when you use the [business_name] merge field. 
        • Ex. "Researching [business_name]’s website - noticed the stellar photos of the work you do in landscaping.”, “I have an idea on how I can help [business_name] increase website traffic” 
      • Include a short, plain-text signature. Sign off with your name, your company or role, and whichever phone number you'd like prospects to reach out to you with. Allow the prospects to see you as a real person with an email signature, but keep any HTML and links out of it in order to avoid being identified as spam.
        • Thanks,
          Name
          Company Name/Job Title
          Phone Number

      Email templates for initial outreach

      •  "Hi, I was searching for your coffee shop on Google and I couldn't find it. Using search engine optimization we have increased the web traffic of other coffee shops in Citytopia. Are you open to learning how we have doubled website traffic for other coffee shops? I have an idea on how I can help [business_name] increase website traffic” 
      • “Hi , I work with auto repair shops in Memphis, so I’m very familiar with the challenges you might be currently facing with marketing. I see so many auto repair  businesses relying only on referrals, and growth is limited (and stressful!). When was the last time you got a lead from your website? Our clients see at least 20 and up to 50 leads a month and I can see how we can help [business_name]. Are you open to connecting?”
      • “Hi, I noticed on Yelp that [business_name] has some awesome reviews and you have incredibly happy patients. I work with dental offices in the Houston area to provide office cleaning services. My goal is to help take the strain off of your employees so they can focus on keeping patients healthy! People tend to leave higher reviews and referrals of medical facilities if the office is clean.  Would you be open to brief conversation to see if I could help you save some of your costs and internal labor when it comes to cleaning?”

      What should I leave out of my emails in order to avoid no engagement or being sent to spam?

      • Words or phrases that are known to trigger spam. There are many lists out there that provide words you should omit from your email to increase open rate (check out this recent list from ActiveCampaign!) We'd strongly encourage staying away from spam tactics like adding "Re:" in a new email subject line, or words like "opportunity" in your subject or message.
      • Generic greetings, like "Hello" or "Good morning" that don't include a first name. If you see a clear first name in the email address you are messaging, then go for it and add it in (like "Hi Jessica!") If you don't have a name, you're better off starting with the body of your message to avoid coming off spammy.
      • Making your email too long. Data shows that the shorter the better when it comes to email length in prospecting. You should aim for the first message to come off more like a casual text message - just a few sentences! Similar to how you'd start a conversation with a friend.

      What are some of the most common mistakes people make when sending emails?

      1. Including HTML and/or links within the email. This often will get your email redirected into spam before anyone can even decide whether they want to open it or not.
      2. Not including any personalization. Have you ever opened an email and realized it was clearly a mass email and not designed for you? Did you feel like replying? Adding dashes of personalization (like referring to a specific type of business you are emailing, including their name, etc.) will instantly garner more trust with your potential leads.
      3. Using a generic subject line. Just saying 'Improve Customer Retention”  isn't normally going to cut it. Inserting the use case or type of business within the subject line is much more likely going to spark their interest and get them to open the email.