Boost email response rates

Puzzled over low—or no—responses to your emails? They may be too complicated, according to findings by Boomerang, makers of productivity software. Here’s what the research tells us:

Keep emails short—but not too short. The research found that the sweet spot for emails is 75 or 100 words, both of which received a 51% response rate. Ten words received the lowest response—36%—and responses steadily and gradually declined after 100 words.

Write like a 3rd grader. Emails written at that level received the highest response rate—53%. On two ends of the spectrum, emails written at a kindergarten level received a 46% response rate, whereas emails written at a college level received the lowest—39%—rate. Bottom line: Use shorter words and shorter sentences.

Limit subject lines to 3–4 words. Such subject lines received the most responses at 48%, and rates gradually drop off as you add words. Worse, however, is to include no subject line at all, with response rates falling to 14%.

— Adapted from “7 Tips for Getting More Responses to Your Emails (With Data!),” Boomerang, http://blog.boomerangapp.com.