Email is an effective way to respond to and nurture leads; statistics from the Direct Marketing Association show conversion rates for email to be in the five percent range.

You can maximize your conversion rates by following a few best practices.

1. Respond quickly.  A report by Harvard Business Review states, “Companies that try to contact potential customers within an hour of receiving queries are nearly 7 times as likely to have meaningful conversations with key decision makers as firms that try to contact prospects even an hour later. Yet only 37% of companies respond to queries within an hour.”
2. Personalize the email. Even though your goal is to respond as quickly as possible, taking a moment to personalize your message will increase the chances of your email being well-received.
3. Clearly identify yourself in the subject line with your name or the name of your company, along with a brief sentence to let the recipient know the email contains information they requested. You can give a quick bit of information about your services, or a call to action such as “Reply to this email for a 10% discount.”
4. Create a headline that succinctly states the main message of your email and answers one of the top questions your reader will have—why they should be interested. Try to include an important benefit of using your services.
5. Give them a reason to respond. List three top benefits your product or service will provide. This is a good place to break up the text with a bullet list.
6. End with a call to action. Make it clear exactly how you want the reader to respond, such as clicking a link to a landing page or registration form. Keep the landing page consistent in appearance and theme with your email so your prospect knows they’re at the right place.
7. Keep your message brief. Shorter emails draw higher response rates.
8. If you use a template, be sure to personalize the message with a point or two that is relevant to your prospect’s needs.
9. End with a digital signature that includes your company logo, web address and contact information for a professional touch.
10. Proofread carefully. Nothing can diminish your credibility like a typo or grammatical error.