A very interesting email popped into my inbox the other day. No, it wasn't Ryan Gosling declaring his love for me (GODDAMNIT RYAN) - it was from Boomerang.
Boomerang's one of my favourite Chrome extensions; it lets me write emails at obscure times of the day and schedule them to send at times of the morning that make me look on it like Sonic. It helps me to professionalize my service and send out emails at like 8am when realistically at that time, I'm watching my dog roll in fox poo in the park. It's a fab tool and it really does make my life easier. I mean, look around at the world, we need all the help we can get. Thanks Boomers.
So, Boomerang sent out their yearly review email with loads of great insights. It showed me some personal stats to do with my email sends and open rates (spoiler alert: I have work to do) and also some general trends compiled from all of their users.
One of the coolest snippets of info was which emails get the best response rates when they compare sign-off language. Now I'm a 'best wishes' kinda gal - I don't really know why and sometimes it makes me feel like a 74 year old woman called Brenda, but I've just stuck with it. You're probably like me and didn't think it made too much of a difference to whether people replied or not.
I guess it's not as much of an issue when they're internal emails or with people you're doing business with, but for a freelance copywriter like me who has to send out beggy, prospect emails - the psychology of language is important. So, if you're trying to generate new leads and business, does it matter?
Well it bloody does. And what's the most successful sign-off?
THANKS IN ADVANCE was the most effective closing sign-off. And variations of thanks or thank you got a reply 36% more often than the other emails which used phrases like 'best', 'cheers', 'best wishes', 'kind regards'.
How fascinating - so it's heartening to know (and also scary cos I've used best wishes for yonks) that little tweaks like this can make an impact. The Boomerang app can help you to make your emails more responsive too with a real-time feature that measures their effectiveness.
People are also more positive as the week goes by, SHOCK HORROR, so if your emails are quite cheery then they'll probably get better responses later in the week. If it's a Monday then everyone will hate you...maybe.
So, yeah Boomerang is ace and you can find more insights here.