Sending emails is a daily activity for most of us, whether it's in our personal or professional lives and it’s a convenient and efficient way to communicate, share information, and connect with others. However, for some people, the act of sending anything from a single email to sending emails to lists of tens of thousands, hitting send can be a source of anxiety and stress. You can read more about the psychology of email anxiety here.
The fear of making a mistake, saying the wrong thing, or not being able to convey our thoughts clearly can leave some senders hesitant and worried each time they hover our cursor over the "Send" button.
If you find yourself experiencing anxiety around sending emails, you're not alone. The good news is that there are strategies and techniques you can try out to help you overcome this fear and gain more confidence around sending those daunting emails. Here, we will explore various approaches to help you conquer email anxiety and develop a healthier and more productive relationship with your digital correspondence.
Keep it Personal
Writing an email to a large list of people can often feel overwhelming. You might feel like you are giving a presentation to an entire stadium of people! However, if you shift your mindset and imagine just writing the email to a friend or colleague, it takes the pressure off, and you will take on a more natural, casual and relaxed tone, and as a result you should find yourself feeling a lot less anxious about sending the email.
Testing the Water
The type of content you are sending by email can have a huge contribution to anxiety around sending emails. If you are sending an announcement of a price increase or a change to terms and conditions to a large list, and you aren’t sure how it will be received - well of course you might be a little anxious. So, rather than worry about how this will impact your entire audience at once, why not send to a smaller selected segment of your list and see how it’s received first? If you do get some negative reactions, you can either make changes to the way you are communicating the information, or even re-think implementing the change at all. This puts you in a position of control and will undoubtedly reduce the levels of anxiety you feel.
Learn from past experiences and allow yourself to experiment
Sending a marketing campaign to a large list of people, or even just a relatively small list, can cause high levels of anxiety in Marketers due to a fear of getting bad results. This can be faced head on by embracing a growth mindset. Take the time to understand that less than desirable email results are opportunities for learning and improvement, so rather than seeing them as failures, you can view them as valuable insight and feedback. Be kind to yourself too and remember that not every email campaign will generate extraordinary results, but when a campaign does underperform, it’s okay. Set realistic expectations and remember that success in email marketing comes from continued testing, optimizing and experimenting over time.
Prepare Well and Double-Check Everything
The fear of making a critical error, or even just an embarrassing mistake can be a huge trigger for email anxiety, as they can undermine the professionalism of even the most beautifully designed emails from the most respected brands. Of course, if you do happen to make an error in an email, it's important to remember that it's not the end of the world. Mistakes are inevitable, and your audience is only human too and will most likely be forgiving. In the event of a more notable mistake, you can always address it by sending a follow-up email to clear up and correct any misunderstandings. The best way to make sure you don’t miss anything, is to have a clear process that has been shared with and adopted by everyone who is involved in the task, and that each of the checklist items in this process is assigned to the right person. Things can easily get missed, especially when it comes to email, so tick each item off before you hit that send button. So, what should you include in your checklist and process?
Links and CTAs
Check that all links within your emails are working and sending recipients to the right place. Test both internal and external links, including buttons and call-to-action (CTA) elements.
Subject line and preview text
Check that your subject line and preview text display accurately and grab recipients' attention. Ensure they are displayed correctly across various email clients and devices.
Content and formatting
Certainly, review your email content for any spelling and grammar errors. Also, pay attention to font styles and sizes, colors used, and overall formatting to keep everything consistent with your brand, and to maintain readability.
Personalization and merge fields
If you use personalization tags or merge fields, verify that the dynamic content is correctly populated with the appropriate recipient data. Test the personalization aspects thoroughly to avoid any embarrassing mistakes.
Images and alt text
Inspect images in your emails to ensure they load properly and enhance the message. Additionally, include alt text for images to provide alternative descriptions in case they don't display correctly.
Spam filters and deliverability
Run your emails through spam filters or utilize email deliverability testing tools to assess the likelihood of your email ending up in spam folders. Optimize your email's content and structure to improve deliverability. Check out Mailosaur’s Email Testing API to ensure that your email end’s up safely in your recipient’s inboxure that your email end’s up safely in your recipient’s inbox.
Proofreading
Have at least one person proofread your email content before sending it out and have them included in your process. Fresh eyes can help catch any typos, grammatical errors, or inconsistencies that you may have missed. Two sets of eyes really are better than one.
Testing different email clients
Test your emails on popular email clients such as Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, and others, as each may interpret HTML and CSS differently. This step helps ensure consistent rendering and a seamless experience for all recipients.
Test on various devices
Test your emails on different devices, including smartphones, tablets, and desktops, to ensure they look good and function properly across various screen sizes and resolutions. Mailosaur’s Email Preview Tool means that you can ensure your emails look perfect on all major email clients, no matter what device is being used.
Remember, each email sent is an opportunity to connect, inspire, and engage. So, let go of the fear, trust your abilities, set up processes and workflows, and send it with conviction. The world is waiting to hear from you.
How Mailosaur can help you overcome email anxiety
Mailosaur can help you get more confidence sending emails to any number of recipients by giving you the tools to ensure that your emails are impeccable, including previews in all major email clients, across multiple devices, as well as full end-to-end testing, so you can simulate all customer interactions, and be sure your customer experience works, so you can be reassured that what you think is happening, is actually happening – no surprises! Try it free today or contact us with any questions you may have.