How to get people to read your emails?

[Ambrosia7177]

Hello.

How do you send an email to a stranger and avoid it either being tagged as spam, or having the person manually delete your email before ever even opening it?

I have been following the pandemic closely, and put together a graph and other info in a PDF to help educate people on just how serious things are.

And I have been sending out a simple email stating, "As a public service, here is some info on the pandemic to help protect you..." to places like law enforcement, nurses associations, schools, churches, etc and have only gotten like 1-2 responses.

It seems like people are never even seeing my email, because if they did look at things, I think they would appreciate it.

Suggestions?

 

[TiggrToo]

Hello.

How do you send an email to a stranger and avoid it either being tagged as spam, or having the person manually delete your email before ever even opening it?

I have been following the pandemic closely, and put together a graph and other info in a PDF to help educate people on just how serious things are.

And I have been sending out a simple email stating, "As a public service, here is some info on the pandemic to help protect you..." to places like law enforcement, nurses associations, schools, churches, etc and have only gotten like 1-2 responses.

It seems like people are never even seeing my email, because if they did look at things, I think they would appreciate it.

Suggestions?

You can't. Our business has a devil of a time trying to get our Salesforce to read the emails we send out and it's a thankless task.

Who are the people you're sending the email to? Friends and family? If so then let them know in advance.

Anyone else? Then don't. Any unsolicited email I get with a PDF attachment is guaranteed to get nuked instantly, either by my filters, or me personally.

Unsolicited PDF attachments are evil and should never be opened by anyone who values their computer safety. Many organizations will have systems in place that'll push your email to junk folders, and quite rightly so.

Being blunt: it's not your job to educate strangers. No matter how good your intentions, it's seriously not worth it.

 

[D.T.]

Well, at least from my perspective, what you're describing is spam. Don't get me wrong, it may be informative, but non-solicited email has no chance.

If you want to reach, let's say, some local services, like your local PD / Sheriff's department, I'd track them on down social media, get engaged, link out to your documents through an authorized channel. NextDoor is a great localized social platform, in addition to the usual suspects (FB, Twitter).

If you're using some kind of bulk emailer service, how are you sourcing the emails?

 

[Ambrosia7177]

You can't. Our business has a devil of a time trying to get our Salesforce to read the emails we send out and it's a thankless task.

Have spammers ruined email that much?

Who are the people you're sending the email to? Friends and family? If so then let them know in advance.

Anyone else? Then don't. Any unsolicited email I get with a PDF attachment is guaranteed to get nuked instantly, either by my filters, or me personally.

What if I pasted in a screen shot of the graph instead?

Unsolicited PDF attachments are evil and should never be opened by anyone who values their computer safety. Many organizations will have systems in place that'll push your email to junk folders, and quite rightly so.

I thought PDF's were a safer form of communicating?

Being blunt: it's not your job to educate strangers. No matter how good your intentions, it's seriously not worth it.

As an active citizen, I do have a right to contact my elected officials...

 

[TiggrToo]

Have spammers ruined email that much?




What if I pasted in a screen shot of the graph instead?




I thought PDF's were a safer form of communicating?




As an active citizen, I do have a right to contact my elected officials...

1. Yes
2. Still won't get read
3. They're not
4. You do. You do not have the right to spam them though.

As @D.T. said, if you feel this strongly then do this on a personal level. Reach out to individuals by other means.

You can send emails sure, elected officials are not legally required to read them.

Postal mail may be far more preferable method.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

You can't. Our business has a devil of a time trying to get our Salesforce to read the emails we send out and it's a thankless task.

Who are the people you're sending the email to? Friends and family? If so then let them know in advance.

Anyone else? Then don't. Any unsolicited email I get with a PDF attachment is guaranteed to get nuked instantly, either by my filters, or me personally.

Unsolicited PDF attachments are evil and should never be opened by anyone who values their computer safety. Many organizations will have systems in place that'll push your email to junk folders, and quite rightly so.

Being blunt: it's not your job to educate strangers. No matter how good your intentions, it's seriously not worth it.

Excellent post and not just because I and myself in complete agreement with it.

Well, at least from my perspective, what you're describing is spam. Don't get me wrong, it may be informative, but non-solicited email has no chance.

If you want to reach, let's say, some local services, like your local PD / Sheriff's department, I'd track them on down social media, get engaged, link out to your documents through an authorized channel. NextDoor is a great localized social platform, in addition to the usual suspects (FB, Twitter).

If you're using some kind of bulk emailer service, how are you sourcing the emails?

Indeed.

I would have grave reservations about anyone who had access to my email without my prior approval.

Anyway, completely agreed.

Have spammers ruined email that much?




What if I pasted in a screen shot of the graph instead?




I thought PDF's were a safer form of communicating?




As an active citizen, I do have a right to contact my elected officials...

At the risk of being repetitive, I will echo @TiggrToo, cited, below:

1. Yes. Very much so. They are evil. I loathe spammers. I don't want to be contacted by strangers without my pro approval and/or consent.
2. Still won't be read. Nor will I wish to read it.
3. No. They're not.
4.You do have the right to contact your elected officials. However, nobody has the right to spam them.

1. Yes
2. Still won't get read
3. They're not
4. You do. You do not have the right to spam them though.

As @D.T. said, if you feel this strongly then do this on a personal level. Reach out to individuals by other means.

You can send emails sure, elected officials are not legally required to read them.

Postal mail may be far more preferable method.

To the OP: If something arrives that looks like the postal, or "snail mail" equivalent of spam, it goes straight to the rubbish (trash) bin, unread and unopened.

 

[2984839]

Here's the thing: people are sick and tired of being told about COVID-19. I have received countless emails from every single business that has my email address about what they're doing to help, what I need to do to stay safe, etc. At work? Covid. On the news? Covidcovidcovidcovidcovid. During the NFL Draft (of all things)? Covidcovidcovid.

I've had enough. The breaking point was when a car dealership emailed me to tell me "How we're combating the coronavirus" and a list of hand washing tips. You can't even install an oil filter properly. WTF are you gonna do about the coronavirus? Leave me alone.

The point is that nobody is going to read yet another unsolicited email about this thing, however useful and well-intentioned it may be.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I will read an official communication from my government's health ministry, both online and in a hard copy, and have done so; I will not read unsought and unsolicited stuff from anyone.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Suggestions?

Yes, you're approaching it completely wrong. If you want to inform people, you don't send them information directly like that, especially if they don't ask for it. You open a blog, you advertise it on social media, you build a mailing list, and by doing a good job you let people come to you. And you follow up on it by posting often with updated info and such.
It's not (only) a matter of "spammer have ruined emails," it's a matter of the need to direct attention and effort.

 

[MacNut]

Why are you sending out the same emails that government officials would be getting from the CDC. They won't open anything from some random person.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Here's the thing: people are sick and tired of being told about COVID-19. I have received countless emails from every single business that has my email address about what they're doing to help, what I need to do to stay safe, etc. At work? Covid. On the news? Covidcovidcovidcovidcovid. During the NFL Draft (of all things)? Covidcovidcovid.

I've had enough. The breaking point was when a car dealership emailed me to tell me "How we're combating the coronavirus" and a list of hand washing tips. You can't even install an oil filter properly. WTF are you gonna do about the coronavirus? Leave me alone.

The point is that nobody is going to read yet another unsolicited email about this thing, however useful and well-intentioned it may be.

Precisely. Once more I find myself appreciating newspapers (as in, printed papers or their e-replica) as the best way to consume news, followed closely by podcasts. While a month ago there was certainly a sense of urgency and uncertainity that required a "newer" form of news delivery such as TV or websites, now we all know what we're supposed to do. We don't need the grim body counts every thirty seconds, we don't need to know X's tweets every minute, and we don't even need "the latest" every hour. And for the love of God I can't stand those personal stories anymore ("he was fit and healthy, but then Coronavirus changed everything") which are clearly the result of a ridiculous effort by the media to find the most statistically extreme thing to scare people off. On this I applaud Bill Maher - I seldom share an opinion with him - which criticized this media tragedy p0rn (find the video on youtube).

 

[D.T.]

Why are you sending out the same emails that government officials would be getting from the CDC. They won't open anything from some random person.

Just a guess, but I suspect is has a certain, let's say, "angle" to it.

 

[2984839]

Yes, you're approaching it completely wrong. If you want to inform people, you don't send them information directly like that, especially if they don't ask for it. You open a blog, you advertise it on social media, you build a mailing list, and by doing a good job you let people come to you. And you follow up on it by posting often with updated info and such.
It's not (only) a matter of "spammer have ruined emails," it's a matter of the need to direct attention and effort.

100% agreed.

People trust information they have sought out, not information that has found them. This is probably part hubris, but it's also because the process of finding information involves comparison with other sources. I don't know how reliable some bit of information is that has happened to fall my way because of the randomness of it. I have now way of placing it in any sort of context. But if I have sought it out, I have compared it with other sources and thus have some reference points for its reliability. Without that, I will remain skeptical.

A blog is a great idea. Anyone looking for that info can find it, and because they found it instead of the other way around, they will trust it. Nobody will be bothered by it either.

 

[AngerDanger]

I always send out a second email asking the recipient to please ignore the previous email, explaining that it contained a grievous and embarrassing error.

 

[DeltaMac]

My first thought: What is distinctive about your notes that would make it worthwhile reading, let alone responding to sender, with the same information coming from 50 other directions?

 

[D.T.]

The breaking point was when a car dealership emailed me to tell me "How we're combating the coronavirus" and a list of hand washing tips. You can't even install an oil filter properly. WTF are you gonna do about the coronavirus? Leave me alone.

I had to quote this because that's just fricken' hysterical

 

[Clix Pix]

Thing is, right now people are being inundated with all kinds of stuff: email from their kids' school(s), email from work, email from friends and family, email from various official agencies, etc., etc......last thing they want or need is more email to deal with!

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Well, at least from my perspective, what you're describing is spam. Don't get me wrong, it may be informative, but non-solicited email has no chance.

Okay, but listen to what you are saying...

You are saying that unless person-A knows person-B, that sending the other person is "spam" which is ludicrous.

"Spam" is by its nature is "blind", "harassing", "untargeted", etc.

That's not what I am doing.

If you want to reach, let's say, some local services, like your local PD / Sheriff's department, I'd track them on down social media, get engaged, link out to your documents through an authorized channel. NextDoor is a great localized social platform, in addition to the usual suspects (FB, Twitter).

Good point, but for anyone worried about privacy or security, social media makes me cringe!

Apparently social media is considered "safe" to contact strangers, but contacting strangers via e-mail is seen as evil?!

If you're using some kind of bulk emailer service, how are you sourcing the emails?

I am manually looking up websites (e.g. local police dept), finding a person (e.g. Chief of Police), finding ideally a specific email (e.g. "chief-dan-osullivan@pd.gov"), and then sending ONE e-mail to that individual.

That is NOT spam in my book, but apparently it is to you and the people I have tried to contact.

(I just don't get why it's okay to send out 10,000 tweets like our President does, and that is okay, or to send some link to 10,000 people on Facebook, but send one well-subjected and well-worded e-mail - to try and help people - and you end up in the trash?!)

 

[D.T.]

I am manually looking up websites (e.g. local police dept), finding a person (e.g. Chief of Police), finding ideally a specific email (e.g. "chief-dan-osullivan@pd.gov"), and then sending ONE e-mail to that individual.

That is NOT spam in my book, but apparently it is to you and the people I have tried to contact.

OK, thanks, that's a little better clarification: if you're emailing specifically identified people from public agencies that's a little different (it sounded like you were also doing emails from some sort of list).

If you're emailing them, they're probably getting them, as in they're likely being received on their email server/service, but given the amount of traffic they get, it's unrealistic to expect any kind of personal response.

 

[yaxomoxay]

I just don't get why it's okay to send out 10,000 tweets like our President does, and that is okay, or to send some link to 10,000 people on Facebook, but send one well-subjected and well-worded e-mail - to try and help people - and you end up in the trash?!)

It looks like you're not familiar with the concept of a medium and their intrinsic nature. When the President (or anyone else, no idea why you're singling anyone out) tweets, he's using a medium that is designed specifically for the purpose of having users check unsolicited material (unsolicited to a point, by clicking "like" you agree to receive the tweets) in a continuous feed. Facebook is also a broadcasting medium, more akin to a bulletin board, also designed to share moments in a continuous feed.
An email is your inbox. It's for exchanging communication in the form of a digital letter. It has the purpose of having two individuals communicate with each other in a certain manner.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Here's the thing: people are sick and tired of being told about COVID-19. I have received countless emails from every single business that has my email address about what they're doing to help, what I need to do to stay safe, etc. At work? Covid. On the news? Covidcovidcovidcovidcovid. During the NFL Draft (of all things)? Covidcovidcovid.

I've had enough. The breaking point was when a car dealership emailed me to tell me "How we're combating the coronavirus" and a list of hand washing tips. You can't even install an oil filter properly. WTF are you gonna do about the coronavirus? Leave me alone.

The point is that nobody is going to read yet another unsolicited email about this thing, however useful and well-intentioned it may be.

I'm coming to the conclusion that nobody cares anymore what I have to say...

(This is what the final days of the world probably look like.)


Fwiw, I NEVER get any emails - including spam. And when I do get spam/phishing attack, I'm smart enough to know that it is such.

If someone ever sent me an email like I sent - and it was coming from a legitimate email address - then I would be happy to read it.

I remember the days long gone when that is how the world worked.

Now everyone is just pissed at everyone else, and no one wants to talk or listen or learn about anything.

(Of course people WILL piss away their lives endlessly on Facebook...)

 

[yaxomoxay]

I am manually looking up websites (e.g. local police dept), finding a person (e.g. Chief of Police), finding ideally a specific email (e.g. "chief-dan-osullivan@pd.gov"), and then sending ONE e-mail to that individual.

Oh my, as someone that works in government, I beg thee. Don't do this unless you've something very specific to say, and unless it's something we can act upon in a direct manner.

 

[LizKat]

I always send out a second email asking the recipient to please ignore the previous email, explaining that it contained a grievous and embarrassing error.

Yeah.... I've even learned to ditch BOTH of those without reading either one!

 

[Clix Pix]

OP: are you a medical professional or a person experienced in handling the different situations that are being faced right now by the local health department, the local police department, the local county executive, the local county board of supervisors, etc.? Do you have specific credentials, information and training which would be useful to these people? If not, why are you writing to any of them in the first place? Anything provided in an email by a layperson is more than likely something these folks already know and not particularly useful to them as they are busy dealing with this unprecedented pandemic in the best ways they can, assisted by local municipality, state and federal agencies which are involved in managing this situation.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Yes, you're approaching it completely wrong. If you want to inform people, you don't send them information directly like that, especially if they don't ask for it. You open a blog, you advertise it on social media, you build a mailing list, and by doing a good job you let people come to you. And you follow up on it by posting often with updated info and such.
It's not (only) a matter of "spammer have ruined emails," it's a matter of the need to direct attention and effort.

True, but if I wanted to get something to the Chief of Police, you wouldn't make sense to build a blog, and hope that he/she visits my blog.

You would reach out directly to that person.