Why is it important?

You've built up your email with a subject line and managed to persuade your reader to open it. Now you've got to deliver.

If the mail contains nothing of interest to the reader - if you've raised people's expectations about what content they will find but fail to meet them - you will end up with some unhappy readers.

They will get a bad impression of your organisation, your mail is likely to be quickly discarded and even worse, the reader could opt out of receiving any further mailings.

What kind of content are people looking for?

When readers open an email, they are looking for quality content.

But quality content isn't just about the quality of the writing. While this is important, according to usability expert Jakob Nielsen, "the main questions asked by the user when judging content include: 'what's in it for me?' and 'how does this help me solve my problem'

"Web users are so goal-driven and so impatient, content needs to be much more oriented toward providing fast answers and being useful to the user."

What do I need to do?

You need to provide the content you promised in your subject line and more. When deciding on content, you need to consider what you are trying to achieve with your email first. Are you:

- Building brand awareness?
- Selling a new product?
- Educating your customers?
- Inspiring your customers with ideas?
- Providing important information to your clients?
- Building your company's credibility?

Then, based on your understanding of your target audience, you need to provide content which meets their needs - which 'has something in it for them'.

If you have segmented your mailing list into different groups, you should send separate emails to each group, each containing content directly relevant to that group.

What kind of content works?

Here is a small sample of content that can draw your readers in:

Promotional offers and special deals focused on particular group are great if you are looking to sell products. Companies such as Amazon send out regular emails containing the latest offers.

The latest news and reviews can help prompt users to click for more. All Media Guide's Allmusic.com offers critical opinions on artists and recordings. Its weekly newsletter draws traffic to the website by a combination of written and downloadable material. It lists the week's new releases, contains a brief critique and a brief sample which can be downloaded. Amazing facts, quirky information and interesting or funny stories can help build awareness of your brand (as long as they are appropriate to your brand).

New inspiration can prompt users to get in touch. Travel companies such as Expedia and Lastminute.com tempt their readers with ideas on where they could go away next.

Providing useful information and knowledge to your clients is great for building company credibility, particularly in a business to business market. For example if you were a marketing company you might provide a guide to a relevant topic (such as this article).