Higher Performing Email Copy When You Remove All The Work for Them
Posted By Next Trend Media on February 8, 2012
One nice thing about being in online marketing for so long is you see just about everything in marketing emails. It is always easy to spot those list marketers who have essentially given up on their list. After a while the “great content” emails stop, and then once in a while a promotional email arrives from them. I always find that a little amusing, but it really highlights the fact that something in that person is amiss. Before you can make corrective actions for an unresponsive list, there needs to be some knowledge of the problem and the solution. The critical point is you have to do something; take immediate action to rectify the situation.
Even though it is important to make sure that your content and your email copy are easy to understand and clear to read, there are exceptions for things like long copy. We have stated elsewhere that people can be willing to read long copy only if it gives them good value. Perhaps the main caveat is that online readers judge very quickly and forgive very slowly. When you want to publish long form email copy, you need to proofread it a few times to make sure that you don’t waste anything or include anything that isn’t totally necessary. This is smart no matter how long your copy might be but the margin of error becomes much narrower as the length of your copy increases.
You need to make a bond and build a relationship with your list, and that means non-promotional emails at times. People are used to seeing the standard signature with a link in it, and they will not look at that as a marketing type email. Make it interesting and not pointless because you do not want them to think you are wasting your time.
You will do well if they walk away from it feeling they got something which was worth the time it took to read it. Remember that you may have people from different cultures on your list, and that requires you to be somewhat conservative and restrained.
Without getting too informal, write just like you would talk to your friends and also minus any inappropriate language. If that works for your audience, then just keep the words fairly straightforward. Once you know how to talk to them, then keep it like that and do not give them surprises such as a radically different tone.
So you know who is in your market, and then you can further refine that in different ways if you want. You may make a mistake here and there, but if you have a good rapport with your list, then that will not be a problem.
We have talked about the need to know how you should structure your email copy, and that knowledge comes from knowing your subscribers. When you take the time and do your homework, properly, then that is what empowers your copy. Effective communications is the key to everything in business and in sales because words are what makes people buy things. If you are new, then it is so important that you learn as much as you can, but balance that with taking action.
There are principles of copywriting that apply to all of this, so feel free to expand your knowledge in that area.