By Andrew Seel
Think 'content' to get a better response from your email newsletters
- understand what your customers want
- identify the words they use to describe it
- use these words where your customers expect to see them.
1. Understand what your customers want
This might sound obvious, but many companies miss this fundamental point and use their email newsletters to try to sell their customers what they think they should have - not what they actually want.
You can start by asking your current customers to describe what you do and particularly to describe what they bought from you, both in terms of the service and its benefits. You may be surprised how different their version is from your own.
Your customers are very task driven on the web. They generally go online to achieve a task, whether to buy a cheap flight, find a contact address, find ideas to improve their email marketing performance or check the credibility of a supplier.
It is important to remember when they come into contact with you, via your email marketing for example, they will be looking to achieve a task. You will get a better response if you know what that task is.
2. Identify the words they use to describe it
The web and email are mainly word-based media. When users read email newsletters and websites for help to achieve a task they look for words which describe what they want to do.
Again this may seem obvious, but you would be surprised how many companies do the opposite. In a desire to differentiate themselves from their competitors they use new words to describe their product.
Here's an over-the-top scenario to describe what I mean: a misguided cutting-edge bookshop decides to differentiate itself by using the term 'integrated reading devices' rather than 'books'.
Their potential customers have never heard of 'integrated reading devices' so if they see this phrase they will ignore it. They won't think: 'That's a more sophisticated type of a book, I must check it out'.
By using the word 'book' you will ensure your customers see you as an option. You then have the opportunity to highlight your differentiating factors to close the sale.
To discover the words your customers are looking for you must do your research.
Look at your competitors' websites and emails, talk to your current and potential customers, use search analysis tools to see what people are searching for on the web and of course use the reporting tool on your email system to analyse what people are clicking on.
Content guru Gerry McGovern suggests you compile a list of 100 phrases, or 'carewords' as he calls them, and get all your customers to pick their top 10.
3. Use these words where your customers expect to see them
On the web, users scan pages very quickly to see if they can find what they want. Usability expert Jakob Nielson recently found that this is an even faster process on email.
On average readers spend 51 seconds looking at an email newsletter.Offer them what they want or they will move on.
When your customers receive emails they will scan their inbox to see who they are from and the subject lines. If they see words that could help them achieve a task they have in mind they are more likely to open that email, eg 'Save 50% on books for Christmas'.
They are not generally looking in their inbox for your 'May Newsletter' or 'Did you know?' or even 'Special offers'.
When your customers open an email they are scanning for words which relate to the task they would like to achieve, based on the promise set out in the email subject line. They need to see the words again.
According to research by Jakob Nielson, readers of email newsletters only skim the introduction and look at the first couple of words in titles, then possibly the beginning of the first sentence in paragraphs.
It is important to include the words and phrases you have identified in these places. You then have the best chance of achieving a click through.
This piece was originally featured on the Email Marketing Manual.