The Fastest Way to Get In the Trash Folder
The Fastest Way to Get In the Trash Folder
if your emails are like this - you need to change them now!
You can pretty much bet that many, if not most, of your subscribers have short attention spans.
And mobile devices account for about 50% of all read emails. Check your analytics to see how many of your readers open your emails on a mobile device.
So - the combination of short attention span + using a mobile device means there are many other things battling for your prospect's attention.
Things like pop-up ads…a video running in the background…a text notification.
Knowing this, it’s important...vital...that you don't commit this one fatal error:
Being boring.
Honestly - whether your email is short or long...
is a sales email or nurture email...
if your copy is boring you have just guaranteed that people will click the trash button.
So how do you not be boring?
Write a story.
Before you go crazy and say “oh my gosh I don't have room to write a story in email!"
remember this - you aren't going to write a novel - or even a standard/normal short story.
What I mean by "story" is that there is a beginning, a middle, and an end.
This means a story could be told in a single sentence. Or a few sentences.
For instance, in one of my emails to my list I wrote this:
I am so glad I ducked.
“Thwack!!”
The baseball was a foul ball and hit the seat behind us…hard! Had I not ducked…well…let’s just say I still don’t know what the University of Louisville Hospital ER is like. Thank goodness!
It was an email about mindfulness - living in the moment - paying attention to what’s happening around you - situational awareness for women.
It got their attention and resulted in numerous replies.
What can you write in your emails so they're not boring?
Share something unique or different about your product, your service, your employees, your process.
Connect your product or service to current news.
Share something funny that happened while you were creating, delivering, or updating your product or service.
If you're on social media, ask your followers to tell you what they think of your product or service.
Share your thoughts about something in your industry.
Remember to read your email out loud so it sounds "natural". You don't have to write like you talk, but you really should write like your reader talks. If you stumble as you read it out loud…change that phrase or sentence. Because if you stumbled, your reader will, too.
And, honestly, your email doesn't have to be all text. Find a great image to tell most of the story and use the text to give context. Then ask the reader to do something (your Call to Action).
It's also okay to use contractions, short phrases, dialogue, emojis, and any other device you want.
Just don't be boring.
Talk soon -
Charlene Burke
Let's Connect
“Nobody reads ads. People read what interests them. Sometimes it’s an ad.” – Howard Gossage