Adding Bite to Your E-Mails
If e-mail has become your main marketing squeeze, there is a wonderful resource on the Internet. Her name is Pat Friesen. Visit her Website www.Patfriesen.com and you will discover a wealth of information. It’s like getting into the mind of a master.
Included in the Website are many articles, many of which have appeared in TARGET MARKETING magazine. I was most impressed with a piece she wrote in 2001 entitled: “10 Tips for Writing Productive E-Mail Copy.” Despite the fact, it’s 7 years old, her suggestions are as fresh today as when she first wrote them. Here are her 10 tips with a little editorial help from this writer:
- Think of the subject line as your headline. Make it personally meaningful to your reader. Make that subject line 3 to 5 words maximum.
- Clearly identify the sender of the e-mail. Friesen says “It’s the relationship between the sender and recipient that sets the stage for the message to follow.”
- Personalize the message. She suggested writing to an “audience of one” and keep the message conversational.
- Keep the message short, focused and relevant. Quickly get to the point and don’t waste the reader’s time.
- Short paragraphs. Friesen suggests no more than 5 or 6 lines. The Maximum message should be under 300 words and two to three paragraphs.
- Make it easy to read. Short, simple sentences.
- Compelling offer. Have it make sense for the reader to immediately buy or act or visit your Website.
- Focus. Stick to one subject, product or offer. Don’t muddy the message.
- Make the offer early. Allow the reader to click quickly if he/she is interested – don’t force them to read the whole e-mail.
- Ask for the order. Include a specific call to action like visit your Website or your e-commerce site. Don’t cut them loose to roam elsewhere. You’ll never get them back.
Friesen is is award winning on- and off-line copywriter. Clients include AT&T, Hallmark, Hasbro, Hershey’s IBM, Motorola and Century 21
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