How To Leverage The Positive Perceptions of Email Newsletters

Email newsletters are much more than mere "SPAM."

Growing evidence suggests that email users are bonding to their online subscriptions. Done well, with concise copy and compelling content, an email newsletter program can build better relationships with customers than any other single enhancement you can make to your current website.

According to The Nielsen Norman Group (NNG) Report on "Email Newsletter Usability," online subscribers can often experience very emotional and positive reactions to email newsletters (see http://www.nngroup.com/reports/newsletters/summary.html).

Indeed, this significant finding is good news for marketers who want to enhance their online relationships. The emotional attachment people feel with email newsletters can create a stronger bond between readers and companies. More so than anything a website can achieve. When users glance at a website, their immediate task or question reins supreme. Users want to get in and get out of a website "as quickly as possible."

Not so with Email newsletters, which "...feel personal because they arrive in users' inboxes and users have an ongoing relationship with them." In fact, according to the NNG report, the email inbox is "information central" for most of us, a special place where we check for personal messages and mail.

Here's a few points to remember when designing an email newsletter:

• Though people are emotionally attached to email newsletters, there's so much traffic, the stress of processing the mailbox continues to make them wary;
• Skimming is the "dominant mode" of dealing with a cluttered inbox. Over 69% of readers skim the contents rather than read each issue.
• Only 23% of email newsletters are read thoroughly.
• With so much to read, a rigorous edit is needed so readers can scan the contents. The writing style needs to support readers who will focus on a limited portion of the layout.
• Be relevant, address specific needs with work related news, professional tips or advice, events, prices, deadlines, sales, premiums, important dates, personal interests and hobbies (remember, this is a personal medium).
• Your attitude counts a great deal. An email newsletter that's a pain to use, unsubscribe from, or that comes in too frequently, can create real animosity. Never attempt to trap the user into accepting your email newsletter or keeping them from dropping out by making the unsubscribe link hard to find. It's far better to let them go and focus on building a quality permission based list.

How do you gain subscribers in a saturated market?

Your pitch to the reader should be made from a position of strength. Place your new Email Newsletter in its rightful place of importance and support it accordingly. Commit to a regular publishing schedule that's not too frequent. The emotional engagement of readers is a precious commodity, offering strong potential. Don't take it lightly.

• Your best prospect may be someone who is literally waiting to hear from you.
• Make his life a little bit easier, better, or more profitable.
• Let him know that your email newsletter will be easy to read and use.

Notes to a Copy writer on advertising

Dear Copywriter,

It’s never so easy.

Here’s a few thoughts.

1) Bernbach once said: touch the emotions of the reader and you’ll touch their soul, etc. (or words to this effect.).

2) Try removing any mention of the company or brand name from the appeal, concept or headline and work directly with the subject, thinking only of the reader. You did this very well in our last project. In this case, the reader will see the logo in its place. We don’t need to push their name. Unless of course, a very compelling headline extols something about the brand that’s newsworthy (we can do this, but I think it will miss the essence of the product and what it means to the customer).

3) Try to make a little bit of magic happen! We need to introduce this product in a new way.

4) Capture the reader’s attention with a fundamental truth, stated memorably. If we can link a selling angle (USP) through the copy or subhead or positioning, so much the better. But even without a USP, let’s try to capture the magic of the product and build readership for the message.

Here are a couple of quick headline ideas that might be promising (suggestions only, they need more work):

* A few samples followed up on this
* Then I got back to the overall theme

You have a few nice starts, like the less is more headline. But we need a bit more search, or creative push. We need a memorable twist, but not too cute or clever. As a journalist, report on what the product will do. But be more intimate in style. We’re trying to capture the interest of a reader by appealing directly to her desires and self interest. We’re trying to capture a fundamental truth or essence on the “uniqueness of relationship between the customer and the product.”

If you feel totally stifled, try writing a very personal letter to a friend. Show lots of enthusiasm for the product and how it will make her feel better, help her do more things, or improve her health. Don’t even think of mentioning the client. Just capture the story in the most compelling way. That letter is likely to produce a few lines of copy and headline. Maybe a strong headline.

Remember, it’s the emotions of the reader we want to touch.


Greg