Email Copy, The Short and The Long of It
Sunday, July 16th, 2006 at 7:32 pm by Jeffrey Perren, AC Magazine
How long should a marketing email be? What style should it take? Should you say everything in the body or tease the reader with a few tantalizing tidbits, hoping they’ll click for more?
The answer to all these is: Don’t confuse the medium with the message. (Marshall McLuhan be damned.)
Length. There’s a similar long-standing debate in the motion picture business about how long a movie should be. The generally accepted answer is: as long as it’s good.
Email copy could profitably follow a similar principle. Keep the reader engaged, by offering them valuable information well conveyed, and you can write as much as you need. Or, to paraphrase a quote from Einstein: An email should be as simple as possible, but no simpler. Just get the message across and get out. But make sure you do convey the message.
Style. Asked and answered. If you keep them interested you have the right style. If you don’t, you don’t. Think of article writers or novelists you like. Then ask: “How do they keep me reading?”
Tease or Full Monty? A very good question, and one to which the answer is probably: “Either or Both”, depending on your purpose.
Some emails are primarily to inform about a sale, an event, or a product. Others are intended more to establish, retain, or build a relationship. Tailor your message accordingly.
Writing email content is similar in many ways to writing good, albeit short, articles. Pick up some tips in our upcoming issue of Affiliate Classroom magazine. In the meantime, consider the old joke: New York Tourist: “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?”. Isaac Stern: “Practice.”
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