Structure your content
Understanding your audience means your copy should be relevant to them. Do some research, then put yourself in your audience’s shoes and write for them.
Each story should be a hook so remember to keep content short and snappy. Content should tease and encourage readers to click through to your website – not give the whole story away.
You will get a better click through rate with a short page containing ten short hooks than you will with one or two long story that may or may not, interest your reader. readers have a VERY short attention span and will quickly scan an email for items that interest them then click through or leave.
“It needs to be enticing” says Guardian writer and content specialist Claire Foot.
“Keep your content short, sharp and sexy. Don’t lose readers by giving them irrelevant content.”
There are many ways to engage with the user and offer them a clear reason to continue their path to your site. “What happened next” text works well.
For example, “What was Posh Spice doing in this shop?” or “find out how we increased sales by 200%”, as clickable links.
Link to the relevant part of your site. Don’t make readers click to your homepage and then work to find the content you’re promoting. Make it easy.
You should also really aim to get under the skin of your intended recipients and use the language of your audience to really engage them. Depending on your audience, make it chatty, but not patronising and have the tone sit comfortably with the product.
Rebecca Cryan agrees. “Poor content can’t be saved by a clever design later,” she says. “An email may look slick and sophisticated, but if it’s got nothing to say, why would anybody want to read it? Copy counts. Take time to perfect the pace and tone of your newsletter.”
The amount of text you use is also a decision based on who your intended audience is. A newsletter for a television series such as The Apprentice can be more text-heavy, as it’s appealing to an older audience who are more likely to spend a longer time interacting with it.
Younger audiences require more visuals and less text: try to deliver a dynamic message in fewer words. This could also be true for an adult audience that might be looking at your product offering too.
Services on the other hand are summed up better with words than an image. Using the right method is key.
Next Time…
In the next article we will be talking about “Subject Lines”.
