Content Can be More Important than Form in Email October 10, 2018, | Posted by Samantha

As more and more bells and whistles become available for email marketers, it can be difficult to keep a focus on the heart and soul of email marketing: content. Many brands and marketers alike think that they can put the copy on the backburner now that interactive features, embedded video, and flashier image capabilities have come to email; however, at the most basic, email marketing is definitely still a medium focused on content. Site Impact’s experts have always been aware of the importance of not just a well-crafted subject line but also concise, clear body content in emails; today we’re going to take a look at that part of the equation in a little more detail.

Watch your tone!

The tone you set in your emails can make a very big difference in how they’re read. Of course, written text has a great deal of ambiguity; sarcasm, for example, has long been much harder to detect in the written word than in person. But written language is still very capable of conveying a particular tone, from formal to familiar and urgent to casual. Knowing your brand’s target demographics will go a long way towards figuring out the best tone to use to appeal to your customer base, and the data you’ve compiled gives an excellent window of insight into your existing demographics.

Brands that successfully navigate the issue of tone see increased engagement, higher spend and more repeat spend versus those brands that stick with a strictly formal tone or those whose tone is inconsistent. It’s a good idea for companies of all sizes to occasionally look at their demographic information and tweak their approach to tone according to what gets the best responses over time.

Make your content count

It’s no secret that while people spend more time than ever with their mobile devices, and that especially Millennials do a lot of email checking on their phones, the time people are willing to invest in reading individual emails is shorter and shorter. With the daily influx of branded messages to people’s inboxes, the only way that people can cope is to skim and delete what doesn’t seem immediately relevant or useful to them; and this is where brands can make big mistakes. Content in email messages should never come secondary to design and creative elements, but it also should be approached with the knowledge that attention spans are short.

What this means from a practical standpoint is that content should be concise, clear, easy to read--and easy to skim. The gist of your message should be clear with a thirty-second read, and that’s not a lot of time to catch someone’s attention and communicate an idea. Don’t make the mistake, however, of falling into the bad habit of using short messages to bait-and-switch your recipients; that’s going to backfire every time. Start with a longer message conveying specifically what you want your customers to know, and then cut back on the things that aren’t completely necessary.

While there are many important aspects to a successful email marketing campaign, from segmentation/targeting to creative, content is and will always be a vital factor when it comes to the overall success of your campaign. Focusing on striking the right tone for your brand and target demographic, and composing content that provides clear, concise information without coming across as misleading, will always trump any flashy design element or the most exciting interactive content. Contact Site Impact to discover how we can help you refine your content to make the best impression and create lasting engagement with your customers.