Then, look to see how many newsletters from individuals or brands you’ve received in the past week (for me it was around 20). In her session at Social Media Marketing World last week, the amazing Ann Handley took the stage, did a little dance and then jumped right in to a story of how she was called out by a subscriber (highlights below), why great email marketing matters, and three important elements for creating a kick-ass newsletter that your subscribers will be dying to read. Ben: HI Ann, I am a subscriber to your newsletter. But you might be asking: why email? Ann put it beautifully when she said: 3 Elements of a Kick-Ass Newsletter #1 – Focus Less on the NEWS & More on the LETTER You do it. What we want to put out into the world, and how we can use tactics like email to distribute our content on the topics that we want to communicate. But what if instead, we didn’t think about the news we wanted to distribute, but about the letter our audience would like to receive? #2 – Create Letters People Love to Get Ann shared an example of a survey that Adobe ran of 1,000 people asking them what they would change about the emails they get from brands. What’s most interesting about these letters is that Warren writes them for his sister Doris. Each time it feels like you’re reading a letter from Ann, just for you.
Do me a favor. Go and check your work email inbox.
Then, look to see how many newsletters from individuals or brands you’ve received in the past week (for me it was around 20). After you have that number, look to see how many of those newsletters you’ve actually opened (for me it was 3). Lastly, think about how many of those newsletters you engaged with in some way (replied, shared, etc.), or which ones contained memorable content that you’ve added to your memory bank (for me it was 0).
Yikes! Can you imagine the manpower and dollars that likely went into developing and distributing those email newsletters that are just sitting in your inbox gathering dust? And worse yet, are your subscribers feeling the same way that you do, but about the content that you’re sending out?
In her session at Social Media Marketing World last week, the amazing Ann Handley took the stage, did a little dance and then jumped right in to a story of how she was called out by a subscriber (highlights below), why great email marketing matters, and three important elements for creating a kick-ass newsletter that your subscribers will be dying to read.
So for the next few minutes, I urge you to kick back, relax and learn some lessons in email marketing from the queen of content, Ann Handley.
Dear Ann…What Gives?
Below is a brief account (in my words) of an interaction that Ann had with one of her newsletter subscribers last year. The names have not been changed to protect the innocent.
Ben: HI Ann, I am a subscriber to your newsletter. And I just wanted to let you know that last year, I only heard from you four times. What’s the story with that?
Ann: Hi Ben, [insert delightful, personalized statement from Ann]. I’ve been pretty busy this year and four newsletters were pretty much about all that I could manage.
Ben: But Ann, you have an amazing platform. People want to hear from you. What gives?
This interaction with Ben from Amsterdam got Ann thinking. As she shared on stage, this conversation really helped her focus her sights on email.
But you might be asking: why email?
Why Invest in Email Marketing?
Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs…
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