I spent my extra hour this weekend on a brisk walk with our dog yesterday. The guys had just come in from a cold deer blind on the first weekend of deer season. My daughter was still sleeping. I couldn’t get anyone but Rosie to come out and enjoy the morning.
It’s OK. She’s good company. Conversation is overrated sometimes.
The flow of information, words, images, digital requests for attention at every minute…sometimes it’s good to just get away from all that for awhile and see what happens when you look up, and breathe.
Digital content and copywriting should engage you, not make you want to stick up your dukes.
After unsubscribing from dozens of email lists a couple of weeks ago, I am hyper aware of the digital barrage. If you hope to protect your health and sanity you must arm yourself with tools and tips for managing the influx of information. If you’re the type whose goal is “inbox zero” and high productivity, you can even counter the stress of a digital lifestyle with a treadmill desk, the ultimate, healthy work environment for multi-taskers.
Now how about turning the tables on the people who are sending all that mail. Yours truly included. If only everyone who sends email or markets online had a deck of these content creation cards, the web might be a happier place.
Not that it’s bad, but marketers can always learn to do it better…
Make better connections and get higher open rates and click throughs — even if it means with fewer people. (Did she really just say that?)
With every great advance in technology comes the opportunity for its misuse. The Internet enchants and creates possibilities for useful, even powerful connections. It allows businesses to thrive and people to extend their platforms beyond what they even dreamed was possible a few years ago!
But it’s also a beast that can sink its teeth in and toss you around if you don’t know how to manage information. Why am I even talking about this with you? I’m a marketer, for goodness sakes, a copywriter who writes web content! You could say I’m part of the problem. However, the numbers don’t lie.
Because I’m aware of the junk, I consider it my job and mission to take a different tack and create real connections that feel as good as a walk with your best friend.
Continue reading to find out why the email I send consistently gets 42 – 57% open rates…
There’s a phenomenon called “screen apnea,” a term coined by Linda Stone that refers to the shallow breathing of people when they read email. It’s a physical reaction related to the fight or flight mode the body assumes before a battle. Here’s the thing: as a marketer and writer, I genuinely care about my readers. No way I want to contribute to a breathing condition that makes you fat and stressed out! But here we are….
Check and see. Notice if you are calm or if you go into “battle mode” when you open your inbox or article feed. You may be holding your breath now, as you decide what to read, save, delete, retweet, etc.
Your customers experience the exact same thing. Have mercy. Be present.
Some ideas on conscientious marketing and writing quality web content:
- If you want their attention, give your readers the attention they deserve. As you write, focus on them exclusively.
- Close your applications, email, Facebook notifications — everything — and open a simple blank screen to write. I’d even suggest getting away from your computer altogether and sit with a pen and a pad of paper. Write as if you’re writing a friend.
- While in the process of writing, don’t even think about your number of followers, fans and friends. The only important person is right in front of you. (How’s that for a white elephant?) Think your reader can’t see you glancing over their shoulder for a new interesting face in the room? Oh, they can tell. Like the disgraceful social faux pas we’ve all experienced, writing with an eye on an ulterior agenda isn’t pretty. FOCUS.
- Picture her face, what’s going on in the background, her next meal, what’s stressing her out. Consider the distractions and cares she’s stashing into some corner of her brain as she gets through her inbox or newsfeed.
- Don’t try so hard to “stand out” in the inbox. If your focus is on your reader, it just shows. When they see your name, it’s your reputation that makes people open your email or read your article. A genuine connection contributes less to that shallow breathing the precedes a battle. When they see your name, they’ll relax and take a deep breath because they know you.
- When you make an offer, or ask someone to take action — the famous “call to action” so important to copywriting — go all in with your reader. Ask for an authentic “yes” or a resounding “no” and you’ll serve your customers better than giving them the excruciating and deceptively easy out: “Maybe, when I get around to it.” There’s nothing easy about that! Putting off a decision only adds to their stress. Wouldn’t you rather have a real commitment? Yeah, so would your customer. Make your CTA clear and strong.
Would you like an easy way to consistently be that person your customer actually wants to see in their inbox? I use my content creation cards every week and consistently see a 50% average open rate. See why you need these, too?
There’s no big secret to connecting with your customers. You already commit to your customers with products, information and solutions that have the potential to change their lives.
You have the wings. All you need is loft, the air to push you up. For example, today I used the three of clubs.
See what I did here?
Use this same tool as part of your marketing and content creation… Get it today.
The Lucky deck is for you if you struggle to frame your message and influence the outcome of your marketing efforts. I’ll ship one today, if you like.
Your relationships with your customers are constantly evolving. Get in there and be a part of it. You get what you give.