In the last weeks and months, I’ve been thinking about this basic principle a lot:
Input = Output.
Whatever you put into something determines what you get out of it.
Be it your business, sports and fitness, relationships, your children,
a business process, a standard operating procedure, an entire SEO strategy …
Heck, even working on a piece of wood …
My consulting brain sees everything as a process.
A process that can (and often should!) be broken down into its elements.
This enables you to pick up each element, improve it, and put it back.
Imagine, for instance, a simple example: a weekly newsletter.
The newsletter
Many businesses send one out … most of them shouldn’t (at least not how they do it).
But I digress …
Simplifying it a bit for this example, a newsletter process could be broken down into:
- Content
- Subject line
- Layout
- Recipients selection
- Scheduling
Imagine this process gives you an output of a newsletter with an evaluation based on some internal criteria of 6/10.
You’re probably not too happy about it, but it’s essentially free exposure, so you might not care too much about it.
Process elements break-down
Let’s look at the elements of this process a little closer, one by one:
The content creation
In many companies, especially B2B, creating content for a newsletter is a standard process nobody cares too much about.
Many companies just send out a collection of recent blog posts.
Some others might be actually looking to get people to their site to see some new offers.
But let’s be serious:
Most are not putting too much emphasis on what they are sending out week after week to thousands of people.
A good place to start!
What would need to happen to improve this particular element of the newsletter process?
How could you improve your copy by just 1%?
- Can you have a better opening line (hook) that gets people interested?
- Could you integrate story elements?
- Have you tried sharing a testimonial at the top?
- Does your content sound like your brand?
- Is the content benefit-driven or just a mere list of news items?
I’m sure if you go through this very short list, you would already find at least 2 elements you could improve.
The subject line
I maybe don’t know you.
But I know one thing about you:
You’re a skimmer.
Just like I am.
At least when it comes to your inbox.
Chances are you’re also getting hundreds of e-mails every single day.
We all need to make decisions within microseconds.
Which is why we got very quick in deciding which e-mail is worth opening,
and which e-mails we can safely ignore or even mark as spam.
The subject line of an e-mail is decisive.
You don’t want it to sound spammy.
You also don’t want it to sound clickbaity.
Ideally, it would sound like something a friend could be writing to you.
Let’s gather some ideas on how to make your subject lines better:
- Keep it concise: Aim for 6-10 words to grab attention without being cut off in the inbox.
- Personalize: Use the recipient's name or other personal data to catch their eye.
- Create urgency: Words like "Now" or "Limited Time Offer" prompt immediate action.
- Spark curiosity: Pose a compelling question or hint at intriguing content without giving it all away.
- Use numbers: Lists or statistics can make your subject line more specific and engaging.
- Avoid spam triggers: Steer clear of all caps, excessive exclamation marks, and spammy words.
- Test emojis carefully: Used sparingly, emojis can add personality and stand out, but ensure they're relevant and display correctly across devices.
- Be clear and direct: Sometimes, straightforward is best, especially when clarity is crucial.
- Segment your audience: Tailor subject lines to different segments for more personalized, relevant engagement.
- A/B test: Regularly test different subject lines to see what works best with your audience, and adapt based on results.
Do you think by applying these, you could get 1% better open rates?
The layout
The layout of e-mails is one of my favorite topics.
I can’t count how often I have seen on my end and heard from others that writing a newsletter in simple text gets much better results than the fanciest layout you could be thinking of.
I write most of my e-mails in plain text.
And they work.
If you do want to get a bit fancy on your layout, though, here are a few tips:
- Responsive Design: Ensure your newsletter layout adjusts seamlessly to various screen sizes, especially mobile devices. A responsive design improves readability and user engagement.
- Clear Hierarchy: Use headings, subheadings, and a logical structure to guide readers through your content. A well-organized layout helps readers quickly find the information that interests them.
- Balanced Use of Images: Incorporate relevant, high-quality images to break up text and add visual interest, but use them sparingly to avoid overwhelming readers or causing slow loading times.
- Whitespace: Embrace whitespace (or negative space) around text blocks and images. It makes your newsletter look cleaner and helps to draw attention to the most important elements.
- Consistent Branding: Incorporate your brand's colors, fonts, and logo consistently in every newsletter. This consistency reinforces brand recognition and lends a professional touch to your communications.
Do you think by either trying a text-only format or testing one or two of the above layout tips, you could improve your newsletter’s performance?
Selecting recipients
Most companies send out newsletters to everybody.
However, only a fraction of your e-mail list subscribers will actually be interested in what you are sending out today.
The rest will ignore your e-mail.
And if you send too many e-mails that are easy to ignore, they will unsubscribe and/or flag you as a spammer.
How about you be more selective?
Could you segment your list, e. g. by product type, product segment, lead magnet or opt-in, lead source, etc.?
Is there a way for you to address newsletter content specifically to one or a few of those groups, and only send it to them?
Would you think that by being more selective in your recipient selection, you could improve your newsletter’s performance by 1%?
Scheduling
Wow, what a busy schedule we all have these days.
It feels like there’s really not the right moment to receive a company’s newsletter anymore.
Or is there?
Have you tested sending your newsletter at different days of the week?
How about different times of the day?
If you think of your own inbox, you really don’t want to be the last e-mail on a list of 200 unread e-mails on a Monday morning.
At the same time, Friday afternoon might not be the best moment to receive your news updates either …
By testing different times and days, you will soon find out what works best for you.
Heck, maybe you’re in B2B and Sunday afternoon is the best moment of the week for your audience?
You’ll never know …
But: Would you think testing different times, your newsletter’s performance could go up by 1%?
If you just do 1% better …
How well your newsletter process performs depends on the performance of each of its elements.
If you increase one of these elements, you get a linear improvement.
Make the subject line 1% better, you’ll get a 1% better process output.
And let’s be honest: You don’t need to be an e-mail marketing wizard to get a 1% improvement on that.
But if you improve multiple elements by 1%, your improvement increases exponentially.
e. g. imagine you get 1% better at subject lines, 1% better at copy, and get 1% better feedback from subscribers because you are more selective!
That’s 3,03% better …
Get 10% better on each of these, and you’re looking at a 33,1% improvement!
Let’s break down some processes and get better at each of their parts.
And if it’s only by 1% …
Gert
