Time to Dump Your HTML Email in Favor of Plain Text?

When it comes to email marketing, you’ve probably tried a number of applications, from Constant Contact to MailChimp. You kill yourself coming up with snappy, attention-getting subject lines. You add clever graphics, agonize over content, how to making it relevant and accessible. You’re constantly tweaking subject lines, calls-to-action, images, headers, layout, link positioning, copy, length, tone, content. The list is endless. Yet your open and click-through rates remain stagnant. What are you doing wrong?

Probably nothing. There's one hard truth: nothing boosts opens and clicks as well as an old school, plain-text email. What? Yes. Forget fancy layouts and graphics. Forget the HTML emails you’ve been slaving over for years. Remember that mobile has altered the landscape dramatically. Everything these days calls for simpler and more accessible.

People say they prefer HTML emails

In a 2014 survey, HubSpot asked more 1,000 professionals whether they preferred HTML-based or text-based emails, and whether they preferred emails that consisted of mostly text or mostly images. Nearly two thirds of the respondents said they preferred HTML and image-based emails.

HubSpot experimented with varying degrees of HTML-richness -- plain HTML templates, snazzy and sleek HTML templates, beautiful headers, different sized and positioned images, various call-to-action buttons, and GIFs -- to see which would have the best result. The result? They Actually Prefer Plain-Text.

In every single A/B test, the more simply designed email won

The emails with fewer HTML elements won with statistical significance. Go figure. This doesn’t make sense, does it? Every other marketing channel is moving towards incorporating visuals and seemingly getting positive results. Think the overwhelmingly greater response to your Facebook posts that include an image, the trend toward videos, surge of social media sites that are image-centric, including Instagram, Snapchat, etc. People NEED to be entertained these days. Why, then, were emails performing worse when HubSpot attempted to make them more visual appealing?

The results confirmed original assumption: HTML emails decreased open rates

One thing that HubSpot noticed was that HTML and plain-text emails were both receiving the same deliverability rate. So if they were getting delivered at the same rate, how were HTML emails underperforming? To understand the full scope of what happened, HubSpot A/B tested their email sends. They tested various segments of their database in multiple regions to get a better picture of HTML vs. plain-text emails.

What was interesting, however, was that not only were HTML emails receiving lower open rates than their plain-text counterparts, the more HTML-rich an email was, the lower its open rate. Simpler HTML emails had better open rates than HTML-rich emails and plain-text emails performed best of all.

HubSpot’s conclusion: It’s all about deliverability

Just because something says it's been delivered doesn't mean it's actually in a noticeable place of someone's inbox. Email services are increasingly filtering emails (especially commercial ones) to provide a better experience for the user. We all know about Gmail's promotions folder--it automatically filters what it deems "commercial" emails out of the main inbox unless the user changes the settings—and no one in his/her right mind does that.

The simple explanation is that image tags and HTML-rich templates seem to be getting flagged by email providers as commercial email, which means they get filtered out of a recipient's main inbox--and people can't open them. They’re delivered all right, but they’re not getting opened.

We’ve come full circle . . .

We’ve all spent years and considerable effort making our HTML emails more graphically enhanced, clever and enticing. We’ve come full circle. The message is still important, but it may be time to get back to the basics, focusing on making them simpler and more accessible.

Are you ready to outsource your content marketing program? Talk to us at Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing experts. 

Should You Be Outsourcing Your Content Marketing Program?

Outsourcing is a growing trend across industries, for companies of all sizes. It makes sense on a number of levels.

1. A cyclical economy. Regardless of industry, there are always going to be dips when staff layoffs become necessary. Severing a relationship becomes much easier when there isn’t the long-term investment that accompanies full-time employment.
2. A cost-effective solution. According to a survey conducted by Northwest Staffing Resources, an employee can cost approximately 57% more than the stated wage due to the cost of benefits and the amount of time they’re actually focused and on-task. A $50K employee could actually cost the company almost $78,500/year. An outsourced contractor, on the other hand, can often provide a higher level of expertise for a much lower cost—an estimated $36,000 per year, for example.
3. A higher level of expertise and efficiency. For the monthly fee, the client receives a higher level of expertise since the contractor brings experience from a variety of client situations. The work is done in much less time because there aren’t the normal distractions of an internal employee, such as routine staff meetings and vacations.
4. Access to skilled resources. Recruiting and training are significant workforce investments. It can take months before an employee is really producing at a high level. But when your highly trained employees leave after intensive training, your ROI plummets. With contractors, you get those same skilled workers performing at a high level, but someone else has put in the time and expense to train them.

Business owners may be the experts, but that doesn’t mean they can write about it

When it comes to a company’s content marketing program—blogs, website content, email blasts and social media posts—many business owners are reluctant to outsource these efforts because they believe that they’re the experts. They’re the ones who know their business. And they’re absolutely right. But that doesn’t mean they can write about it.

As a writer and content marketing expert, one of the best examples I run into is developing website content. Business owners become adamant about writing their own content. The problem is that they’re often poor writers and they have their day jobs. Writing content for websites is a skill. It requires being able to organize information and a writing technique that’s different from other writing formats. When companies insist that they’ll provide the content, these web projects often completely stall. When they work with a writer, the projects stay on track and meet deliverable dates.

Other business owners worry that if they outsource their content, they’ll lose control

They’re concerned that with an outsourced solution, a professional writer won’t be able to match their voice and brand. But that’s nonsense—a professional writer is trained to be able to work with a wide range of brands. We’re intuitive and smart. We work hard to understand the nuances of the businesses about which we’re writing. We get it right the first time. We save time by coming up with good content that needs just a quick review and approval—not massive edits and rewrites.

Good marketing—and good content–isn’t just about marketing, it tells a story

It captures the audience’s attention, relating with them on some level, and transferring knowledge or compelling action. We work hard to follow industry news and people, making blogs and other posts relevant for our audiences. We look at the big picture, creating editorial calendars to identify important holidays, dates and events that we should be leveraging in our blogs and social media posts. Chances are that your internal team, especially if it’s not a dedicated content marketing team but a haphazardly appointed group that deals with content marketing when they can, is not doing this. The result: the entire effort often falls apart. Content marketing, to be effective, needs to be steady and consistent; it should inform and entertain, help people do their jobs.

To keep in mind: Outsourced content providers don’t work in a vacuum. We’re careful about review and approval cycles, keeping our editorial calendars updated, making sure that we’re checking in regularly with our business unit partners. Best of all, we prepare reports to show that what we’re doing is working.

Are you thinking about outsourcing part or all of your content marketing program? Talk to us at Top of Mind Marketing. We’re content marketing experts. 

Content Marketing Case Study: Web Referrals Up 50%

I began working with California Document Preparers more than a year and a half ago to develop and execute a content marketing program. At the time, they were doing a weekly blog–working an anonymous blogger in the Midwest; they knew these blogs were neither relevant nor topical.

He wasn’t making any particular effort to stay on top of industry news or local headlines that translated to timely blog topics for our community.

Our program is based on consistency and a weekly blog

We are doing a weekly blog, a monthly newsletter and we’re posting to 4 social media sites 2x/week: Google+, Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook. We post our blog to our website and Linkedin and we just began posting it to Blogger–it’s a Google product, and they own the search space, and it’s ridiculously easy to use.

We follow best practices

I do the small things that enhance SEO value–I always include our name in every social media post, I label every image with our company name and I include alt tags with our images. I identify keywords and metadescriptions. These are small things, but they’re cumulative and they make a difference.

In less than a year, our reporting showed that our web referrals were up 60% over that time last year, which translated to $95K in revenue. This is a significant increase for a small company, and we continue to increase our visibility. In mid-February 2016, our web referrals were up 50% over that time last year. 

Quality, well-written content that’s topical and relevant

It’s the steady posting of quality, well-written content that’s enhanced my clients’ web presence. We’ve noticed other things. We’re not killing ourselves on social media. We post religiously, rotating through our services, always including an image. We used to get 15-20 views on our FB posts. Now we’re consistently getting 90-150. It’s all part of our steadily increasing presence.

We’ve made other changes. We’re a company that provides a high level of customer service—we’re about our people. So we did a photoshoot, and we featured a team member each month in a profile. We want people to get to know us, and these have proved very popular.

A new website and a new approach

After a heroic effort to rehab our old website to make it more accessible, we had a come-to-Jesus and realized that rather than try to beat this old site into submission it was time to bury it and start fresh. We wanted a new, modern site that was straightforward and attractive, with significantly streamlined navigation.

Content that reaches people on an emotional level

We’d gone through a complete catharsis and knew that we needed to dump our old content. We’d been laboriously trying to educate people about the legal services we provided, yet metrics showed that people weren’t reading these pages. Our new approach is based on simpler content and good images; we want to reach our clients on an emotional level. Our message is that we’re there for them to help them through their uncontested divorces, living trusts, probates and other legal matters. We’re helpful, compassionate and affordable. 

Need help with your content marketing program?

Content marketing works! Talk to us at Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing experts.

Facebook Frames Create New Marketing Opportunities

When the Supreme Court ruled in June that same-sex couples would have the right to marry in all US states, Facebook users showed their support for all of their gay community, friends, family members and colleagues by activating an option add a rainbow overlay to their profile images.

Support for Charlie Hebdo

We saw this same kind of support in January in Paris. Armed with assault rifles and other weapons, terrorists forced their way into the offices of the satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, killing 11 people and injured 11 others. As if this wasn’t enough carnage, they murdered four Jewish hostages a few days later. These terrorist actions stunned the world. Facebook supporters who deplored the violence added the colors of the French flag, red, white and blue to their profiles.

Now Facebook is rolling out Frames on a broader scale because these screens represent important opportunities to generate revenue from marketing dollars.

How do Facebook’s screens work?

Key in facebook.com/profilepicframes. You’ll go to a webpage that has your Facebook profile picture on it—a great opportunity to swap out your photo if you’ve been thinking about this. There’s a dropdown with a list of what seems to be mostly European sports teams—remember that social media isn’t just an American obsession; we’re part of a global community that loves to be connected, and the rest of the world is crazy about soccer. There are line items for movies, Canadian Football League and Major League Baseball. Causes include World Wildlife Federation, Make a Wish, Girl Scouts and Australian Marriage Equality. There’s another feature on this page, another dropdown that lets you create an end date, identifying how long you want your Frame to run before it reverts back to your original unadulterated Facebook profile picture—1 hour, 1 week, 1 month or never.

Don’t like these choices? Wait a while . . .

If you don’t like or aren’t familiar with any of these choices, don’t select them. There will soon be more that will be added to these lists. Given the breadth of options available, it’s pretty easy to envision the monetization potential of these screens. Big brands will love the ability to reach Facebook’s 1.591B active monthly users. For the entertainment sector, this is a great way to promote a new movie and build a connection with their audience. People are passionate about their sports teams—let’s get some of our own American teams into the mix. Causes are endless. Politics? Of course! Don’t be afraid to have opinions. It’s endless. I can’t wait to see how Facebook’s Frames evolves.

Are you struggling with social media as part of your content marketing program? Talk to us at Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing experts.

HOPING YOUR POST WILL GO VIRAL? NOT SO FAST

Admit it. When you post a blog or social media post, you try to sex it up with a snappy subject line and a terrific image, hoping your post will go viral, reach a gazillion people and quickly bring you new fans. Everybody wants attention, more Likes, more comments and more page views.

But viral is temporal, there has to be some kind of shock value or it’s not going to achieve its goal. It’s a one-time thrill and it’s not sustainable. You can’t continue to produce at this level, so it really becomes meaningless. I’m thinking back to a few examples of posts that went viral.

• Snake in the toilet. One that got my attention a while back was the San Diego woman who flushed the toilet, looked back and found a 5-ft. boa constrictor emerging from the bowl. Anyone who’s afraid of snakes remembers this for the sheer horror of being alone in the bathroom with a deadly snake.
• Son shoots mother in the back. Yesterday a post that probably deserved to go viral was one about a Florida gun-rights activist whose 4-year old son shot her in the back with a loaded pistol. I suspect that the NRA, one of the strongest lobbies in Washington, won’t even bat an eye. We’ll forget this atrocity just as we forget the mass shootings in schools—until the next one.
• Puppy Monkey Baby. Remember the Puppy Monkey Baby ad from SuperBowl 50? Few even recall the product (Mountain Dew) it was promoting, but this amalgamated creature was just plain disturbing. Yet there have been more than 22 million views of the Puppy Monkey Baby commercial on Mountain Dew’s YouTube channel, most of the user comments are negative and the sentiment isn’t positive. Mountain Dew likely doesn’t care—they’re banking on “any news is good news”.

Going viral isn’t a content strategy

Going viral shouldn’t be something you plan for, nor is it something that’s easily replicated for long-term success. Most viral content has a very short shelf life. It’s the darling of the internet for a few days, a week, maybe two, then it’s gone. Our audience, with painfully short memories, quickly moves on to the next shocking thing.

Instead of viral marketing, focus on quality content

A better approach: Creating long-lasting content strategies that help your audience connect with your products/services. Focus on creating great content that people will enjoy reading and find helpful. Be smart, funny, share a story, highlight a new product or person. If you create useful content that your readers/fans/followers want to read, you’ll have achieved content marketing success.

Are you struggling with your content marketing program? Talk to us at Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing experts. 

Is Your Subject Line Important? It’s Everything!

I was helping a client develop messaging for a workshop last week. We focused on the pain, identifying the problems and solutions that he would address in his daylong event. We had identified our market and collaborated to create a crisp, efficient message. We talked about the workshop title—this was really important because he didn’t want to do just a workshop, but a series of workshops, so it needed to be sustainable. We talked very briefly about subject lines, then moved on.

The next day, I was surprised to see his email blast hit my inbox with a very anemic subject line. He had gotten in three keywords, but had failed to create any buzz or excitement around them. Not surprisingly, the response to his blast was tepid. I once asked a client about the subject line and her answer, “I don’t know, is it important?” My answer: “Are you kidding? It’s everything.” Your subject line is a seduction. It determines whether or not someone’s going to take the time to open your email and see what you have to say.

It’s gotten harder to create compelling subject lines

With the surge of mobile users, we now have just 50 characters to entice our readers to click on our emails. And then there are the spam triggers: words like free, reminder, guarantee and offer. You also need to avoid exclamation points and inner punctuation. This is a useful list that breaks down the trouble words that are likely to route your email blast directly to spam folders.

Below are 9 approaches to effective subject lines

1. Whatever happened to simple and direct?

The direct headline gets right to the point. It works particularly well with strong offers, recognized brand names, and product or service types with which the reader is familiar. No cleverness. No jokes. No wordplay. Sometimes I think this is a lost art.

2. The big benefit.

Translate your major benefit into a headline. Your number one selling point should always be frontloaded, right? It stands the best chance of selecting the right audience and preparing them to respond. Plus, if they read nothing else, they’ve gotten your message. If you have trouble writing this kind of headline, it’s a sure sign you need to think a bit more about your product or service.

3. Announce exciting news.

People read newspapers and magazines because they love news—remember that the product or service doesn’t necessarily have to be newly created to qualify as news. It can be new to your reader.

4. Educate. Appeal to the How-To instinct.

The how-to headline appeals to the need most of us have to improve ourselves or learn something new, a better way of doing something. The how-to must follow through and highlight the benefit or final result--not the process itself. It’s the benefit that will seduce your audience.

5. Pose a provocative question.

Asking a question is a great way to draw your reader in. The question must relate directly and clearly to the product’s major benefit. This should elicit an answer of “yes” or at least “I’m not sure, but I want to know more.”

6. A command.

Be direct, provide a benefit, and take a commanding posture simultaneously. It’s not conversational, it’s dictatorial — but in an acceptable way that readers have come to expect in clear writing. Be a better writer in 1 month!

7. Offer useful information.

Secrets, tips, hints, laws, rules and systems that promise to help us gain control, understand or create order. For this one, you’re often promising information that will help people do something or achieve certain results.

8. A testimonial

A testimonial headline is an endorsement and we all know how powerful these can be. Use a brief, attention-getting testimonial in the subject line, then expand on this and provide the source in the body of your email.

Are you struggling with your newsletter as part of your content marketing program? Talk to us at Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing experts.

Good Marketing is About the Stories We Tell

Last week I was giving a presentation about marketing--specifically content marketing. This is a term that marketers throw around a lot, yet it's not something with which the general public is familiar--even though they're likely using some form of content marketing on a regular basis. I began with a little bit of nonscientific market research, and sure enough, a show of hands indicated that of the 25 people in the room representing a wide range of industries, only three were familiar with content marketing--all marketing people.

Marketing has undergone a major revolution

Many people who either don't pay any attention to or don't do any marketing aren't aware of how much electronic delivery has changed the landscape. Not only has it given us new communication channels--websites, a proliferating number of new social media sites, newsletters and other forms of electronic media, but it has changed the way we share information about ourselves and our businesses. Today’s marketing is much more personal. It's also raised the stakes and increased competition. If you want to reach your audience, you’ve got to set yourself apart.

It's time to connect

It's no longer good enough just to be presenting boring information about your products and services. There's nothing about this that will set you apart. You need to be telling a story, finding a way to connect with your audience. This is the essence of content marketing. How do you do this? Case studies are great ways to share your expertise. Businesses like to position themselves as problem solvers, right? Share an example of how you helped a client solve a problem, make more money, get more clients, improve cash flow, streamline operations, etc. There’s likelihood that someone else shares the same problems and will relate with this experience.

One of my favorite marketers is Seth Godin, writer, speaker and all-around interesting guy who comes up with some eminently quotable stuff. "Good marketing is no longer about the stuff we make but about the stories we tell". For some reason, people think about marketing and think it has to be boring. Just like they think about the endless commercials we watch on TV and think they all have to be stupid. Yet they’re not—some are clever and fun, even brilliant. Marketing can and should be interesting, fun and inspiring.

Reach your audience on an emotional level

It’s infinitely more likely that you’ll make a lasting impression if you can reach your audience on an emotional level. I was at a luncheon a few months ago hosted by a financial guy. I went because I can always count on interesting people and good food. I was delighted that he chose to give a brief talk—not on market upheaval—but how he worked with a client who wanted to retire but didn’t think he could afford it. He told a very moving story about he worked with this couple for several years to position them so they could enjoy a simpler life—and their retirement. This was terrific marketing—a great story about how he helps his clients—and really—isn’t that what it’s all about?

Need help with your content marketing program? Talk to us at Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing experts.