a cheer for email - charlie meyerson
TRANSCRIPT
Charlie Meyerson Bit.ly/Meyerson
linkedin.com/in/cmeyerson 708-TEQ-NEWS
© Meyerson 2013
Who am I ... and why am I here? I worked here for 13 years:
© Meyerson 2013
Who am I ... and why am I here? But
before and a>er
that, I worked in radio news for
more than 20 years:
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Who am I ... and why am I here? But
before and a>er
that, I worked in radio news for
more than 20 years:
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... And why is radio relevant to email and audience development?
Because ...
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Radio’s been fighJng tuneout since the early 20th Century:
For radio
(and, later, TV), the compeJJon has almost always been a
click away. hQp://www.fredsuniquefurniture.com
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Now, for everyone ...
... Whether you’re peddling shoes or news, the compeJJon is just a click
away.
How do you keep an audience?
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Show of hands:
• How many of you check Facebook, TwiQer and email regularly?
• How many check all three at least once a day? • How many of you, when you check them, scroll all the way back to the last item you checked ...
• On TwiQer? • On Facebook?
• On email?
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Do young people skip email?
A friend describes “Twenty-‐somethings who neither check nor respond to email when not
on work hours.”
Common or not? Discuss.
(Even if so, “work hours” is a preQy sweet spot.)
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Assuming they use email ...
(and if they’ve given you their email addresses, they’re confirming not only that they do, but that they’re willing to hear from you and that they’re the sort of people who look at email
once in a while) ... How do you get people to open it?
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It’s the wri7ng.
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WriJng for digital media
... isn’t much different from wriJng in general. What’s always been
interesJng, what’s always been can’t-‐put-‐it-‐down, is s7ll interesJng, can’t-‐
put-‐it-‐down.
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WriJng for digital media
The difference is ...
... now we know what works and what doesn’t.
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The right email at the right Jme, with the right content and the right subject line:
... o>en achieved Tribune Co. editorial newsleQer-‐leading 60 percent clickthrough
rates – 60 clicks per 100 subscribers. And it went to tens of thousands of
subscribers.
How? © Meyerson 2013
It’s the wri7ng ... ... and watching how that wriJng
works for the audience.
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It turns out ...
WriJng for the Web has a lot in common with wriJng for
broadcasJng – wriJng for the ear.
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Secrets to geang people not to tune out -‐-‐ for radio and, it turns out, just about anything
on the Web:
Omit needless words. -‐-‐ Will Strunk, The Elements of Style, 1918
TwiQer. TexJng.
Tiny smartphone screens, 2013.
Need we say more? © Meyerson 2013
Secrets to geang people not to tune out -‐-‐ for radio and, it turns out, just about anything
on the Web:
• Select the most interesJng word or phrase.
• Make that the first element of your story (and, in email and on the Web, your headline or subject line), and let your wriJng flow from there.
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But what are the most interesJng words?
• Develop a sense of the wider world’s prioriJes by checking sites like Google Trends <google.com/trends/>
• And develop a sense of your audience’s prioriJes by monitoring clicks.
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By your clicks shall ye know them
The People Formerly Known As the Audience are telling you what they want.
In doing so, they’re telling you how to get them interested in content they may think they’re not interested in.
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The joy of email
• Summon your most devoted users at will • Your biggest fans share their interests • Lingers in in-‐box, unlike the rivers of TwiQer and Facebook
• Fixed, unlike Web site front pages – and so easier to gauge elements’ popularity
• Heat maps make paQerns easy to spot
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But ...
... Ya goQa get ’em in the door.
So ... © Meyerson 2013
Would you do this?
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No, but many companies do just that.
... by failing to use Subject and From fields wisely.
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Use your Subject and From fields wisely
InteresJng words first Don’t repeat Subject from day to day
Don’t echo From fields in Subject
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Compare these to those in the previous screens. Which would you click?
Note how few words you get here. If the future is mobile, now more than ever,
every word – every syllable – counts. Strunk & White: Omit needless words.
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Anatomy of an email turd
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Anatomy of an email turd
Consider what we see, word for word ...
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“Unbeatabl...” what?
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“Oh, that’s what a circular is ...”
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So ...
What are the odds you’ll open the next email you get from these guys, if it’s labeled and subject-‐lined the same way?
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What’s your audience interested in?
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Watch your clicks.
• LiQle-‐clicked items amid more-‐clicked items.
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Are you out of sync? More-‐clicked items among liQle-‐clicked items.
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Headlines that work Two kinds of headlines:
• Search-‐engine-‐op:mized headlines. Good for story-‐level placement.
• “Curiosity gap”-‐opJmized headlines. Good for front-‐page and email placement, for print publica:ons ... and for social media (TwiEer, Facebook).
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‘Curiosity gap’
The difference between what you know and what you want to know
Like The Onion, the editorial team at Upworthy begins with dozens of headlines and works on them un7l they create what Mr. [Eli]
Pariser called “a curiosity gap” — a need to know more that prompts the impulse to click on something.
-‐-‐ David Carr, The New York Times
hQp://mediadecoder.blogs.nyJmes.com/2012/07/09/two-‐guys-‐made-‐a-‐web-‐site-‐and-‐this-‐is-‐what-‐they-‐got/
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SEO-‐friendly headline techniques
• Place the story's most interes:ng word or phrase as close as possible to the start of the headline.
• Simple, direct headlines (with familiar names).
• “How-‐to” or “Why” headlines.
• Accentuate the posi:ve. Say what did happen, not what’s unchanged or stable.
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Elements of Style: Use definite, specific, concrete language
• Regardless of headline or wriJng style ... Consider words’ “point value.”
hQp://www.amazon.com/University-‐Games-‐1520-‐Man-‐Bites/dp/B000087BDT
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‘Curiosity gap’ headlines
• Assume most people aren’t interested. Write headlines to engage people who think they’re not interested, and your core audience will sJll be there for you. (Dare them not to be interested.)
• Play down loca:on. (Except for famous locaJons.)
• Play down names. (Except for famous names.)
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‘Curiosity gap’ headlines
• Simple, direct headlines (with generic nouns for unfamiliar names).
The most-‐clicked Internet headline (or most-‐read newspaper headline) ever might be ...
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Most-‐clicked headline ever?
-‐-‐ Credit for headline: Paul Muth, Concordia University © Meyerson 2013
... or maybe more so:
With a puppy.
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‘Curiosity gap’ headlines
• Ques:ons: ‘Who was Deep Throat?’
• Ellipses, teases: ‘NaJon’s faQest city is ...’ • Pull-‐quotes: ‘Suck it up, wussies.’
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The power of YOU • Works with SEO-‐friendly headlines.
• Works with “curiosity gap” headlines.
hQp://www.theonion.com/arJcles/secondperson-‐narraJve-‐enthralling-‐you,30380/
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The case for sentence case
... vs. Title Case for headlines:
• Concrete nouns drive traffic. • The most concrete concrete nouns are Proper Nouns. • So why not make Proper Nouns easier to find?
A demonstraJon ...
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Find proper nouns:
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Charlie Meyerson* Bit.ly/Meyerson
linkedin.com/in/cmeyerson 708-TEQ-NEWS
*Feature this presentation at your next birthday party or bar mitzvah. Business cards available.
© Meyerson 2013