Increase Email Readership With These Blogging Tips

Increase Email Readership by Using These Blog Tips

Reading through a MarketingProfs.com post about increasing blog readership, a lightbulb went off: These same tips apply to email!

Below are the blog readership tips in the article, with my email consultant take on them. Warning: All of these suggestions are for subscriber-centric email marketing content, not sales-first email marketing content. If you’re not yet putting the subscriber first, these tips might help!

• “Publish original content only.” My email consultant take—For email, I would say that means actually have real content. That doesn’t mean only your email itself should be original. Use email to share other original content you’ve created such as ebooks, webinars, podcasts and more.
• “Curate what you can’t create.” My email consultant take—Use email to share other content your subscribers might like. Perhaps tell them about tradeshows or point them to a really good video, article or blog post. Be a resource for them. Point them toward information or images they’ll find useful, even if you don’t make a sale by doing so. You’re creating goodwill, however, and engaging your subscribers on a deeper level, which should lead to more sales as well as improved email delivery rates!
• “Make lists.” My email consultant take—Lists are great content any time. People like lists because they are easily digestible content. Be creative in your use of lists in your email marketing. Maybe you can be humorous with “5 unusual ways to use our gadget” or helpful with “6 tips for getting the most from your new software.”
• “Write solid headlines.” My email consultant take—For email, this means subject lines. Avoid being tricky. Avoid being vague. Write your subject line to help your recipient know what is in your email. Simply tell them what they will find in a compelling way.
• “Don’t fear drama.” My email consultant take—Don’t be afraid to be different, controversial, interesting, real. Tell stories, state an opinion. Obviously within the confines of your legal department you’ll find some guidelines that will keep you from going too far, but why not step out of the generic, bland corporate approach to be, if not theatrical, engaging?

Whether it’s email or a blog or some other piece of marketing collateral, thinking in terms of increasing readership is a surefire way to create better content…and therefore better marketing.