Wordsmithing Tips
(The art of making every word as effective as it can possibly be within your copy.)
Here are some of the latest test results as reported in the various trade publications, e-newsletters, and white papers . . .
"Read More" vs. "Click to Continue"
A recent MarketingSherpa study of e-newsletters found that a link to the full article will get higher click-through if it reads "click to continue", rather than "read more."
Their reasoning: most recipients aren't actually "reading", they're scanning. And "click to continue" sounds more appealing than "read more."
Latest Words to Avoid In Emails
CypraMedia reports the following words/phrases will likely cause your email message to be filtered out at the ISP level and not delivered:
Free!
50% Off!
Click Here
Call now!
Subscribe
Discount!
Information you requested
Satisfaction Guaranteed
Act Now!
Special Promotion
Guarantee
Guaranteed
Great offer
Offer
Order Now
Save up to
Visit our web site
So what's a direct-response marketer to do? Here are some suggestions:
- Instead of "click here" or "visit our web site", say "go to".
- Instead of "Satisfaction Guaranteed", "Guarantee" or "Guaranteed", consider using "you'll receive a full refund if you're not completely happy . . ." or similar "refund" language.
- Instead of "Act Now!", say "don't let another day go by without . . ."
- Instead of "Order Now", say "request your . . ."
How Important is Subject Line Testing with Email Messages?
Listrak reports that A/B testing (testing 2 different subject lines against each other) can improve response by 41.4% on average.
The Importance of "Lead" Words in Headlines and Paragraphs
MarketingSherpa confirms that people view web pages in exactly the same manner that direct mail and print ads are reviewed - people SCAN, rather than read line-by-line, word-for-word.
Because people scan, the first word in every headline and paragraph on a web page has a huge impact on response. As you're reviewing your headlines and body copy, look for powerful "lead" words - use action verbs whenever possible. Try to avoid useless and general introductory clauses like "As you may know" and similar empty phrases.
And edit, edit, edit. Be sure EVERY word that remains needs to be there.
Design Tips
Bigger Type on Web Pages is Now Cool
Direct marketers have known for a while (through Colin Wheildon's painstaking tests involving the effects of type size on comprehension) that type that's easier to read will help response.
Now it seems that web 2.0 design has also caught on to the "bigger is easier to read" bandwagon. Bigger type is now cool, and is showing up everywhere on leading-edge web sites.
Note: for more on Colin Wheildon, see our book review at:
www.SMAresource.com/PreviousBooks.asp
Sending Email to Outlook 2007 Users
Outlook 2007 has created an entire list of commonly-used email techniques that will not work in its latest release, including:
- Flash
- Animated GIFs
- Forms
- Background images of any kind
- Images (photos)
What to do, considering estimates that Outlook is used by 70% of businesses? Be sure the following elements appear in text:
- Company name - move away from a graphic masthead, as most will not appear at all in Outlook 2007 - as well as other popular email programs that now all seem to have "images off" as their default setting.
- Unsubscribe link.
It's also true that Gmail now has "links off" as its default setting. This means that every link within your email should be spelled out with its actual complete URL address, so that those recipients with "links off" will still be able to copy and paste the URL into their browser to link to the web page.
Comments? Have you noticed any good or bad database marketing examples lately?
Email Karen at info@SMAresource.com.
Copyright Strategic Marketing & Advertising, Inc. August/September 2007. All rights reserved.
You may reprint or copy or distribute "SMA Resource August/September 2007 Newsletter" with this copyright notice included.
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