|
|
Publisher's Note: October 10 2002
Email Newsletters: Fall's Hottest Business Fashion Trend
What is it about e-mail newsletters? All of a sudden they're everywhere. In the past couple weeks I've
So why are e-mail newsletters hot all of a sudden? Who knows. It could be that more and more marketers are recognizing the value of a 'steady' e-mail relationship over the 'one off' campaigns they've been doing. Also, with the spam factor gaining momentum, a regular e-mail communication can help you avoid spam complaints.
Whatever the reason, Jakob Nielsen's Email Usability Report is a welcome addition to the body of knowledge on e-mail newsletters. I downloaded the full research report, including his 79 guidelines for developing an e-mail newsletter. I thought I'd tell you a little bit about his findings and recommendations and add in some of my own thoughts.
First I should tell you that I come at this from a little different place than most people. In 2000-2001, I was the Director of Email Product Development for Cahners Business Information (now Reed Business Information USA). Cahners/Reed publishes over 100 business-to-business magazines, including Variety ('The premier source of news for entertainment industry professionals'). While there my staff and I developed and/or upgraded over 170 business-to-business e-mail newsletters. I was involved in the strategy, content, format, HTML design, editorial and technical issues. So I know a lot (some would say way too much) about e-mail newsletters. Prior to joining Cahners I had developed, written and published e-mail newsletters for a number of other organizations, so I had a good grounding in it.
Based on my real-life experiences in the e-mail arena, Nielsen's guidelines are right on, although the sample size is rather small (15 people and 10 e-mail newsletters, but it doesn't sound like each person signed-up for all the e-mail newsletters). I'm happy that the research supports basically everything I've based my work on for the past few years. I'm a bit disappointed that there wasn't anything really earth-shattering in there, but then again, I am probably more familiar with all this than just about anyone.
The presentation is well organized and they make liberal use of screen shots and quotes from participants to support their findings and recommendations. It's a great reference for anyone publishing an e-mail newsletter. Here are some key points they make:
Guideline #39: Design the newsletter to relate to the website, but not replicate it completely.
I couldn't agree more. I envision the e-mail newsletter as being a separate but related entity to the site. You want to have common elements so readers make the connection -- thinks like a similar font, logo and color scheme. I also like to include a mini-version of the navigation bar which links readers back to the site and, if the technology allows, a website search box in the e-mail newsletter, which leads them to the search results for whatever term they entered.
There are many, many reasons not to simply send out the homepage as your e-mail newsletter. I actually worked with an organization that was doing this a few years ago. First of all, it was a very large file which took a while to load when you opened the e-mail. Second, the way they had done it anything you clicked in took you to the actual home page -- where you'd have to click on it again to get to the item you wanted to read. Talk about a disconnect. And it wasn't personal (if you haven't already, read Nielsen's article about his findings to learn more about why this is important) -- it was like opening a hand addressed envelope to find a flyer instead of a letter. Finally, it was just too busy to be an effective e-mail newsletter; there was just too much going on.
Guideline #57: Limit ads and regulate their placement. Make them as applicable to the content as possible.
Amen. Not only should this result in a higher response rate, it can make for a much more sophisticated e-mail newsletter. One of the best examples of this that I'm aware of is the Away.com travel e-mail newsletter. It's a postcard-like e-mail which gives a picture and some content on a destination. They have an editorial schedule and use it to coordinate ad placements. So an e-mail about all the wonderful things you could do if you took a vacation in Phoenix might include an ad from the Phoenix visitor's bureau or one from a resort in Phoenix.
But don't forget the first part -- limit the ads. You need to offer some value (and a discount on your product or service does not count as value!) to the reader in order to maintain the relationship. This is most often in the form of editorial content. I'll be talking more about affordable ways to produce content in my next ClickZ.com article which will be published on Thursday, November 7, 2002.
Guideline #5: Distinguish between paid subscriptions and free e-mail newsletters. Use the word 'subscribe' carefully.
Way back when, my former colleague Mishelle made this exact point; she wanted us to reserve the word 'subscribe' for paid offerings, and use another term (register? sign-up?) for free e-mail newsletters. One issue we ran into with changing the lingo was what to call the 'unsubscribe' on a free e-mail newsletter. Were you 'unregistering'? Or maybe un-signing up? Remove was an option, but that sounds kind of coarse. And 'to stop receiving this e-mail newsletter' is kind of a mouthful. Anyway, kudos to Mishelle, a woman ahead of her time.
But seriously, paid e-mail newsletters are going to become more common. I personally know two e-mail newsletter publishers who are moving to paid models. And there are more to come. So we really do need to work on using terminology that readers will understand, especially when it comes to setting their perceptions of free vs. paid. Check your website and see if you say 'subscribe' -- if so, consider changing it. And don't forget to change what you call the unsubscribe link (and if you come up with a good term for this, let me know)...
Wrap-up
I'd give it a five out of five stars. Don't launch an e-mail newsletter without it. Or better yet, hire me to help you launch your e-mail newsletter -- I'll put my practical expertise in implementing e-mail newsletters based on Nielsen's guidelines to work for you.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to contact me with any thoughts or questions.
Jeanne
|
|
The
Jennings Report
