All posts tagged email marketing

In Elementary school, we were taught the basics of communication with four simple sentence types: imperative, declarative, exclamatory, & interrogative. Emotions are conveyed through these four sentences, so why not put these principles to use in your marketing campaign? Whether you’re making an announcement or engaging subscribers with a survey, you can draw inspiration for messages in every stage of your campaign by remembering your 4^thgrade grammar lessons.

• Declarative sentences are in the form of a statement. For example, a broadcast message such as “Winter is almost here.” or “Kids eat free on Sunday.” These messages should provide information that is relevant to your subscribers and communicate fact. Engage with readers by sending helpful content in addition to sales or alerts.
• Imperative sentences give clear commands or “call-to-actions”. Directing your customers can be very beneficial to the success of your campaign, especially in the early stages of communications with them. “Click here to sign up.” “Confirm your subscription.” “Add us to your address book.” “Use this link to unsubscribe.”
• Interrogative sentences are used to form questions. Asking questions is a great conversation-starter with your subscribers because it encourages them to interact with your brand. Surveys and polls are a great way to engage with readers and build better relationships because they show that you value your subscribers’ input.
• Exclamatory sentences express strong emotion and typically end in an exclamation mark (!). Get your subscribers to act now or pay attention to important information by creating a sense of urgency in your subject line. “Fashionistas, don’t miss this sale!” or “Only hours left to save. Offer ends tonight!” are good examples of this. Note: Exclamatory sentences are only effect when used sparingly. Save these message for information that really counts!

Take-aways:

1. Decide what you want your subscribers to retain from reading your email and then construct your message so that your intent is clearly illustrated.
2. Find out what kind of communication works best for you and your readers and engage them by varying your message types (ex. Offer relevant content in your declarative broadcasts and/or engage subscribers with good questions.).
3. Be sure that your sign-up process is clear and direct.