Topical email… 🥁 8/10
The awkward truth is this. If your reader gives a helluva damn about the subject you’re writing about, you can get away with all manner of sins.
Typos. Windy syntax. Waffle. Every manifestation of sub-optimal copywriting.
Does this mean the details don’t matter at all? No.
Does it mean you’ve focused your efforts in the most high-leverage place? Yes.
Why an awkward truth? Because writers LOVE to obsess over the detail. (Some people might even say we need to get a life.)
It comes with the deal, and it has its upsides. But… it can also be a dangerous distraction.
Read on for an example that hammers this home.
If you enjoy this teardown, please consider flicking it on to someone else you know who’d get a lot out of it! Or if you had it forwarded to you, you can subscribe for free to get the next one.
I anonymise the sender to Xxxx out of courtesy. Have a hunch? Guess away.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Subject line: “How a fluctuating pound impacts business”
As a self-employed person, I can’t not read this email.
“How weak sterling could affect business”
Buh? So is the pound fluctuating or falling? The header of the email has veered away from the subject line, and I’m egged off at the confusion I’m now feeling.
But I can’t deny that I wanna know what’s going down here, whichever one of these two angles is on the cards.
Hi Corissa,
Following the tax cuts announced as part of the recent mini-Budget, the value of the pound fell to a record low against the US dollar. Read our explainer article to find out:
- Why the cost of living could rise further
- The impact on import and export businesses
- What could happen in the coming months
[Get the latest]
I hit the button. I read the article. It was a long and useful article.
Ultimately, the disconnect between the subject line and the header of the email (which is Non-Good Copywriting™) didn’t stop me from engaging with the message.
---------- End ----------
Conclusion:
Email Teardown Club score = 8/10
The most important thing to nail in your writing is to make sure you’re talking about something that your audience actually cares about. Or framing something they don’t want to care about but have to care about in a way that makes them care about it. There’s no point optimising the micro-copy in an email that’s barking up the wrong tree.
This conversion heuristic from MECLABS Institute sums up all the things that could influence the effectiveness of your writing, depending on the context:
C = 4m + 3v + 2(i-f) - 2a
“The probability of Conversion (C) is dependent upon visitor Motivation (m), force of the Value Proposition (v), presence of Friction (f) & Anxiety (a) in the process, and Incentive (i) offsetting Friction that cannot be eliminated.”
In this case:
conversion = reading the email and the linked article (the wider business case assumption being that the reader will feel understood and appreciate the information, so is more likely to pay for the company’s services in future).
friction = copywriting issues getting in the way of the message.
motivation = being a self-employed person who’s stressing out about the rolling trash fire that is the UK economy.
value proposition = finding out about the implications that the mini budget could have on businesses.
There’s no avoiding it. High motivation and a strong value proposition often outweighs friction caused by flaws in the detail.
Of course, why not have it all in a piece of writing? That’s the gold standard. But when time and resources are tight, and lord knows they are these days, something’s gotta give. Where are you focusing your attention most?
Cheerio,
Corissa
P.S. In these teardowns I mix my gut reaction as a customer with my background as a copywriter. The goal is to explore how messaging really lands out there in the real world. I’m just a sample size of one, so I’d love to hear your take. Agree? Disagree? Hit reply and tell me!
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