Many writers are not aware that one word may make the difference between success and failure. Closely monitoring feedback can bring substantial rewards.
There is no better way to test copy than to write email newsletters. In 2002 I edited ‘IC’ the Communicators in Business email newsletter. Within minutes of mailing the monthly newsletter I was able to monitor the statistics.
Not only did I know who was online and reading the publication but exactly what they were most interested in. Every heading they clicked on was recorded for my later analysis.
I am sure most email newsletter readers are blissfully unaware of the awesome tracking power of mailing software. It's all very Big Brotherish!
Marketeers are, in a virtual sense, able to look over each of their customers' shoulders and know exactly what they want to read and probably purchase.
Writing has always been perceived as an art ... but is fast evolving into a science.
As editor of IC it took only a few issues before I knew what the audience enjoyed most. And it wasn’t exactly what I had initially anticipated! If they weren’t given the content they wanted they would unsubscribe. But pander to their interests and they recommended the publication to others.
Armed with this knowledge and feedback, the subscriber base grew, from a predominantly UK audience to one in over 50 countries in just six months.
Links and landing pages
Occasionally I am asked to write copy for a fashion house newsletter. They always do a ‘toe in the water’ test mailing to a few hundred subscribers first. When they find that one product is not attracting the interest that they are hoping for then they closely rethink the publication.
Maybe the sequence of items is wrong, perhaps the headline is poor or the supporting copy not emotive enough. Just one word in a headline can quadruple click through - get this right and this converts into extra sales.
By addressing detail at this level and bringing a fresh approach will invariably lead to a more successful response when we mail to the rest of the database.
While the first goal is to persuade readers to click on a link - the next is to ensure that the ‘landing page’ (the page they are linking to) converts their interest to a sale. If this is not converting interest into sales then this will also need closer scrutiny.
Copy fine-tuning costs virtually nothing just a little time and patience. The reward will often be a significant uplift in sales.
Writing has always been perceived as an art but with the intelligent application of web tracking software it is fast evolving into a more exact science.