Green Eggs and Spam - Spam I am!
By Larry Bailin, Single Throw CEO

 
Dr. Seuss taught us that no matter what or who you are, whether a green headed fudmunkler or a hairy hinkle horn honker you can learn something in the most unsuspecting places if you just keep your eyes open wide and your mind even wider. I, like most, have come to rely on email to conduct business. I have also come to accept that more than half of the emails that land in my inbox are spam. Spam email has become an epidemic of sorts. With over 60 billion emails sent by Internet users daily it's become impossible to sort the worthwhile from the worthless. Similar to the pile of junk postal mail I receive daily (minus the tree killing), it has gotten to the point where the effectiveness of Spam email cannot possibly be more than a fraction of a percent. I mean really, how many online degrees does one guy need? Taking a cue from Dr. Seuss and realizing even the seemingly ridiculous can lead to valuable insight; I took a closer look at Spam email to see what I could learn from it.

The first lesson you learn is that Spam is terribly annoying, interruptive, disruptive and just an all around bad idea when it comes to email marketing. So the first lesson falls under the heading of what not to do. Don't spam.

Lesson two is a little more intriguing. I began to realize that there were messages contained within the thousands of spam emails that were not only getting through my spam filters but through my minds filter as well. It seems that, at will, I could remember the top five subjects of the spam email I'm bombarded with daily. I know where to get the cheapest prescription drugs, the real deal Viagra, how to get women to fall in love with me, get that online degree I've always wanted and of course, how to have the best sex of my life (hmmm, maybe this stuffs a little better targeted than I thought?). Why did I remember the subjects of my spam emails yet I cannot remember the messages in the emails I've opted in to receive?

So lesson 2 is this – Get to the point with good calls to action. Spam emails are 100% calls to action. They get to the point, they put the call to action front and center. The spammers know that as soon as you read the first line of text you're going to delete the message so they literally have a second to catch your attention. By putting the call to action right at the top and getting to the point without fluff they are actually making a connection. If you follow this same rule of thumb in your email marketing you would make a better connection. Research shows us that over 75% of email readers do not actually open their email; they read it in the preview pane. Preview panes are very narrow and do not show much information, typically requiring the reader to scroll down. Not in spam email, the message is right there at the top, no need to scroll.

So then why in most legitimate email marketing do we drone on, create fluff and filler? Why don't we just get to the point and put the call to action right at the top? I mean really, we just want a reader to take away a specific message and take action, so why not put the calls to action right in plain site? Call to action first and then marketing fluff!

Like anything else, becoming a consistent BLOGGER is just a matter of doing it. Now that you have a great way of receiving an unlimited supply of topics to write about and know that it might not take as much time as you thought it would, get to your BLOG and start writing!

We all have the desire to say more than the average person has time to hear. Sometimes we write just because we feel we have more to say, but the fact is, the faster we can get to the point the better it is for the reader. They get the message, take action and get on with their day. Hopefully your respect for their time leads to a long and mutually successful relationship.

So take it from me, if you'd like to be a successful email hum doodler. Get to the point and stop droning on like a purple waz banging wiz noodler.

© 2007 Single Throw Inc.

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