Author Archive: Susan Blue

Email: the genre everyone reads

Tell your company's story, right there in those inboxes

by Susan Blue, Director of Content | April 30th, 2012 | 1 Comment »

Editor’s note: This post was originally published as a guest post on Social Media Explorer.

In many ways, content strategy is about finding the most effective and memorable ways to tell your story. And the inbox is an ideal place to do just that. The problem is, most companies send promotion after promotion, and they forget they’ve got a bunch of real humans out there just waiting for something worthwhile to show up. They forget to make things personal. They forget to make things interesting. Eyes glaze over. Expectations are lowered. Emails get deleted.

That’s a shame because email really is the genre everyone reads — inbox-checking is some kind of national pastime at this point, somewhere between baseball and apple pie. And if someone is on your list, they’ve invited you to their inbox. You’ve made a connection with them (yay, you!). So don’t become one of those automatically deleted emails. Engage those folks. How? Craft your campaigns with a story in mind. When you tell a story instead of just selling a product or promoting a cause, your audience tunes in.

Three ways to tell a story about your company

Tell a slice of your story

You know those email campaigns that are so broad they basically mean nothing? They may say something like, “Introducing our new collection: We have something for everyone!” or “It’s springtime, so come back and visit!” Yeah, don’t do that. It doesn’t give your audience anything concrete to think about. Instead, pull out one particular glimpse of who you are.

That’s exactly what the store Anthropologie does with this dreamy slice of an email. Before this campaign arrived one day, I didn’t know I wanted to “indulge in a land of lemon and cardamom.” But I do now, officially and forever. I’ll admit that I think about this email nearly every time I walk past (or, more likely, walk into) one of their store locations. Instead of selling clothes, those Anthropologie spell-casters lured me in with a story. Does everything they sell have something to do with lemon or cardamom? Definitely not. It’s a hook, and a poetic hook to boot.

Not every snippet has to be that evocative, though. Agencies can use this technique by focusing on one particular client success story. Nonprofits likewise can tell the story of one person they’re helping or one volunteer who’s making the world a better place every other Saturday morning. The New York Times recently ran a story about how one person telling her story about donating a kidney created a record chain of organ-related altruism.

Stories aren’t math, but they do add up over time. And, as my closet will attest, stories sell clothes.

Hint at a story that could unfold

Let’s say you sell scarves. You could send an email with pretty pictures of your scarves. Sure, why not? You could announce that you’re selling your scarves for half-price. Sounds fine. But your readers have likely seen pictures of scarves before, unless they’re living in some kind of dystopian society where the vampire overlords have outlawed scarves. (Note to self: Write next teen novel sensation with vampire twist. They no longer sparkle, but they hate scarves!) And they’ve also likely seen scarves on sale before. Again, unless … oh, never mind.

But what if you think of the scarf as more than a product? What if your audience could see themselves enjoying that scarf? You could create a stylish how-to video that shows how to tie that scarf and look like a sophisticated Parisian. Or you could take pictures of your customers wearing your scarves around town. Either way, you’re setting a story in motion.

Latch onto a bigger story to be relevant

The most obvious kind of relevance happens every time Valentine’s Day or any other holiday rolls around. But you’re not limited by the calendar when it comes to connecting what you do with whatever’s happening in the world. You can also look to current events. When everyone in the entire world seemed to be talking about the royal wedding last year, Saveur food magazine emailed tips and recipes for hosting a British afternoon tea. When legendary chef Ferran Adria announced he was closing his restaurant in Spain, one travel magazine included trip itinerary ideas for Barcelona in its weekly email a few days later.

By finding a connection to what’s already on their minds, you’re giving your audience a way to participate in whatever the bigger story is — you’re tapping them into the zeitgeist. They’ll appreciate you for that, and they’ll remember that you’re a warm human, not just a sender of emails with one promotion after the next.

So what’s next?

Set aside some time to think about the stories hiding amidst the products or services you offer. Help your audience experience what you’re all about, instead of telling them. This extra effort will give your audience a reason to pay attention — because, as everyone knows, even scarf-hating vampires find a good story irresistible.

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Become an Emma Agency: stylish email marketing for you and your clients.

Content tips & strategy, Stuff that's stylish

Blank page, begone

Part two of our content strategy series gives you a head start on writing key email campaigns

by Susan Blue, Director of Content | October 14th, 2011 | 14 Comments »

We like to share email strategies that work, so we’ve written quite a lot about welcome triggers, surveys, and all kinds of other ways to showcase who you are as an organization. We’re pretty sure you already know how effective these communication tactics can be, and we know how it feels when you know you really should be doing something that just never makes its way to the top of the to-do list. Sometimes having to stare at a blank page is enough to keep that “send brilliant email to subscribers” item permanently low on your list, actually, so we have two solutions to help you fill up the page.

Solution 1: Call the professionals

We’ve been talking to a new company called Scripted that employs writers who, well, write stuff. We like them because they’re smart and they’re nice, but also because they like telling stories. Many of their writers have a screenwriting background, which is a pretty interesting way of looking at email marketing since those campaigns you send are all about telling your company story in just the right way, every time you show up in someone’s inbox. Their writers are developing a specialty in email writing, and Scripted likes to pair their freelancers with clients by matching up subject-level expertise, too.

We’re launching a test program with them, and we’re going to cover the writing fee for the first 15 current Emma customers who post a comment below and want to participate. What you’ll get out of the deal: an email campaign written by a professional writer (one rewrite is included if necessary, too). What we’ll ask of you: to complete the campaign and send us feedback within 30 days.

Solution 2: Get a head start with our pre-written emails

Our in-house experts created templates you can use for three important ways of communicating with your readers. We highly recommend each of these strategies — we’re always astounded by their tendency to engage audiences. (We’re also astounded by the cuteness of baby bears playing in the middle of a road, but we’re not covering that in-depth here.) Getting started with these email tactics is as simple as downloading our templates and then personalizing them.

We’ve got content templates for …

+ Setting up a welcome trigger. Sending a welcome email is an ideal way to start your relationship with that special someone who just joined your list. Even just saying “hi” and mentioning how to stay in touch with you on Twitter and Facebook is great. For a gold star, offer a discount to further endear yourself to them. I can’t promise you’ll receive an actual gold star, but go ahead and imagine one for yourself every time new person signs up and then gets that automatic welcome. See more welcome email trigger examples and analysis.

+ Sending a survey. If someone’s on your list, you’ve succeeded in establishing a relationship with them. That’s a big deal, when you think about it. So honor that connection by finding out more about them. You can send a survey to ask what they’d like to hear from you or to find out a few of their preferences so you can personalize your content. And since they’re taking time to share with you, consider offering them some kind of prize or other thank-you for the effort. See our previous posts about surveys to read more about how to create effective ones.

+ Getting the right list in place. Marketers are increasingly realizing that it’s better to have a smaller list of folks who are actively reading and clicking on email campaigns than a bigger list that’s full of people who never bother. As Mary on our community relations team wrote in a post about list hygiene earlier this year, “Members who have never opened a mailing are telling you that they’ve all but officially unsubscribed. Consider removing these addresses — you’ll have more accurate response metrics with an up-to-date audience.” Losing folks from your list may feel initially painful, but think of the better response rate you’ll have later. See the rest of Mary’s insights and tips.

Ready to spring into action?

You can download what you’d like on our content template page. Of course, you’ll want to add your own voice so that what you send reflects your particular style. After these templates get you started, let us know what else we can do to help with your content and email marketing plans. We’d like to know what trips you up, and how we can help smooth the way.

And remember, if it’s that free email writing offer with Scripted you’re after, just post a comment below, and we’ll get back in touch with the details for the first 15 Emma customers.

Additional resources
Content strategy basics, part one
Emma’s Oh Blather List: writing ideas for when you’re stuck

Content tips & strategy

Yes, we have a content strategy

Part one in our content strategy series shows how a company of any size can tell their story effectively

by Susan Blue, Director of Content | September 2nd, 2011 | 4 Comments »

These days, articles about content strategy are as easy to find as preposterous reality TV shows. But to be clear, the content advice is much more valuable, and is much less likely to get drunk on its sudden celebrity. A smart approach to content is important for any organization, whether you’re selling some furniture, running an agency or saving the world. The right content — which basically refers to anything from a blog post to a video to your tweets to, of course, your email campaigns — means that you’re intentionally telling your brand’s story to the people at the right time in the right places.

Our own content strategy includes a monthly roundup like this one.

You can find solid advice for building your content plan in all kinds of places, such as The Content Strategist and A Book Apart. And you can keep track of what’s new by following a few people who like to tweet about that stuff, from Emma’s own Molly Niendorf to Brain Traffic CEO Kristina Halvorson.

We’re getting in on the fun by doing this five-part series, and we’re kicking it off with a few basics. I’ve been developing content strategy for more than a decade now (although we didn’t used to call it that), for companies ranging from tiny start-ups you’ve never heard of (not that the content strategy was to blame for the organization’s demise, mind you) to some corporate behemoths, and these are my top tips.

1. Know what you want to say. What’s your story? Do you have a story, or do you just have a product to sell or a cause to promote or some other goal to achieve? Whatever you’re aiming to do, spend some time figuring out the story that’s driving it. Your audience will be much more engaged if you craft a narrative for them and help them experience what you’re all about, instead of just telling them.

At Emma, some of our main story lines are that we have astonishingly talented designers, a supremely helpful support crew (who, like, actually answer the phone when our customers have questions or want advice), a super intuitive interface and a commitment to giving back to our community. So we find various ways to tell those stories on our blog and our website. What drives your nonprofit or business? What do you most want to say? And who’s the audience that’ll be listening? Telling your story will only be effective if it means something to people you’re hoping to reach, so make what you say useful (or perhaps inspiring) to them personally.

2. Know how you want to say it. Create some documents that map out that story. You might have five main stories or a dozen or just one. Break it down into pieces, so that you can plan around each element. And make a checklist that reminds you and anyone writing for you about the tone you want to establish, AKA your editorial voice or your style. What’s on that list? Is it important for each piece you write to seem trustworthy and approachable? Or do you see your style as more warm and quirky? Or maybe your tone is bold and authoritative. Know what best reflects who you are as a company and what best resonates with your audience. As you might expect, that also involves knowing the purpose of each piece that you write. Knowing your goals makes it easier to decide — to paraphrase one of my favorite reality show judges — what’s in and what’s out. If a story idea sounds fun but doesn’t help you accomplish one of your goals, it’s out.

3. Do your logistical homework. Fire up some spreadsheets and start planning.

Figure out what content you’ve already got and make an inventory. Use that inventory to see how you might get more out of what you already have before you start creating more content.
Then figure out how you’re going to get more of it. Do you have in-house resources? Do you need to hire some freelancers? Will you do the writing yourself?
Develop several formats for telling those stories. Again, map it out. Will you post on your blog, Twitter and Facebook? If you’re doing long-form writing, establish some clear writing guidelines and formats so you can easily communicate your expectations with anyone else who’s helping implement this plan.
Think carefully about who needs to hear what when, if you have a large audience. If you’re talking to both customers and prospects, for example, you may need separate plans for each segment of your audience.
Create a process and a schedule to keep all those formats rolling. Creating a schedule is as simple as adding publish dates and deadlines to a spreadsheet … and voila, you’re the fancy owner of an editorial calendar. Congratulations, you. Your new editorial calendar will let you see your planning at a glance and share it with everyone else at your company.
Set up some measurements. What will make your content strategy successful? A higher CTR on your site and in emails that will lead to increased revenue? Know what you’re going to track and how often you’re going to look back at the numbers.

4. Focus on quality. There’s a lot of pressure these days to tweet eleventy-hundred times every day and have your LinkedIn this and your Facebook that. You may start feeling overwhelmed with all of those tips that surface every day as you follow what’s happening in the digital world. You may get content strategy envy as you look at what other companies do. Or you may even feel pressure from other people — your second cousin, perhaps, or someone in your own organization — who’ve read about content strategy and social media strategy and want you to follow the particular advice they found online.

It’s important to keep up with the industry and tell your story in as many places as you can, but always remember that quality is every ounce as important as quantity. (It’s eleventy-hundred ounces, by the way.) And not everyone who’s decided to market himself or herself as an expert actually has the editorial chops to back that up. So be discriminating. Follow some of the advice you find, but also establish a good, old-fashioned editorial process. Put every new idea through that checklist you created and be realistic about how much you can do without starting to feel like a content factory.

5. Tell one story at a time, in a bunch of different places. As you map out your content strategy over the course of a few months, you’ll see that you have plenty of time to develop the plot as you go. Resist the temptation to say everything to everyone all at once. You know those email campaigns you get that are so broad that they basically say nothing? Yeah, don’t do that. It’s not engaging. Pull out one story at a time and evoke a feeling. Paint an experience instead of merely selling a couch or asking for volunteers. Let one snippet of your story act as a hook that will become something bigger once your audience feels connected to you.

In sum (not that we did any actual math), here’s a good place to start:

Your story, all mapped out like a summer road trip
A checklist that outlines your voice, tone, style, however you roll
A content inventory
A process for generating more and more — and getting better and better while you’re at it
An editorial calendar that’s simple to create but seems fancy
A list of what you’ll measure
Inner fortitude to stand strong and not get overwhelmed by too much advice and too many tweets

We’ll be back soon with part two, which will include content templates for your email strategy basics. See, we’re even doing some of the writing for you. We like you that much.

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Susan will be presenting at Content Marketing World in Cleveland next week. Let us know if you’ll be there, too. And talk content with Susan on Twitter.

Content tips & strategy

A leafy infographic for Earth Day

Plus, help us plant 100 more trees

by Susan Blue, Director of Content | April 14th, 2011 | 5 Comments »

Design by Jennifer Kasdorf. Inspiration by Terry in Hoboken. Click to view the full infographic.

In anticipation of Earth Day on April 22, we sat down to do a little trees-by-the-numbers infographic recently here in the Emma office. Designer Jennifer Kasdorf and writer Molly Niendorf — with some help from Jesse Worstel and Jamie Bradley — came up with all kinds of nice things to say about our tree friends.

And just as soon as 100 of our non-tree friends share this post or this month’s Emma email roundup on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, we’re going to plant 100 extra trees (in addition to the five we already plant for each customer, of course). We’re pretty sure the forest creatures would help with this social networking effort, but — let’s face it — squirrels and rabbits are ridiculously inept when it comes to computers. So it’s probably up to you.

You can take a look at the full version of the infographic handiwork above and share it with your followers using the icons below. And thanks! We’ll let you know right here on the blog and right over there on Twitter what happens.

Giving back, Stuff that's stylish

Announcing this year’s Emma 25 honorees

by Susan Blue, Director of Content | December 1st, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Folks at Pawsitive Works and Mother Hubbard's Cupboard, two of this year's Emma 25 honorees.

These small non-profits are doing big things.

We’re so pleased to unveil this year’s Emma 25 honorees today. All of the 300-plus groups that participated in our seventh-annual event are deserving, and we were inspired by the innovation and dedication we glimpsed while reading through the applications.

As with previous years, each of our honorees will receive an Emma account, custom stationery design and a lifetime of email and survey service, all at no cost.

These 25 groups on this year’s list contribute a whole lot of goodness to the world:

An Indiana food pantry branching out into gardening and cooking classes.
Artists in New York encouraging inner-city teens to express themselves.
A group in Idaho bringing shelter dogs and at-risk kids together.
An Arkansas non-profit installing solar energy panels in low-income communities.
Counselors in Oregon teaching parenting classes for as little as $1.
An Austin group suiting up disadvantaged women for their careers.

We could go on. Actually, we do go on over here, where you can see the full list.

Oh, and we really appreciate the way so many of you helped us spread the word through your blog posts, tweets, email campaigns and conversations. Thanks for supporting this program – we couldn’t do it without you.

Meet the 2010 Emma 25 honorees.

Giving back

A fresh approach to custom design

by Susan Blue, Director of Content | June 25th, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Emma's new Studio Design gives you stylish options in a hands-on format.

Announcing a faster (and super fun) stationery design option.

As you’re dreaming up new ways to showcase your organization’s style in your email campaigns, we’re proud to unveil Studio Design, a faster, more hands-on way for you to request the custom brand stationery that frames your newsletters, surveys and promotions.

New! Studio Design :: $99

With our latest design offering, you’ll walk step-by-step through an interactive form to design a custom header, selecting from our ever-changing menu of hand-designed textures and elements. You’ll choose from styles such as vintage, retro, elegant, edgy, modern and classic to find a look that suits you.

You’ll have more creative control than ever, with easy options to set your logo, colors, shapes and more before you send your selections to a designer who’ll artfully assemble them into one-of-a-kind brand stationery.

Best of all, your stationery is ready in two working days, about half the time of our current stationery design process.

Fresh summer designs for your seasonal campaigns.

And just in time for your summertime promotions and events, we’re featuring a suite of limited edition summer design elements to help you add a little seasonal — and possibly beachy — fun to your next stationery design.

Take your pick from sea shells, waves, nautical elements, beach balls, palm trees, ice cream, sunglasses and more. Then choose the colors you want and create a summer campaign to share what’s new with your audience.

Go ahead … if you’re a current customer, check out Studio Design today! Otherwise, please take a few seconds to get in touch so we can get to know you and tell you more about it.

We hope this additional design option and quicker turnaround time helps your organization make the most of whatever flavor of custom design you’d like in your email campaigns. (If that flavor happens to be rocky road, would it be weird if we show up sometime next week with a spoon?)

As always, we’re here to answer any questions you may have, so don’t hesitate to send us an email, give us a call at 800.595.4401 or visit our help guide, where you can even chat online with us.

Emma features & products, Stuff that's stylish

Superhero-ify your email campaigns

by Susan Blue, Director of Content | April 29th, 2010 | 6 Comments »

Emma’s new Social Sharing feature is now available in Preview, so log in anytime you please for a sneak peek.

With this new feature, everyone on your list has the opportunity to easily share your campaign with all of their friends and followers on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Why all the fuss about social sharing, you may ask? Because when you pair the steady reach of email marketing with the huge influence of social networks, you give your campaigns superhero-like powers.

Here’s how Emma’s new feature works:
+ You click an Add Social Sharing Options button as you’re creating your campaign and select which social network icons you want to appear on your emails.
+ After they receive your email, your recipients click an icon (or more than one, if that’s how they roll) and share a link to your email with their friends and followers.
+ Then you hop over to your Response page to see which audience members are sharing your email, and which networks are generating the most traffic to your campaign.

While this feature is in Preview, we’d love for you to try it out and send us your feedback through the Preview Bar running along the bottom of your account. Oh, and remember: Emma Preview is the place to see and test the latest feature upgrades, but it works just like your real Emma account with the same information and the same campaigns. So if you send, you’re really sending.

If you want a few more details about how it all works, you can watch our how-to videos and learn more about social sharing in our help section. Or just log in to get started … cape and mask optional.

By the way, the superhero-inspired illustrations above are courtesy of Emma’s own Elizabeth Williams, a member of our stellar design team.

Update: If you don’t see this feature in your account, double-check that you’ve logged into Preview or send an email to support@myemma.com. We’re happy to help.

Emma features & products, Social networks