Adrian Young, Author at The Email Factory

Email Marketing

Email marketing for today’s digital attention span

3 minute read

Adrian Young

Ten seconds. That’s how much time the average customer dedicates to your marketing email. If you’ve written this:

…then your customer is going to see this:

All that copywriting for nowt! So, how can a marketing email deliver its message when up against such a strict time limit?

Wear the shoes

This is step one: put yourself in your customer’s position. Would you read all that text? What do you want from a marketing email?

If it seems too wordy, it is. Treat email marketing like the shop window. Display enough information to capture someone’s interest, but leave the fine details to the salesperson standing inside.

Format for scanning

Nobody reads paragraphs of marketing spiel from left to right like a book. They scan it. You can help them (and yourself).

We don’t want the important points merely to stand out. They need to jump out and scream for attention. Headings, bold text, bullet points – there are plenty of typograhical formatting options at our disposal.

Remove excess padding

I see a lot of big, bloated marketing emails. They’re crammed full of… stuff. Navigation bars. Extensive footers. Tons of secondary links. Boring recurring blocks. And of course, lots and lots of words.

And that’s a pity, because every extraneous thing makes an email less focused and obfuscates its purpose. It can also be a telltale sign of spray & pray marketing. No idea who likes what? No problem, just send everything to everyone! We’re kidding, don’t do that.

Take a step back to evaluate what exactly you want a particular email to achieve. Be ruthless when trimming the fluff and you’ll be rewarded with a purpose-driven mailing that slots nicely into that ten-second reading time.

Graphic communication

As the adage goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Turns out that may be a pretty conservative estimate. The human brain can process an image in 13 milliseconds. That’s 60,000 times faster than it processes text. And that’s a very, very good reason to use images as a form of communication in email.

Charts and diagrams offer a digestible, bite-sized form of information that is well-suited to the medium. Animated GIFs let you show your customer something about your product that just wouldn’t have the same impact in words. Quite simply: graphic communication is powerful.

Just don’t get too carried away with images! Your email must be accessible, so your text content, imagery and alt tags need to work together.

Don’t be boring

If your marketing emails follow a rigid format, they’ll become boring fast. Mix up the type of content that you send to customers. Have something to say beyond BUY NOW and ONLY FOR YOU. Give your reader a reason to keep opening your emails.

What’s the rush anyway?

Gosh, we all spend so long crafting our marketing emails only for readers to chew them up in mere seconds? What brought us to this point? There’s a lot of discussion, expert and casual, about the causes and consequences of dwindling attention spans. The impact of our ever-online world on the human brain is a fascinating topic.

But we’re not here to talk about that. We’re here to talk about email. I don’t see the ten-second read time as a bad thing. It can serve as a reminder about best practice and keep us focused on the goal. We can reel ourselves in and stop wasting time on cumbersome, meandering mailings. There are certainly positive aspects to this situation. And who has time these days for negativity?

Email Design

GIF it up for animated emails

4 minute read

Adrian Young

Computer technology moves quickly. Unless you’re a GIF. The ever-popular image format has existed largely unchanged since the late 80s (the late-ies?).

Even the phrase itself has become a household name, with libraries of animated GIFs at your disposal on social media or instant-messaging applications. But you know where else you can find them? In emails.

Establishing the ground rules

GIFs are old tech and so are emails in many ways. For the most part, they work well together without any trickery.

Outlook, in its various desktop application incarnations, is the but. Many versions will only show the first frame of animation as a static image, and one version loops three times before adding a button that lets the user play it again. Why? Because.

Either design the GIF so that the first frame isn’t design-breaking on its own, or maybe even swap out the image altogether on Outlook.

Rubbish use of GIFs

Slideshows. Let’s say you have multiple products, or multiple variations of a product. It makes sense to put them in an email and let the customer see their options.

But what does not make sense is to present them via a slideshow. You’re dictating what the customer sees, and when. If the customer likes the blue version of your product, they’re only going to see it for 25% of the time while your GIF ticks through the blue, green, red and yellow pictures. Nobody is going to stick around and wait. Scrap the GIF in this scenario and lay the images out in the design instead.

Example of a GIF-based slideshow — We made this horrible example ourselves as we don’t want to pick on anyone, or get sued.

Okay use of GIFs

Pseudo-video. We live in the age of instant-access, high-definition video. It’s possible to convert a video – or more likely a portion of a video – to an animated GIF. But bear in mind the following:

It’ll be a far cry from the modern viewer’s high definition expectations.
It’ll look grainy. GIFs are limited to a paltry 256 colours. Your computer can display millions.
It’ll be a silent movie. GIFs are purely an image format, not an audio one.
The file size can get out of hand. Even on fast modern connections, that could result in a short delay before the image appears. And many email platforms set an individual file size limit.
You’ll probably need to butcher it a little. That means reducing image quality through compression, and potentially dropping the frame rate.

Here’s one we made earlier:

We found a stock video to our liking and converted it to an animated GIF. We had to ruthlessly edit and compress the file ’til it was of an email-friendly size. The end result is significantly degraded in vibrancy and quality. The conversion process felt more like vandalism than optimisation.

But it’s not all bad news. A short GIF-icated video snippet can still be used to powerful effect in an email. Hey, maybe your brand even has a grungy lo-fi character. But consider why you want to drop a pseudo-video into your message. Are you communicating something useful that can’t be succinctly conveyed in words? Or is it purely for eye candy? If it’s the latter, it probably won’t have the impact that you hope.

Good use of GIFs

Simple animation. Pizza Express do a lot of things right in email, and in the kitchen I presume. This visually-appealing animated GIF is one of them.

The limited colour palette of a GIF is well-suited to flat design and simple shapes, both in terms of rendering quality and sensible file size. A little bit of animation can help to bring your email to life.

Great use of GIFS

Show your customer something about your product. Yes, I touched on this earlier… but it’s important. People simply do not read reams of copy in a marketing email. You may want to tell them every exciting detail about your product, but they don’t want to read it. So why not show them instead?

If ever a picture was worth a thousand words, it’s this animated GIF demonstrating Warby Parker’s Memory Metal.

That’s a GIF with purpose. Useful, right?

Email Marketing

Brrr! Are cold emails worth the cold shoulder?

3 minute read

Adrian Young

Do you have a business email address? Then you probably receive cold emails. On a daily basis.

Let’s define what a cold email is. To quote from Wikipedia: “a cold email is an unsolicited e-mail that is sent to a receiver without prior contact.” Some people might call that breaking the ice. Others might use a less desirable term: spam.

Dear person, buy my thing

Here are some of the products and services offered to me in cold emails lately:

Thing I don’t need
Thing I don’t need
Thing I don’t need
Thing I don’t need
Thing I don’t need
Thing I don’t need
Golf packages

The last one sticks in my mind because somehow the seller is always down to their last few spots. It’s like a parody of FOMO. Final, final, final, final, FINAL chance!

The recurring theme is irrelevance. My first name is the only aspect of personalisation, and by God will they use it liberally throughout the email. Because seeing your name plucked from a database, mail merge-style really builds rapport, right?

Tone deaf

Wording in cold emails varies wildly. Many are faux-chummy (“Hey, Adrian!”). Some are sycophantic. Sometimes there are jokes, sometimes they’re deadly serious.

But here’s the thing – for me, a very experienced cold email recipient, there is no magic combination of words that will make any difference.

Do they ever work?

The law of averages says yes. Even actual spam emails will get a bite every now and then, making the sender’s efforts worthwhile. But spammers don’t have a reputation to maintain.

For cold emailers, someone out there will just so happen to be looking for promotional mugs at that moment in time, and be willing to consider buying from a brand that popped unexpectedly into their inbox.

Stats say that cold emails hover around an 8.5% response rate. What the stats don’t reveal is how many of those responses say **** off.

Unicorn tattoo

I wouldn’t be arrested if I got a unicorn tattooed on my forehead, but it might be a hindrance in the workplace and adult life in general. Just because something is legal doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a good idea.

I recently looked up reviews for a particularly persistent cold emailer. On both Google and TrustPilot, the score was rock bottom as a direct result of their cold emailing practices. While they surely hit the target every now and then, there’s a lot of damage being done around it.

Tarred with the same brush

I’ve been pretty harsh on cold emailing and it’s clear as day which side of the fence I sit on. But in the interests of fairness, I should mention that some cold emailers put in the work and follow the rules, while others are far more unscrupulous. Some are legitimate companies and some are scammers, pure and simple.

And therein lies the problem – I am not going to take the time to discern which is which. I am absolutely not ever going to risk pressing an ‘unsubscribe’ link on an unsolicited email. Everyone gets marked as a spammer, and ignored.

Opposing views

Cold emailing has its proponents and detractors. A lot of the advice for effective cold emailing is the same as for email marketing in general. Segment properly. Personalise the content. Run A/B tests.

To those cold emailers that put in the effort and get results, good for you. For real. Being impartial for a moment, cold emailing certainly appears to work to some degree despite its questionable reputation. But for me, personally speaking, the instinctive reaction will always be cold shoulder.

Fake cold email example — I asked ChatGPT to create a parody of a cold email. Replete with corporate cliche and insincerity, this is beautifully close to the real thing.

Email Design

Time for a typefacelift? Ten great Google Fonts

4 minute read

Adrian Young

I like Google Fonts. What’s not to love about a vast, free-to-use, easy-to-implement collection of typefaces?

At the time of writing, there are 1,709 fonts on the platform. Here are ten of the best.

Type: slab serif

All the classiness of a serif font, with the contemporary feel of a sans-serif. Roboto Slab is a versatile font, and an alternative choice to its ever-popular cousin, Roboto.

Type: handwriting

Fonts of this category have always caused an uncomfortable conceptual clash in my mind. The digital mimicry of a human being’s penmanship can feel like typographical pastiche. Reenie Beanie, on the other hand, captures the feel of a person’s scribbled notes in convincingly organic and whimsical fashion.

Type: sans-serif

As is the case with a lot of sans-serif fonts, Raleway brings a modern elegance to a piece of design. But while some typefaces in this category can appear a little cold and clinical, Raleway looks far more inviting.

Type: monospaces sans-serif

Sometimes you just need to GET YOUR MESSAGE ACROSS. Its heavy, all-caps nature is best suited to headings. But that little bit of softening on the letters tells your audience that you’re friendly, really!

Type: serif

Don’t worry – despite the name, it’s not a cheesy Halloween font. Simultaneously traditional and modern, Spectral is an aesthetically-pleasing serif and eminently readable for longer passages.

Type: geometric sans-serif

Sounds futuristic, is futuristic. Exo 2 says high-tech, but without being tacky.

Type: display serif

Just look at that wholesome rounded lettering. You could use it to write ‘DANGER’ if you really wanted… but nobody would believe you.

Type: serif

Looking for something a little more classical? Rosarivo’s elegant ornamentation could be just what you seek. And it’s a pretty alternative choice, with fewer than 80,000 websites currently making use of it.

Type: display

Bungee is unashamedly BOLD. When you want a heading to grab the reader’s attention, you can do a lot worse than this font.

Type: monospace

The uniform spacing of a fixed-width font is ideal for a coding environment – but that certainly isn’t its only valid application. Overpass’s tall characters give it a distinctive, refreshing look.

Using Google Fonts in email

Google Fonts is an extremely convenient platform, whether you want to download a font for self-hosting or offline use, or pull it straight from Google’s servers. But we’re email people. And that means some quirkiness.

Here’s a quick guide to using a Google Font in your mailing.

Step 1:
Find your font

Step 2:
Press the big blue button

Step 3:
Get the embed code

Step 4:
Copy the code

Step 5:
Stick this in your HTML file’s <head>. We like to put it directly under the <title> tag. Important: wrap it in MSO conditional comments to hide it from Outlook, thus fixing that application’s web font fallback glitch.

Step 6:
Apply the font inline where desired, with a suitable font stack of your choosing

Step 7:
Test it! Only some email applications support web fonts, so you’ll want to make sure your fallback looks good. In the case of an outlandish display font, it’s probably best to use an image with an alt tag.

And that’s it – you’re good to go. Now go and grab some fonts and give your emails a typographical facelift.

Data

Customer insight: who is subscriber@yourmailinglist.com?

2 minute read

Adrian Young

Pick a subscriber from your mailing list. Any subscriber. What do you know about that person? If the answer is their email address, then it’s time to embark on some customer insight.

It’s common knowledge that personalisation makes for better marketing, and it’s common sense that good data makes that possible. But how can you go about learning more about an existing subscriber?

Tracking

Your email platform may come equipped with a link-tagging function. Add categories such a brands or product types to your links, and you instantly have a convenient new source of customer data.

No such functionality in your ESP? No worries. Third party tracking platforms like Google Analytics can provide deep insight into your subscriber’s behaviour both within your email and on your website.

Preference centres

There’s a simple way to find out more about a person: ask. A preference centre is an online form that lets your customers pick and choose what kind of content to receive. Give your subscribers the power to customise your emails.

Don’t go to the trouble of creating a preference centre only to bury a link to it in your footer’s small print. It’s worth shouting about.

Surveys

Email marketing often feels very one-way. A survey can help to rebalance the situation. It has multiple benefits. A survey shows that you value your customers’ thoughts, provides an engaging form of content to add some variety to your emails, and lets you harvest useful data for your future marketing campaigns. Win win win.

Split testing

An well-planned A/B testing programme can yield significant insight into your customers’ interests. The emphasis is on programme. Ditch the hasty, ad-hoc A/B tests and instead implement them as an ongoing strategy. It takes some patience, but the payoff is worth the effort.

Product recommendation services

One-to-one content is the holy grail of personalisation. Platforms that integrate with your website can gather individual behavioural data and generate relevant product suggestions accordingly. Sit back while the algorithm does the hard work in the background.

AI

Artificial intelligence is already a part of the marketing world, and its role will only continue to expand. Let’s see where machine-learning and content-generation goes in the coming years.

The more you know

You don’t need to know every want and need of every customer right now. Every little bit of customer insight is powerful, and mutually beneficial. When your customer sees content to their liking, you’ll also see something to your liking: stronger mailing reports.

Artificial intelligence

Ask the AI: a Q&A with ChatGPT on email marketing

5 minute read

Adrian Young

What’s the best marketing channel on the planet? Email, obviously. Well, we would say that*.

But what if we bring in someone – or something – with a less biased opinion? ChatGPT may have an amiable tone but its perspective is clinically impartial. Let’s find out what it has to say about the world of email marketing.

(*actually we’d say that all marketing channels play a role and work best together.)

Setting it up

ChatGPT isn’t known for its brevity. We want short, snappy responses for the sake of this article. The first thing we’ll do is prepare it for the concept and request that the responses are a little less loquacious than normal.

The Q&A

TEF:We’re going to do a Q&A on the topic of marketing. Please keep your answers short. A sentence or two per answer is plenty.

CGPT:Sure, let’s get started! What’s the first question on marketing?

TEF:Which marketing channel has the best return on investment?

CGPT:Email marketing often has the best return on investment due to its low cost and high engagement rates.

TEF:Realistically, what level of return on investment could a company expect from email marketing?

CGPT:Companies can typically expect an ROI of $38 for every $1 spent on email marketing, although this can vary based on industry and execution.

TEF:What are the ingredients of an effective marketing email?

CGPT:An effective marketing email includes a compelling subject line, personalized content, clear and concise messaging, a strong call-to-action, and an attractive design.

TEF:Let’s examine each of these. What makes a compelling subject line?

CGPT:A compelling subject line is short, attention-grabbing, and creates a sense of urgency or curiosity. Personalization and clear value propositions also increase open rates.

TEF:Can you give an example?

CGPT:Sure! An example of a compelling subject line is: “Unlock 20% Off Your Next Purchase – Limited Time Offer!”

TEF:Now, let’s focus on design. What are some important considerations in a responsive email design?

CGPT:Important considerations in responsive email design include ensuring readability on both desktop and mobile devices, using a single-column layout, optimizing images, and incorporating large, tappable buttons for calls-to-action.

TEF:And now personalisation. How can a company gather suitable data in order to personalise emails on an individual level?

CGPT:A company can gather suitable data through customer sign-up forms, purchase history, website behavior tracking, and email engagement metrics. Surveys and preference centers can also provide valuable personalization insights.

TEF:And you mentioned a strong call-to-action. Can you give a couple of examples?

CGPT:Sure! Examples of strong calls-to-action are “Shop Now and Save 20%” and “Sign Up Today for Exclusive Access.”

TEF:Your earlier answers touched on two big topics in email marketing: fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) and accessibility. Let’s look at the latter first. What are some key considerations when creating an accessible email?

CGPT:Key considerations for creating an accessible email include using descriptive alt text for images, ensuring sufficient color contrast, structuring content with clear headings, using legible fonts, and providing text versions for complex graphics. Additionally, emails should be navigable via keyboard for those using screen readers.

TEF:Accessibility is often lacking in marketing emails, even those sent by major companies. Do you agree?

CGPT:Yes, I agree. Despite the importance of accessibility, many marketing emails from major companies still lack features like alt text, proper color contrast, and screen reader compatibility, which can exclude a significant portion of the audience.

TEF:Why do you think this is?

CGPT:This often happens due to a lack of awareness or training on accessibility standards, prioritization of aesthetics over functionality, and tight deadlines that lead to shortcuts in the design process. Additionally, some companies may underestimate the importance of accessibility in reaching a broader audience.

TEF:Let’s now look at FOMO. This is a standard tactic in (email) marketing. But is it ethically sound?

CGPT:FOMO can be ethically sound if used responsibly and truthfully, creating genuine urgency without misleading consumers. However, it becomes unethical if it manipulates emotions excessively or uses false scarcity to pressure people into making purchases.

TEF:What is the best way to measure a marketing email’s performance?

CGPT:The best way to measure a marketing email’s performance is by tracking key metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, bounce rates, and overall ROI. Analyzing these metrics helps determine the email’s effectiveness and areas for improvement.

TEF:And if you had to pick just one metric, which would it be? Take into account both the objective of a marketing email, and what can be measured accurately.

CGPT:If I had to pick just one metric, it would be the conversion rate. This metric directly measures the effectiveness of the email in achieving its goal, whether it’s driving sales, sign-ups, downloads, or any other desired action. A high conversion rate indicates that the email successfully persuaded recipients to take the desired action, making it a crucial indicator of overall email performance.

TEF:Are you aware of any brands that send particularly good marketing emails?

CGPT:Yes, there are several brands known for sending particularly effective marketing emails. Examples include Airbnb, Spotify, Sephora, and Patagonia. These brands often excel in personalization, compelling content, visually appealing designs, and clear calls-to-action, which contribute to their email marketing success.

TEF:Now, let’s look at the future. Where does email marketing go from here?

CGPT:In the future, email marketing is likely to continue evolving with advancements in personalization through AI and machine learning, deeper integration with other marketing channels for omnichannel experiences, increased focus on interactive and dynamic content, and stricter adherence to privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA. Additionally, there may be innovations in email design to enhance accessibility and engagement across diverse devices and platforms.

TEF:AI is obviously a hot topic in recent times. How will AI’s role grow in email marketing?

CGPT:AI’s role in email marketing will expand through personalized content generation, optimized send times, and automated segmentation, enhancing campaign efficiency and engagement.

TEF:Personalised content generation is an important one. We already have that in the form of one-to-one product recommendations. But is it conceivable that we’ll reach a stage where AI can write, design, code and send unique emails on an individual level?

CGPT:Yes, it’s conceivable that AI could eventually write, design, code, and send unique emails on an individual level, leveraging vast amounts of data and advanced algorithms to tailor messages precisely to each recipient’s preferences and behaviors.

TEF:So, theoretically human input could at some point become nil and the email marketing process becomes entirely automated?

CGPT:Theoretically, with advanced AI capabilities, the email marketing process could become highly automated, minimizing human input in content creation, design, and even campaign management. However, human oversight and strategic input would likely still be necessary for overall campaign direction, creativity, and ethical considerations.

TEF:Interesting stuff. Email is a medium of contrasts. In some respects old-fashioned, in others at the forefront of technology. Does it have a bright future?

CGPT:Absolutely, email marketing continues to have a bright future due to its adaptability, cost-effectiveness, and ability to deliver personalized, targeted messages. As technology evolves, so too will email marketing’s capabilities, ensuring its relevance and effectiveness in engaging audiences and driving business outcomes.

TEF:Let’s wrap it up. Can you write a single sentence that captures the spirit of email marketing?

CGPT:Email marketing: the timeless art of connecting with audiences through personalized, impactful messages.

Well, that’s pretty positive

ChatGPT’s responses might not be ground-breaking but there are some useful reminders about best practice in there. And if the machine sees such a rosy outlook (sorry) for our medium, that means the people who write about email are optimistic. I’m one of them.

Technology

Breaking the tabit: the fight against tab-hoarding

3 minute read

Adrian Young

An obscure piece of JavaScript code. A how‑to guide on making money through affiliate marketing in 2022. A hard‑to‑find film that I might watch, one day. A now‑outdated comparison of the best web hosting services. An instruction manual for the combi‑boiler. These are just a few examples of the assorted junk that could be found clogging up my web browser.

That’s because I was a chronic tab hoarder. You might be one too.

What is tab-hoarding?

Tabs are a standard piece of functionality in many modern computer applications, and particularly in web browsers. They’re a good thing. Maybe you’re about to buy something and want to compare several retailers for the best price. Perhaps you’re cross‑referencing multiple sources for an essay. Or you might be following a web development tutorial, with instructions open in one tab and your project in another.

But there’s a dark side: excessive, long‑term collection of tabs. Or tab-hoarding as it’s commonly known. A tab‑hoarder doesn’t just flit between a couple of tabs concerning their current task, but instead stockpiles hundreds of tabs for future reference. These are things that they might return to. But, you know, probably won’t.

Does your browser look something like this?

Why is it bad?

At its peak, my tab empire spanned multiple applications across multiple devices. It was bolstered by clusters of operating system folders, and a daily barrage of personal reminders.

Together, these items form a vast but fragmented to‑do list. An overwhelming one that will never be cleared. That’s a stressful thing.

And you know what else is stressful? The fear that at any time, human error or technical mishap will wipe out a portion of this eternal backlog. And it does happen. This misuse of tabs creates a fragile house of cards. Upon its collapse ensues a frantic effort to regather what was lost.

There’s another problem: technological dependence. Not every tab is necessarily something that a person plans on actively doing, but perhaps a piece of information deemed potentially useful for the future. Tab‑hoarding trains the brain to lean on a digital crutch. Computer on, brain off.

It’s time to settle the tab

I conquered my tab-hoarding, but only after an essential first step: awareness. Throughout years of this behaviour, the only resistance was subsconscious. A nagging but easily‑ignored whisper. Consciously‑speaking, I wasn’t particularly aware that what I was doing was harmful. The amassing of tabs, although frequently a hassle, was simply standard procedure.

The catalyst came when setting up Firefox on a new computer. Immediately upon installation I rushed to find the option to retain open tabs rather than forget them. The fact that is was not the default setting made me pause for a moment. Why is it not? Am I doing this wrong?

That behavioural evaluation led to a conclusion: tab-hoarding is bad. I realised that I would never need to come back to 99% of the screen‑cluttering tabs in my collection. And the few that I did would be important enough to remember. At that point it became surprisingly easy to close all tabs and similar items on my other devices, and avoid starting a fresh batch on the new PC. The feeling of relief was palpable.

Of course, the tab-saving urge revisits from time to time. That means a risk of relapse. But it’s a small one. The hard part is already done. The impulse to save a tab soon evaporates when the question is asked: will this act improve my life, or make it worse?

What do the experts say?

In short: lots of things. Tab-hoarding has been associated with anxiety and procrastination. It’s often attributed to a concept familiar to marketers: FOMO – the fear of missing out.

Tab-hoarding is part of a much larger topic: the impact of computers and the internet on the malleable human mind. Dr Larry Rosen explores this subject in detail in his book, iDisorder. Our always‑online world has transformed the way we communicate and acquire information, but does it also foster addiction and compulsivity?

The rapidly‑developing digital age represents just a tiny speck so far in human history. Only time will tell what it truly means for human development.

Email Design

It’s just a [colour] theory

3 minute read

Adrian Young

Do you work in marketing? Then there’s a good chance you’ll have seen a colour theory chart like this one:

There are a few variations kicking about, and they can often be found doing the rounds on LinkedIn. These charts all follow much the same pattern: emotions are grouped by colours, and an assortment of brand logos are cherry-picked as examples.

The trouble is that it doesn’t take much scrutiny to spot weaknesses in the logic or think of contradictions. Ferrari with its yellow logo is in the optimism and warmth group, but I doubt anyone would argue against exciting and bold as better descriptors. Even their cars are rosso corsa. Or what about BBC News? It does have a red logo, and yet would seem more at home in the blue sector of emotions.

So, it’s easy to poke holes in this. Does that mean that colour theory (in marketing) is all wrong?

The age of oversimplification

The answer is no. It’s not all wrong. Things are rarely so black and white.

But we’ve inadvertently highlighted the problem. Social media is the land of brevity and bite-sized absolutes. Content candy is addictive, and reality is inconveniently complex. On an algorithm-driven platform like LinkedIn, engagement is valued above education.

Armchair psychology

On the topic of education: professional psychology is a field that demands years of study. I can’t claim to know the precise stats, but I’m willing to bet that ninety-nine point something percent of marketers are not qualified psychologists. Marketing techniques like split testing can certainly yield insight into customer behaviour but I would hesitate before labeling Monday’s A/B test as a psychological study.

Colour psychology is a subject that can fill a 764-page, professor-authored book. Is it possible to condense such an expansive topic into a meme-sized infographic?

Hue are you?

Let’s go back to a design and marketing perspective on this. Colour is certainly an intrinsic element of branding. It’s often a simple way to differentiate competing brands within a particular sector at a glance.

Back in the day, the big three UK mobile networks were Orange, O2 and Vodafone. The orange one, the blue one and the red one. I can’t say I ever thought of them as the friendly one, the dependable one and the passionate one.

The scope of these colours extends beyond the logos. Their websites and marketing in general predominately feature each colour. It’s colour-coded brand recognition.

A visual key change

Brands can capitalise on this colour familiarity. If there’s an important announcement to be made – perhaps a product launch or an off-topic statement – a one-off change of palette can be an effective attention-grabber.

Context is everything

Colour associations vary depending on context. A blue sky is positive, but feeling blue is not. Green can signify safety, but you wouldn’t want to be green around the gills.

Likewise, the colour of a brand’s logo or a piece of advertising is just one factor in the overall mood. An important one, of course, but one that contributes alongside typography and shape and imagery and tone of voice.

True colours

There is certainly an element of truth to these simple colour charts, but design is a broad, complex topic. It deserves better insight than like-farming posts for social media. The real world is far more colourful.

Email Marketing

Copycatwriting: 5 marketing cliches to put in the bin

3 minute read

Adrian Young

Words are powerful. They help to define your brand’s personality. In email marketing, the right phrasing can make the difference between open and ignore.

But sometimes copywriting is more copy and less writing. How many times have you seen the following phrases recently?

Just for you

A spectacular summer sale – just for me, and me alone? Well, don’t I feel special! Call me a skeptic, but I suspect it’s actually for me and your 799,999 other subscribers.

Just/only for you crops up pretty regularly in email marketing. Nine times out of ten, it’s used in a context where it is both meaningless and absurd. Dishonest too, but that particularly unfortunate quality is usually drowned out by the silliness. Most times when I see this phrase, I’m not even sure what exactly the brand is pretending to be true.

‘You’ may be the magic word of advertising, but a misplaced ‘just for you’ is more hooey than Houdini.

[Verb] your [adjective]

Find your incredible! Discover your awesome!

Cease your unimaginative, more like. It’s ok to creatively bend the rules of English. Copywriting wouldn’t be much fun if we always had to stick steadfast to a strict set of rules. But when the linguistic rule‑bending is an act of copycatting rather than innovation, then it starts to look less like cool copywriting and more like grammatical incompetence. Write your something new.

Don’t miss out

Yes, I know: FOMO. Truth be told, I have never been comfortable with this concept. It’s ethically questionable, and I suspect that the modern shopper is more aware than ever of the sales tricks up a brand’s sleeve. This is particularly true when a sender hits their audience with the same panicky phrases time and time again. Overuse diminishes effectiveness.

That’s my personal position on the matter but the stats tell a different story, for now. The numbers tell us that FOMO works. CXL‘s research reveals that a countdown timer, for example, can push up conversions by more than 300%. Urgency sure brings in the money.

But ‘don’t miss out’ is bottom‑of‑the‑barrel FOMO. It’s generic and ignorable. Motivators such as offer end dates and limited stock give people a real reason to act. ‘Don’t miss out’ is copywriting fluff.

Click here (to)

The computer mouse was invented in the 60s, came into popular use in the 80s and became a household essential in the 90s. People have been clicking things for a while.

In well‑designed email (or even an adequately designed one), the clickable elements are self‑evident. Plastering CLICK HERE on a button tells the user precisely nothing. It’s a lever labelled pull me. Thanks, I know how to use it, but I’d love to know what it does before committing to the act.

Click here also pops up regularly in passages of text. Click here to see the full terms and conditions, click here to download the PDF. In this context, the phrase is merely redundant but in such a way that it gives a mailing an unfortunate ‘My First Marketing Email’ quality.

Maximise / power up / supercharge…

Wow, this company doesn’t just promise to increase our sales. They’re going to ultrarocketblast them. Let’s give them our money, right now!

Over-the-top choices – or inventions – of verbs are an extreme side effect of the sell the benefits principle. But there are a couple of problems with this phrasing: it’s been done to death, and it was never that great in the first place. Human beings simply do not talk like that.

Keep the actions grounded in authenticity, incorporate some demonstrable stats, and let the numbers speak for themselves.

What’s good copywriting?

This article probably reads as a list of my least favourite pieces of copywriting. And that’s because it is. Copywriting is a creative endeavour and that always brings subjectivity into play.

For me, the best email copywriting is a blend of directness and true inventiveness. I see few brands pulling it off. But those that do, send the emails I look forward to opening. Maybe yours is one of them.

Business

Communication: take a long, hard look at this soft skill

5 minute read

Adrian Young

Time is money, right? And it’s so much quicker to write “the email” than it is “2024‑06‑13 – US – Loyalty members – jackets mailer”.

But is everyone who reads the message guaranteed to know, specifically, which email is being referred to? Probably not.

Specificity is an investment

It’s easy to be lazy when typing. Decades of text‑messaging and social media have encouraged brevity. Often we’ll skip words entirely and opt instead for digital hieroglyphics like 💯 or 🙌.

In the workplace, however, lazy communication is a problem. Misinterpretations and misunderstandings lead to errors. Errors cost time and money.

Initial detail is the pre‑emptive remedy. It may take a little longer to write crystal‑clear instructions, but the time saved in the long run is an invaluable payoff.

As a bonus, your correspondence history becomes more searchable. That’s handy when the need arises to trawl through old messages.

Get to the point

An excessively polite, near‑submissive tone plagues a lot of communication in the modern workplace. Euphemisms and other softeners tend to obfuscate the true meaning. Vague communication is bad communication.

Don’t ask: “I just want to check the ETA on the display ad design?”. Say: “we need the display ad by 3pm, please”. Succinctness is a world away from rudeness. If anything, padding and softening inadvertently demonstrates less respect, not more. Sensibilities are rarely so delicate.

Stick to the subject

Conversation about Thing A should remain in the thread about Thing A. If someone starts talking about Thing B in there, the convo is muddied.

This ties in with the concept of specificity. If you send an email message on the topic of “tomorrow’s promotion”, that will very quickly become today’s promotion, and then yesterday’s promotion. Good luck finding that message again in the future.

New is the new old

Good communication doesn’t only pertain to messages sent between colleagues. Naming conventions and folder structures can also benefit greatly from clarity and consistency. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve picked up an existing project, only to find an incomprehensible dumping ground of files.

Relative terms, most notably new, are to be avoided. New is only new until the next version comes along, at which point the label becomes a misnomer. Better to go with version numbers than new, really new, and really really new.

Tools of the trade

Email isn’t the only kid on the block. Communication and organisational tools like Microsoft Teams, Slack, Alfred and Monday.com are popular. Their functionality varies, but they all have one thing in common: they can make your life easier.

Some communication‑enhancing features include:

Projects: Keep discussions automatically on‑topic and save yourself the bother of referring to project names over and over again.
Pinned messages: Need to make everyone aware of some important changes? Stick a note to the appropriate channel.
Reminders: Want to ask Dave something when he comes back from holiday? Set yourself, or him, a reminder.
Message templates: If you repeatedly send similar messages, a customisable message template is just the thing.

Good brief!

Project briefs (and lists of changes) deserve attention to detail. The more information provided up‑front, the fewer questions asked later. Oh, and watch out for instruction intertwined with content. That’s a messy crossover that happens surprisingly often.

Write it down

I’m a huge fan of documentation. We’ve all seen people leave companies and take important knowledge with them. None of the remaining employees are familiar with a particular project, and nothing was ever put down in black and white. Cue a mad scramble to piece together clues and figure it out.

Communication processes can and should also be documented. By giving your teams a communication framework to operate from, everything is consistent, and the machine runs smoothly.

Corporate jargon vs plain English

We’re all familiar with the comically stilted and metaphor‑laden nature of ‘business speak’. Many of us consider it a pet peeve, and yet it continues to flourish in the workplace. Many perfectly good plain English phrases have been permanently replaced by strangely artificial and sometimes grammatically‑incorrect alternatives.

While it’s true that specialist fields develop unique lexicons, corporate speak isn’t really that. And it comes with problems. Often the wording is fancier but less specific than the plain English equivalent. I’ve seen it cause non‑native speakers to question the rules of English that they had so carefully learned.

The history and psychology of corporate jargon is a topic worth reading about. It’s not likely to go away any time soon and there’s a fair amount of pressure to talk the talk. But those who have the courage to break free may be rewarded with a smoother, more authentic, more understandable communciation experience.

A little too creative?

Creative is an adjective. Or at least it used to be. In a modern business context, it has been repurposed as a noun.

What does it mean? Well, that depends. Not only is the nounified creative used to refer to a piece of design work, but also to the designer who produced it. Assuming that the word also retains its original adjective functionality, you might just see a creative creative creating a creative creative.

It’s unfair to point the finger exclusively at the corporate world for this practice. Nouning is not a recent phenomenon, and neither is its cousin, verbing. Language changes naturally over time.

Change, however, does not necessarily mean improvement. The dictionary‑approved usage of literally to mean figuratively, for example, is quite blatantly a barrier to understanding. When the definition of a word is so blurry that its meaning can only be discerned through context and tone, that is surely a problem. Let’s not foster confusion.

Linguistic elasticity is wonderful for creative writing and liberating in informal everyday speech. But in a task-driven business environment, does it leave too much to interpretation?

It’s good to share bad news

Mistakes happen. We all make them. But we don’t always admit to them.

When things go pear‑shaped, and you just so happen to be to blame, it’s decision time: own up or attempt to bury it. The trouble with the latter is that most times, everyone else can quickly figure out what happened. That leads to tension and distrust. A mistake is an accident, but dishonesty is a choice. On the rare occasion when the truth is not so apparent, time is wasted investigating what went wrong.

An employee’s willingness to own up isn’t solely determined by their personality, but by the workplace environment. The focus should be on resolution and development, not punishment. A culture of openness and honesty takes the pressure off staff and reduces the chance of stress-based mishaps in the first place.

End transmission

Communication is considered a soft skill, but that term downplays its importance. Poor communication isn’t simply a nuisance. It’s a significant drain on a company’s resources, and a major source of stress for employees.

Every business, big and small, can benefit from a communication review. Unclog your company’s information arteries, and the rewards could be substantial.