Yes, the spelling mistakes in this title were implemented on purpose. As a trend watcher in the world of email marketing we obviously have subscribed to a dozen newsletter.
And we can see that the season has clearly taken off. Each day we come across a lot of interesting utterances of email marketing. But very remarkable is the big linguistic issue, obviously more than usually. The common spelling mistakes, the mistakes with regard to terms and incorrect translations, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. And it is showing off even more if you – they have seen the mistake by now – send the same email with the restored text. Of course you can presume that the readers of today will not detect the mistake.
So it is not important to pay attention. Nothing is less true. The first part of the title of this blog – it comes from a real subject line of a real email message – was just sent out, but almost immediately the sender received quite offending wording from his partners. Isn’t that material for a good story? Don’t worry, your image will come under pressure if you permit these mistakes to happen. How can claim ‘quality’ as your USP in an email message if you let these errors happen? Here are some rules of thumbs:
1 Stop hurrying up
All too often, an extra email campaign goes along with the feeling to ‘do something to crank up the sales volume’. The regular procedure is skipped, the professional writer has not been consulted. A quickly written message gets cut out of a text editor and pasted into the email marketing platform. In most cases a spelling checker is absent. So check your text in advance.
And don’t wait until sending the message to establish that you still need a subject line. Write the subject down in your text editor all at once, so the subject line is included in the spelling check as well. Eventually that is also the first part that your reader lays eyes on. Obviously you have a complete procedure – which probably costs time – to launch a campaign. Did you also think of a quick procedure which preserves you from mistakes. And if you elaborate that procedure, especially pay attention to monitoring the subject line.
2 Prepare bite-sized parts
Marketing inside your company is – certainly with regard to products or services – a nicely outlined domain. You know the products, you know the service, you know the story. With quick campaigns you always use your existing products as a reference. Why not foresee the possibility to release quick campaigns. Or by preparing the complete message in the email platform.
Or by providing the sales department with a library of text fragments. A set of suitable subject lines, introductions and centre pieces which can be picked from to compose a message. A skilled salesman is not supposed to play with language, but he knows exactly which information he likes to share with his prospects on that exact moment. That is how you get the best of both worlds.
3 Anticipate with a language register
Every company has its jargon specifically for its type of business. Make sure at least – when you skip step 2 – for a consistent vocabulary which can serve as a language register. That is killing two birds with one stone. Everyone uses the same terms. That way you don’t have to witness the message – written by a marketer – mentioning green all the time and the quick text of the sales person describing the same green as bluegreen.
The list can also serve as a monitoring tool for difficult words. Surely you can persuade IT to incorporate the tool in the file of the spelling checker of your text editor. Also indicate in this register which terms are used best in the subject line. And if you can show an instant example, then even a hasty email copywriter will like to get inspired!
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