Email marketing that sounds good enough to read
Knowing what to say is the easy part. But here’s the challenge: how to say it? Our clients and friends often ask us how they can strike the right tone in email marketing. Here are our tips on how to develop your brand’s voice in your email campaigns:
Be a human, not a robot
Think about the emails you look forward to getting in your inbox. Nothing robotic about those, right? These emails brim with personality. The same applies to your brand’s voice in your email campaigns. Put your company in the same camp with a conversational voice and personal tone.
Relationship > Transaction
Ultimately, you don’t want people to just buy one thing, one time. You want to create a long-lasting relationship and build advocates for your brand — and tone can make or break this. It’s okay to be urgent, sales-driven or time-sensitive, but skip lingo that’s aggressive or pushy. Like Mom always said, you’ll catch more bees with honey. Unless pushy is your style — sometimes it’s good to punch people in the face . . . figuratively speaking, of course.
Put yourself in their inbox
Writing something official on behalf of your company can feel like a lot of weight on your shoulders. But don’t get overwhelmed; remember, you’re communicating to people, and they want a human touch in their inbox. Knowing your audience, what matters most? What do they value in communication? Then, edit as if you’re the one on the receiving end of the email. What words feel comfortable? Unnatural? Revise your draft so it represents the brand.
Consider your content
Like a person’s voice, a great brand voice stays consistent. Their tone of voice may change, but the words and phrases they use typically don’t. Adapt your tone to the message you want to communicate. Are you announcing something exciting (like a new team member) or celebrating a milestone (like an anniversary or birthday)? Let the fun side of your brand’s personality out to play! Run-of-the-mill messages, such as sales receipts or appointment confirmations, call for a straightforward tone.
It’s the little things
Body copy and subject line may be what we spend most of our time on, but the rest of the email can help create the tone you want recipients to hear. Subtle things can have a big impact. Preheader, images, headline and footer help set the tone. Preheader text is the first thing readers see in inboxes after the subject line — like a trailer to a movie, it is the teaser to your message, and you can inject more personality here to set the stage. Pro tip: Make sure it doesn’t say “Use this area to offer a short preview of your email’s content”! (You’re welcome.)
Say it out loud
There’s no better way to review your voice than to hear it. Read your email out loud and really listen for the voice. What areas feel like your brand? What areas don’t? And even if you think you nailed it, ask another person to read the email aloud too. Voice is personal, and we all hear things a little differently. Pro tip: reading aloud helps you catch typos you may have missed.
Be yourself.
Growth is good! Experiment with your communication style and try new approaches. At the same time, be true to who you are as a brand. Don’t force a joke, and steer clear of too much snark or too much sap. Your readers will notice if you’re trying to be something you’re not. As your brand evolves, your email marketing will too.
Stuck? We can help. At Fervor, we think a lot about what to say and how to say it best. Contact us today to chat about brand voice.