Why is email still the most valuable communications medium for reaching your most loyal followers? How can you make sure you reach as many of them as possible? How can you best reach those who (think they) aren't interested in what you have to share?

1. Charlie Meyerson
Bit.ly/Meyerson
linkedin.com/in/cmeyerson
708-TEQ-NEWS
©
Meyerson
2013

2. Who
am
I
...
and
why
am
I
here?
I
worked
here
for
13
years:
©
Meyerson
2013

3. Who
am
I
...
and
why
am
I
here?
But
before
and
a>er
that,
I
worked
in
radio
news
for
more
than
20
years:
©
Meyerson
2013

4. Who
am
I
...
and
why
am
I
here?
But
before
and
a>er
that,
I
worked
in
radio
news
for
more
than
20
years:
©
Meyerson
2013

5. ...
And
why
is
radio
relevant
to
email
and
audience
development?
Because
...
©
Meyerson
2013

6. Radio’s
been
fighJng
tuneout
since
the
early
20th
Century:
For
radio
(and,
later,
TV),
the
compeJJon
has
almost
always
been
a
click
away.
hQp://www.fredsuniquefurniture.com
©
Meyerson
2013

7. Now,
for
everyone
...
...
Whether
you’re
peddling
shoes
or
news,
the
compeJJon
is
just
a
click
away.
How
do
you
keep
an
audience?
©
Meyerson
2013

8. Show
of
hands:
• How
many
of
you
check
Facebook,
TwiQer
and
email
regularly?
• How
many
check
all
three
at
least
once
a
day?
• How
many
of
you,
when
you
check
them,
scroll
all
the
way
back
to
the
last
item
you
checked
...
• On
TwiQer?
• On
Facebook?
• On
email?
©
Meyerson
2013

9. Do
young
people
skip
email?
A
friend
describes
“ Twenty-­‐somethings
who
neither
check
nor
respond
to
email
when
not
on
work
hours.”
Common
or
not?
Discuss.
(Even
if
so,
“work
hours”
is
a
preQy
sweet
spot.)
©
Meyerson
2013

10. Assuming
they
use
email
...
(and
if
they’ve
given
you
their
email
addresses,
they’re
confirming
not
only
that
they
do,
but
that
they’re
willing
to
hear
from
you
and
that
they’re
the
sort
of
people
who
look
at
email
once
in
a
while)
...
How
do
you
get
people
to
open
it?
©
Meyerson
2013

11. It’s
the
wri7ng.
©
Meyerson
2013

12. WriJng
for
digital
media
...
isn’t
much
different
from
wriJng
in
general.
What’s
always
been
interesJng,
what’s
always
been
can’t-­‐
put-­‐it-­‐down,
is
s7ll
interesJng,
can’t-­‐
put-­‐it-­‐down.
©
Meyerson
2013

13. WriJng
for
digital
media
The
difference
is
...
...
now
we
know
what
works
and
what
doesn’t.
©
Meyerson
2013

14. The
right
email
at
the
right
Jme,
with
the
right
content
and
the
right
subject
line:
...
o>en
achieved
Tribune
Co.
editorial
newsleQer-­‐leading
60
percent
clickthrough
rates
–
60
clicks
per
100
subscribers.
And
it
went
to
tens
of
thousands
of
subscribers.
How?
©
Meyerson
2013

15. It’s
the
wri7ng
...
...
and
watching
how
that
wriJng
works
for
the
audience.
©
Meyerson
2013

16. It
turns
out
...
WriJng
for
the
Web
has
a
lot
in
common
with
wriJng
for
broadcasJng
–
wriJng
for
the
ear.
©
Meyerson
2013

17. Secrets
to
geang
people
not
to
tune
out
-­‐-­‐
for
radio
and,
it
turns
out,
just
about
anything
on
the
Web:
Omit
needless
words.
-­‐-­‐
Will
Strunk,
The
Elements
of
Style,
1918
TwiQer.
TexJng.
Tiny
smartphone
screens,
2013.
Need
we
say
more?
©
Meyerson
2013

18. Secrets
to
geang
people
not
to
tune
out
-­‐-­‐
for
radio
and,
it
turns
out,
just
about
anything
on
the
Web:
•
Select
the
most
interesJng
word
or
phrase.
•
Make
that
the
first
element
of
your
story
(and,
in
email
and
on
the
Web,
your
headline
or
subject
line),
and
let
your
wriJng
flow
from
there.
©
Meyerson
2013

19. But
what
are
the
most
interesJng
words?
•
Develop
a
sense
of
the
wider
world’s
prioriJes
by
checking
sites
like
Google
Trends
<google.com/trends/>
•
And
develop
a
sense
of
your
audience’s
prioriJes
by
monitoring
clicks.
©
Meyerson
2013

20. ©
Meyerson
2013

21. By
your
clicks
shall
ye
know
them
The
People
Formerly
Known
As
the
Audience
are
telling
you
what
they
want.
In
doing
so,
they’re
telling
you
how
to
get
them
interested
in
content
they
may
think
they’re
not
interested
in.
©
Meyerson
2013

22. The
joy
of
email
• Summon
your
most
devoted
users
at
will
• Your
biggest
fans
share
their
interests
• Lingers
in
in-­‐box,
unlike
the
rivers
of
TwiQer
and
Facebook
• Fixed,
unlike
Web
site
front
pages
–
and
so
easier
to
gauge
elements’
popularity
• Heat
maps
make
paQerns
easy
to
spot
©
Meyerson
2013

23. But
...
...
Ya
goQa
get
’em
in
the
door.
So
...
©
Meyerson
2013

24. Would
you
do
this?
©
Meyerson
2013

25. No,
but
many
companies
do
just
that.
...
by
failing
to
use
Subject
and
From
fields
wisely.
©
Meyerson
2013

26. Use
your
Subject
and
From
fields
wisely
InteresJng
words
first
Don’t
repeat
Subject
Don’t
echo
From
from
day
to
day
fields
in
Subject
©
Meyerson
2013

27. Compare
these
to
those
in
the
previous
screens.
Which
would
you
click?
Note
how
few
words
you
get
here.
If
the
future
is
mobile,
now
more
than
ever,
every
word
–
every
syllable
–
counts.
Strunk
&
White:
Omit
needless
words.
©
Meyerson
2013

28. ©
Meyerson
2013

29. Anatomy
of
an
email
turd
©
Meyerson
2013

30. Anatomy
of
an
email
turd
Consider
what
we
see,
word
for
word
...
©
Meyerson
2013

31. “Unbeatabl...”
what?
©
Meyerson
2013

32. “Oh,
that’s
what
a
circular
is
...”
©
Meyerson
2013

33. ©
Meyerson
2013

34. So
...
What
are
the
odds
you’ll
open
the
next
email
you
get
from
these
guys,
if
it’s
labeled
and
subject-­‐lined
the
same
way?
©
Meyerson
2013

35. ©
Meyerson
2013

36. What’s
your
audience
interested
in?
©
Meyerson
2013

37. Watch
your
clicks.
• LiQle-­‐clicked
items
amid
more-­‐clicked
items.
©
Meyerson
2013

38. Are
you
out
of
sync?
More-­‐clicked
items
among
liQle-­‐clicked
items.
©
Meyerson
2013

39. ©
Meyerson
2013

40. Headlines
that
work
Two
kinds
of
headlines:
• Search-­‐engine-­‐op:mized
headlines.
Good
for
story-­‐level
placement.
• “Curiosity
gap”-­‐opJmized
headlines.
Good
for
front-­‐page
and
email
placement,
for
print
publica:ons
...
and
for
social
media
(TwiEer,
Facebook).
©
Meyerson
2013

41. ‘Curiosity
gap’
The
difference
between
what
you
know
and
what
you
want
to
know
Like
The
Onion,
the
editorial
team
at
Upworthy
begins
with
dozens
of
headlines
and
works
on
them
un7l
they
create
what
Mr.
[Eli]
Pariser
called
“a
curiosity
gap”
—
a
need
to
know
more
that
prompts
the
impulse
to
click
on
something.
-­‐-­‐
David
Carr,
The
New
York
Times
hQp://mediadecoder.blogs.nyJmes.com/2012/07/09/two-­‐guys-­‐made-­‐a-­‐web-­‐site-­‐and-­‐this-­‐is-­‐what-­‐they-­‐got/
©
Meyerson
2013

42. SEO-­‐friendly
headline
techniques
• Place
the
story's
most
interes:ng
word
or
phrase
as
close
as
possible
to
the
start
of
the
headline.
• Simple,
direct
headlines
(with
familiar
names).
• “How-­‐to”
or
“Why”
headlines.
• Accentuate
the
posi:ve.
Say
what
did
happen,
not
what’s
unchanged
or
stable.
©
Meyerson
2013

43. Elements
of
Style:
Use
definite,
specific,
concrete
language
• Regardless
of
headline
or
wriJng
style
...
Consider
words’
“point
value.”
hQp://www.amazon.com/University-­‐Games-­‐1520-­‐
Man-­‐Bites/dp/B000087BDT
©
Meyerson
2013

44. ‘Curiosity
gap’
headlines
• Assume
most
people
aren’t
interested.
Write
headlines
to
engage
people
who
think
they’re
not
interested,
and
your
core
audience
will
sJll
be
there
for
you.
(Dare
them
not
to
be
interested.)
• Play
down
loca:on.
(Except
for
famous
locaJons.)
• Play
down
names.
(Except
for
famous
names.)
©
Meyerson
2013

45. ‘Curiosity
gap’
headlines
• Simple,
direct
headlines
(with
generic
nouns
for
unfamiliar
names).
The
most-­‐clicked
Internet
headline
(or
most-­‐
read
newspaper
headline)
ever
might
be
...
©
Meyerson
2013

46. Most-­‐clicked
headline
ever?
©
Meyerson
2013
-­‐-­‐
Credit
for
headline:
Paul
Muth,
Concordia
University

47. ...
or
maybe
more
so:
With
a
puppy.
©
Meyerson
2013

48. ‘Curiosity
gap’
headlines
• Ques:ons:
‘Who
was
Deep
Throat?’
• Ellipses,
teases:
‘NaJon’s
faQest
city
is
...’
• Pull-­‐quotes:
‘Suck
it
up,
wussies.’
©
Meyerson
2013

49. The
power
of
YOU
• Works
with
SEO-­‐friendly
headlines.
• Works
with
“curiosity
gap”
headlines.
hQp://www.theonion.com/
arJcles/secondperson-­‐
narraJve-­‐enthralling-­‐you,
30380/
©
Meyerson
2013

50. The
case
for
sentence
case
...
vs.
Title
Case
for
headlines:
• Concrete
nouns
drive
traffic.
• The
most
concrete
concrete
nouns
are
Proper
Nouns.
• So
why
not
make
Proper
Nouns
easier
to
find?
A
demonstraJon
...
©
Meyerson
2013

51. Find
proper
nouns:
©
Meyerson
2013

52. Charlie Meyerson*
Bit.ly/Meyerson
linkedin.com/in/cmeyerson
708-TEQ-NEWS
*Feature this presentation at your next birthday party or bar mitzvah.
Business cards available.
©
Meyerson
2013