We’re visiting my mom this week in California. We only visit about three times a year and sometimes we end up enjoying treats that have been “saved” for us since the last visit (although “preserved” is sometimes more accurate).
Tonight we built a fire and pulled out the s’mores supplies. The date on the marshmallows was March 27, 2010. The graham crackers weren’t in a box…but I can tell you they were NOT manufactured in 2012.
Based on the age of the components, I elected not to make a s’more for myself. But there was no escape. My sweet six year old blackened a marshmallow and brought it over to me on the skewer declaring, “Look Mommy! I made one just for you!”
How could I resist? I put it all together and smiled as I consumed my sub-standard dessert.
It’s all good. I mean, that’s what you do when you’re a mom, right?
Unfortunately, your customers won’t humor the way your mom will! You can’t serve up the same old email messages over and over again and then expect customers to smile and consume whatever you’re serving up.
It just won’t happen.
How do I know this?
Let me tell you a little story…
A couple years back I had a client who was promoting a software user conference. He’d written a series of emails to go out over a period of about 10 months. But here’s the kicker…
The content of every email was EXACTLY THE SAME except for the price (which was going up by $100 each month) and the date on which the price would go up again. Every thing else was a big repeat…every other week, the same email, for 10 months. That was the plan and about five emails had gone out already with little response.
After opening two emails in a row every customer knew what to expect next…the same old news. The open rate wad going down and no one was registering. That’s when they hired me.
Here’s the problem…
Your customers don’t want old news and repeat emails any more than you want to eat s’mores made with two year old marshmallows!
Fresh works in your in box just like it works when it comes to dessert.
So what do you do when you need to deliver essentially the same message or offer over and over again?
Here’s what we did…
Each month we focused on a different aspect of the event in order to make the conference irresistible:
- Join us for the early morning hot air balloon ride
- Don’t miss out on the aerial tram ride and dinner atop the mountain
- Spouses with love the nearby shops and art district
- Space is limited for the gold tournament
- Early registrants are eligible to bid on these special auction items
- Every room has a hot tub…for the perfect romantic getaway when you bring that special someone
Same offer…different perspective.
All you need to do is make a list of all the great benefits of what you’re offering and shift your perspective in each email.
That’s the secret to making your readers want more by keeping it fresh.
Once we started launching the new email sequence–with new and inviting subject lines, too–the open rates went. Registrations starting coming in. And in the end my client had a higher registration rate than in any previous year.
Keeping your content fresh does more than make it interesting for your readers…fresh content means more money in your pocket and more clients served.
And who doesn’t want s’more of that?