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Engage your reader’s emotional brain

Inboxes aren’t often exciting places. Neither are the majority of web pages, if we’re honest. This can work to your advantage. Your

How NOT to use bold type...

Bolding the odd word or phrase can help skim readers catch key ideas you don’t want them to miss. It’s also great for

What’s the ideal email frequency?

What’s the magic number of emails you need to send to maximize supporter engagement and minimize fatigue?The answer is “five”. Kidding. It would

Can you name your headline’s ‘value proposition’?

Okay, back up—what’s a ‘value proposition’? Think of your value proposition as the reason your reader should care about investing

How much data do you really need to make segmentation work?

Imagine you’ve been asked to have an important conversation with ... ‘someone’. Chances are, you’ll be much happier to have that conversation if

Find common ground

It’s not hard to preach to the choir. Or to mount an argument so agreeable that it won’t offend or challenge anyone.

A beginner’s guide to split testing

Think of split testing (or AB testing) like a deathmatch for ideas. It’s the best tool we have for figuring out what works

Dominate Social Media

It doesn’t matter if you’re writing an email, a blog post, or a tweet—the full gamut of attention-seeking and attention-keeping tactics apply. Social

Picture this when writing your next headline...

Whatever you do—don’t just imagine your headline on your page itself. Consider how your headline performs without the rest of your page to

Do you know why you’re building an email list?

Serious question. Success is more than a number. It’s an outcome. An increase in list size isn’t an end-goal; 1,000

How NOT to write a thank-you email...

For several years, I drove a strategy at Animals Australia to send ‘thank-you’ emails to action takers that were jam-packed with followup

Email tokenization: what is it?

A token is a little snippet of encoded data that identifies a supporter and can be attached to links in your email broadcasts.

Buttons vs links: which converts more clicks?

If your action email has one job—to get your supporter to click through to a destination—then what’s the quickest way to get

11 tips that will help you write better subject lines

Don’t undercut a great email by hiding it behind a poor subject line. These few words have the power to make or

Email preview text: what you need to know

Preview text appears in most email clients in the form of a few words after or below a subject line. While it doesn’t

Take your time.

In the pursuit of saying more with less, I’ll admit—not every big idea can be reduced to a snappy soundbite. Sometimes there really is a lot to say. Still, there are better options than trying to say everything in one interaction. Readers will find it hard to retain dense information. And rarely do we need to place this much pressure on ourselves.

Pace yourself

Whether you’re communicating through your email list or your social media feed, remember that you’re in an ongoing relationship with your audience. You don’t just get one shot at this. When there’s a lot to say, try saying it over a series of linked emails, web pages, or social media posts. Break up your content into bite-sized ideas and deliver them over time to deepen impact. This will reach more people and give each idea its own time and space to resonate.

Think of digital communications like conversations, not lectures. Be the conversation partner that your supporter wants to come back to.

From: Say more (by saying less)

Karen Nilsen

Hi there! I’m Karen. I’m on a mission to reach my former self. Had I known 10 years ago what I know today, I could have achieved more good, made fewer mistakes, and had more weekends. Every time we share what works, we win faster. Let’s create digital experiences that move people — that grow our base and fuel our movements. Are you with me? Please share this with someone you know who wants to up their digital game!

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