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You botched an email broadcast. Now what!?

You sent 100,000 emails to the wrong list... You directed people to last year’s action... You addressed everyone as “Jane”... It happens.

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

Top 10 ways to turbocharge your digital comms

Let’s be honest, this stuff is hard. Never in human history has there been a communication medium more competitive than the Internet.

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

Give your headline ‘consequence’

Of all the ‘rules’ out there for writing page headlines, this is the most transformative. If your headline sits on a petition

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

A beginner’s guide to SEO (search engine optimization)

New to SEO? Here’s what works in 2026. If the currency of the Internet is web traffic, then search engine referrals are money

14 long-term engagement strategies that work

I’m so glad you’re here. While it’s far from the most exciting, retention is arguably the most important factor in the success of

This little trick will increase your conversion rates

Whether your call to action (CTA) is a button or a link, don’t get too clever. Speak directly to your supporter and tell

3 design cues that prime supporters for action

It can feel intuitive to place your action form elements at the end of your page—after your theory of change. However, your supporter

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

Should you send emails from your ‘organization’ or an actual person?

Here’s how the internal dialog usually goes: “We’re torn. We see other organizations sending from individual people but how do we know if

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

Never stop learning

These folks are some of the most innovative and transformative communicators in (and beyond) our movement. And they’re on a mission to help

Here’s why you should be a rule breaker

Technology moves at light-speed. Every day, smart people are pushing the boundaries of digital design, user experience, and communication. If we hope

Sometimes, the purpose of an email can be simply to inform. But often, we’re trying to get someone somewhere. An action page. A donation form. A video...

When your email has a destination, be protective of the pathway that leads people there

The instant someone clicks on a link in your email, they’re not coming back. Consider your email narrative finished. In other words, you get one chance to lead someone to a web page with your email. Make it count.

The truth is, the more options we offer—the more links we include—the more asks we make—the less likely it is that our supporters will do the one thing we most need them to do. The best action emails have a crystal clear, singular goal. Be conscious that every link that points somewhere other than your ultimate destination will dilute your conversion rate.

Think of your email like a hiking map. Every link in your email is a crossroads with a signpost that points to a destination of interest. If you don’t want supporters wandering off into the wilderness, then don’t lead them astray.

If you want to maximize engagement and neutralize choice paralysis, then limit your asks to a single call to action per email. It’s fine to repeat your CTA, but try your best to make all links point to a single destination.

From: Anatomy of an action email

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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