A few days ago, I saw an email from Daniel Throssell explaining why you should always write your emails at a readability level in grade 5 or lower.
It’s not because most Americans never graduated from elementary…
It’s because reading is hard.
It’s so hard that if you increase the difficulty (by even a little), you risk losing the reader for good.
I agree 100%.
But this also got me thinking –
Writing an email is like making that perfect steak.
Too much heat, you get rubber.
Too little heat, you get blue.
But when you can hit the perfect sear…
*ZZzzsssss*
You get a crusty ribeye that’s juicy and tender inside. A gourmet meal you can’t stop eating.
Same for email.
If I want to write:
“We offer authentic Indian tea, straight from the garden to your cup, in 7 days or less. Special deal ending at midnight.”
I can simplify it to:
“We offer Indian tea. Buy today.”
But there’s no benefit, promise, or mechanism to peak the desire.
Or I can say:
“Our meticulously curated assortment of premium, terroir-specific Indian teas is expediently procured and dispatched directly from the verdant estates of origin, ensuring a seamless farm-to-cup experience within an optimized logistical timeframe not exceeding a seven-day delivery window. This exclusive, limited-duration promotional offering—meticulously crafted to deliver exceptional value—is scheduled for irrevocable termination precisely at the stroke of midnight, necessitating prompt and decisive action to capitalize on the opportunity prior to its imminent expiration.”
But no real human will EVER read this trash.
Or I can say:
“我們提供道地的印度茶葉。從茶莊到你杯子只要七天。特別優惠到半夜結束。”
But it’d be silly if my primary audience is the US market.
Or I can say:
“We offer authentic Indian tea, straight from the garden to your cup, in 7 days or less. Special deal ending at 9:30 am Afghanistan timezone.”
Which is, again, a dumb way to market to the US audiences.
Why am I sharing this with you?
Because I just explained to a client—for the 5th time—why we should use the customer’s timezone to announce the deadline of a promo…
STOP MAKING IT UNNECESSARY HARDER FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS.
Talk soon,
– WYH