Five Ways to Build Reader Engagement
Recently, I’ve been noticing something unusual on my social networks, such as the Email Marketer’s Club and Facebook. Interactions between bloggers and these social clubs are also beginning to creep into the inbox, and that’s all for the better.
Most importantly, I see a humanizing effect in which a blog post or comment also includes links to profiles, pictures, contact information and comment forms. All are ways to launch discussions instead of just pushing content one way.
And, they’re becoming a way to connect with your customers and readers via your email messages. One-way communication is out, replaced by the digital conversation.
What the Print Dinosaurs Can Teach You
Print might be fading away as a communications medium, but publishers know the most about putting a human face on an impersonal medium. Just open the nearest newspaper or magazine.
Regular columnists often have small “mugshots” accompanying their copy. The editorial page, with the letters to the editor, is one of the best-read sections. Many publications also post the reporter’s email address or office number on the story or in the masthead, which appears in the same place every time. All of these help establish a connection between the paper and its readers.
Advertisers have had to rely on less direct methods. Consumers don’t relate as well to a faceless brand, so companies have used personal endorsements or created mascots to inject a little life. Remember the Marlboro Man, Speedy Alka-Seltzer, and Spuds McKenzie for Bud Light?
Email publishers are also expanding their engagement methods, by adding links to comment forms in their email content and tacking the form itself to the end of the Web version.
Now, it’s time for email marketers to step up, because readers expect to be able to interact at every level of the online world.
If you publish a regular newsletter (one that provides content to your readers, not just your weekly sales flyer in disguise) and you want to increase engagement rates, then read on to see what social tactics make a perfect pairing when used in email.
1. Humanize with a Mascot or Actual Employee
If your company uses a mascot or spokesperson in print or broadcast media, you naturally want to feature it prominently in your email communications, and not just because you want to be consistent.
Think of “Jack” and you immediately recognize the Jack in the Box brand, have an opinion on the products they sell and the humor they normally do it with. If they have a newsletter, you can be sure pictures of Jack should be all over it.
Another example: Beleaguered communications company Sprint is trying to use their new CEO Dan to bring a face to the company in order to strengthen its bond with consumers. Its TV spots include an email address consumers can use to sound off to him, good or bad (dan@sprint.com).
2. Add a Picture; Build a Bond
Use a picture of your most identifiable mascot or spokesperson, or the author if the material carries a byline. This can build trust, help the reader identify with the writer and strengthen the desire to respond.
Try this simple test. How do you respond to each of the three scenarios below. (No, I won’t give out grades but I’ll know if you cheat). Which of these three gives you the strongest bond and reinforces your trust in the information the author provides?
Opinion on using personal pics in emailby Stefan Pollard
Fig. 1
Opinion on using personal pics in emailby Stefan Pollard
Fig. 2
Opinion on using personal pics in emailby Stefan Pollard
Fig. 3
The first choice (byline only, no picture) is pretty standard with publishers. You likely glossed right past it, with no strong connection.
The second choice (blank photo as seen in social networks where user profiles are not updated) probably makes you wonder why the author is trying to hide. On most social networks, not having a picture is an immediate turn-off. It hurts the trust and relationship-building factors you are trying to create.
While not requiring pictures, many social networks give you the opportunity to upload a photo right at registration and periodically invite you to update your profile with a picture. They also apply subtle pressure by making members who don’t post pictures stand out with default images (a question mark in Facebook, a “o_O” emoticon in Twitter, a grayed-out silhouette or default image in others and on instant-message clients. Those who don’t upload look more like outsiders or newbies than active, trustworthy participants.
The third choice should have had the greatest impact on you, giving you a connection that a real person has written something. It might also increase your desire to comment back (positive and negative), because you can picture the person talking. It’s not a faceless wall of type.
More email newsletters are starting to use pictures of the authors, similar to the personal profiles in social networks. This is a good start, but you need to take it further in order to foster strong relationships with your readers. Be sure to provide a feedback link to the photo and author’s name (mailto:author@company.com) so you don’t discourage your readers.
Expand the relationship if you also publish a company blog. Publish information about the authors featured, link to your company’s sponsored page on social networks like MySpace or Facebook, or other places where the authors can be contacted.
3. Add the Conversation to the Newsletter
Did a particular story, issue or incident generate a strong discussion on your Web site? Keep the conversation moving by featuring it in the next edition. Highlight your active readers, call them by name and respond to them publicly. Once your audience sees that you do respond to comments, more comments will flood your way.
In The Intevation Report, for example, the Ask Lyris content comes directly from our readers’ questions.
You can also use this tactic to spur a discussion. Over at the Email Experience Council, they will often push a topic to the members asking for input as an attempt to keep conversations happening and keeping the list active.
4. Use Audio or Video When Available
One of the newsletters I read has an interesting twist: Each monthly edition comes with an audio version available on iTunes, where I can listen to the author read his column to me, instead of reading the content myself.
It brings another level of humanization to the relationship between author and reader when you can hear the author’s voice and passion for the topic. (In case you want to check it out for yourself, I’m referring to Michael Katz’s E-Newsletter on E-Newsletters.)
When you have video feeds, link to those as well and let your audience watch the product reviews, live debates and other content.
5. Survey Says …
Yes, you see these everywhere, but reader polls are there for a reason: They work. They’re a cheap window into reader attitudes and preferences, for one thing, but they also give readers a noninvasive way to connect with you.
Ask the audience a question, they’ll tell you, and you can use that information to keep the dialog moving and, incidentally, refine your own email program. The Email Experience Council does an easy two-click survey in each newsletter and constantly keeps the topic fresh.
EEC pushes the two-click survey constantly by referring to it in blog posts and in emails recapping important announcements. As a result, EEC gets a good response, and this in turn helps it keep a pulse on what its membership is interested in.
Think a topic is interesting and should be explored further? Ask your readers before you spend time on it.
Using any one of these five techniques—or better yet, as many as you can—goes a long way toward transforming your one-way newsletter into a digital dialogue.
[Source: Stefan Pollard - emaillabs.com - April 2008]
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