Some of us are talkers. We may think people want to hear us rambling on for minutes on end, but the truth is, there’s probably a million other things they’d rather be doing. Sitting through an endless rant is about as fun as watching paint dry.

The same can be said for your email marketing. AWeber analyzed 1,000 emails and found that over 50 percent of them were 300 words or less. Most email marketers understand that brevity is the key to their consumers’ hearts, but it isn’t easy to determine when things go from informative to too informative.

Why is Shorter Better?

Every brand under the sun has an email marketing strategy. This means that consumers are receiving more emails than ever before. With a busy inbox, each email is competing against each other for the attention of the recipient. And if you add a ton of lengthy emails, that attention gets shorter and shorter.

This isn’t to say that you should never send longer emails. Sometimes the information you need to share is robust, and that’s fine. The critical thing to focus on is whether or not your email is offering value. Getting to the point and being more direct will provide your readers clarity and assist them with making quick decisions, rather than getting overwhelmed and exiting your email. You want your emails to convert and be engaging, and you lose a little bit of that with each line of copy you tack on.

So, how do you know when your emails have turned that corner and start looking like a novel? Here are some signs:

  • Your paragraphs are longer than three to four sentences. Identifying how long your paragraphs are will help you keep length in check and make sure your emails are readable.
  • Your email resembles an article. When your email starts to look like a blog post or an article, that’s when you know you’ve gotten carried away.
  • Your CTA is buried. Every email should have a call-to-action, and it should be easily seen. If you bury your CTA with tons of content, the chances of readers spotting it and clicking on it are extremely low.
  • You’re scrolling for days. Most emails should be able to be read in their entirety without scrolling, or, if being read on a mobile device, with only a few scrolls. If you’re scrolling a bunch when reviewing your email, it’s time to cut it down.

So, let’s uncover some tips for ensuring your emails don’t get too long, allowing you to maintain engagement and increase conversions.

4 Tips For Keeping Your Emails Concise

Sometimes, we just need a little extra help when it comes to curtailing our emails. There’s no shame in the game, which is why we have some simple tips to follow that are sure to help:

1. Give Yourself a Word Cap

A simple and easy way to keep your emails tight is to give yourself a word count limit. Maybe use AWeber’s report as a starting point, and try to keep your emails 300 words or less. You can test that out for a while, keeping track of your conversions and click rates. Over time, you can adjust as you see fit, but just make sure you don’t go from 300 to 3,000.

2. Make Sure There’s Enough White Space

White space is our friend. When you want your emails to look less cluttered and easier to read, ensuring there’s enough white space is a great solution. White space lets your emails breathe and will reduce any feelings of being overwhelmed that comes with an abundance of email content.

3. Use Visuals When Necessary

Visuals are a great way to provide information while still keeping your email short and light. Use infographics in your emails, or images that clearly depict any ideas, steps, processes, etc. to reduce the amount of copy on the page. They can also add some fun to your emails and increase engagement from your readers.

4. Have a Beginning, Middle, and End

We tend to ramble when what we’re writing lacks structure. And when it comes to content in general, structure is your best friend. Not only does it help you organize your thoughts so you can be more direct, but it makes what you’re writing more digestible for your readers. Make sure your emails have a beginning, a middle, and an end, and keep each section simple. Your opening sets the scene and serves as a quick intro, and your middle is where you introduce the reason for your email. The end is where you can include your CTA (again, make sure it’s clear) so you can drive action from your recipients.

We hope this article helps you understand just how important it is to keep your emails short and sweet. And if you ever have any trouble reigning it in a bit, just use the four tips listed above to keep yourself in check. Your email subscribers will thank you for it.

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by Benchmark Team