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These Late Night Eyes Read Emails Differently

Paul Rijnders Paul Rijnders is the Product Strategy Manager for Benchmark Email, where his focus includes product development, research, technical writing, feature development, testing and launching of SaaS products and iOS apps that interact with our software via API. He is the human junction between the executive and marketing teams that request the product, the IT team that builds the back end, the design team that creates the front end, the content team that gives the product a voice and the eager sales and support teams who will eventually take delivery of the product. Paul is a product of the CSUF advertising program, He now rounds out his schedule teaching college level courses to multi-media undergrads on two California campuses.

May 13, 2011 2 min read

I don’t know what time you are personally reading this, but me, I’m writing this at just before midnight. And if you’re a morning person you might be wondering if the rest of this blog has anything to do with you. Hang tight, because it has a lot to do with you, even if you’re never awake at the midnight hour.

Just Because You’re 100% Focused when You Write Your Email Marketing…

I know you. I know you because some days I am you. You wake up by 6 a.m. and are aware and working hard by 7 a.m. You know how important your email marketing is so you’re on it and done with it before lunchtime. You wouldn’t risk such an important task with the lazy afternoon.

It also doesn’t take much to get you on a roll. You’ve written great content and plenty of it: news, trends, personal reflections, stats and more. And just before you close out your masterpiece of e-marketing you neatly organize your list of upcoming events in a nice little box near the bottom of your email.

Doesn’t Make Your Subscribers 100% Focused when They’re Reading

If I was to get your email in the morning, I’d probably have a good chance of getting to see all the dates of your upcoming events. But if I don’t check my emails until the end of the night, well… fail. I’ve just looked at the headline, noticed a funny picture, then moved on.

So tonight of all sleepy nights I’m prodded to blogging action by an email marketer who is a true friend to the sleepy-eyed. Thank you, Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance, for you know what a tired email reader needs: big ugly information that stands out!

Get Your Big Fonts On

Somewhere out there there’s a graphic designer or art director throwing fits over the choice of using ALL CAPS in the the top right or making those letters so yellow on that red background. Let them cry. For me, especially tonight, it works. Truth be told, I only noticed two things:

That guy in the picture kind of reminds me of a beardless version of “the most interesting man in the world.”

There are a lot of good winery activities in May!

You Don’t Have to Be Tired to Be a Bad Email Reader

It’s true that many people aren’t as focused late at night. It’s also true that many people aren’t focused in the morning or middle of the day. Phones ring, kids yell, TV shows get interesting, co-workers barge into cubicles. The point is that though you’ve meticulously planned every line, not many people have time for it all. So if you have important info to get across, make it stand out and get it to the top of the email newsletter, above the fold, where it’s easy to find. If someone gets to your email with limited focus, they’ll quickly pull out the info you need to get to them most.

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by Paul Rijnders

Paul Rijnders is the Product Strategy Manager for Benchmark Email, where his focus includes product development, research, technical writing, feature development, testing and launching of SaaS products and iOS apps that interact with our software via API. He is the human junction between the executive and marketing teams that request the product, the IT team that builds the back end, the design team that creates the front end, the content team that gives the product a voice and the eager sales and support teams who will eventually take delivery of the product. Paul is a product of the CSUF advertising program, He now rounds out his schedule teaching college level courses to multi-media undergrads on two California campuses.