Greetings, marvelous people. Not a moment to spare. Hot date with a waffle in 47 minutes.
Recently, lots of you showed clicktastic interest in alternative email formats for your newsletters.
Being your humble servant, I’ve gone deeper on the topic. Follow me as we learn ways to freshen up your email format and content.
#1. Instructographics
Up first are instructographics. They go beyond fact-filled infographics, which often give me a headache🤕. Instructographics do more → they provide simple how-to actions.
“It’s super engaging and popular because it helps you explain complex data in an easy-to-digest format, save time on writing long how-to guides, and make your message visually pleasing for the audience to get hooked.” Scoop.It
Instructographic examples:
- Good – How-to local citations
- Bad – Choosing wine shouldn’t cause brain pain
- Good – Rescue a wet phone
Think your product or service is easy as ABC? Are you certain the majority of your audience has the same perspective?
They may understand the concept but not grasp the easiest, most effective way to use it.
Simple sells. Speaking of…
#2. Plain Talk – Make Email Format Easier to Grasp
If you have the graphic design skills of an intoxicated accountant, there’s an alternative to instructographics.
Plain talk → lil book shows how.
This email format alternative helps if your ideas and offers are hard to explain. Or when you want to sound more personable.
Works in promo email formats and newsletters.
5 Key points from the little old book above:
- Cookbooks are perfect examples of straightforward instructions
- Go light on adjectives
- Don’t tell readers what you plan to say. Say it.
- Brevity, good. Confusing brevity, bad.
- Great song lyrics use simple concrete words. No empty words.
I don’t expect companies to change their brand voice. But being better understood is never a bad thing.
#3. AI Voice Summary of Email Content
It’s not that I dislike 100% of AI. Sure, I despise the concept.
But AI voices aren’t bad.
In fact, you can listen to our Get Hacking section at the end of this post.
A bot named Bert helped me out.
Let me know what you think of it.
Keep in mind, Bert’s unpaid. So despite negative feedback, he’ll be kept on.🤖
Try these bot voices:
#4. Interviews – Clients, Team Members, Frenemies
When you’re low on energy or stricken with writer’s block, interviews can do the work for ya.
Muster up 10 or 12 solid questions.
Then chat with happy customers. Let team members have a voice. Speak with friendly competitors in your space.
Anyone of interest as long as they:
- Like to talk
- Have some sense 🧐
Best thing about speaking with others for newsletter content is it should expand into a mind map of new content ideas and promotional angles.
#5. Storyboards 5 examples
I’ll shut up while these big stories in tiny storyboards do the talking.
#6. Users in the Wild
Demonstrations. If I were shopping for a pool cleaner, guess what I’d wanna see?
A regular Josie or Joe out in the wild cleaning a pool with your company’s cleaner.
- Video
- Before and after photos of the pool
- Audio testimonials
- Happy kids saved from pool algae
Even screencasts of positive Yelp! reviews. Does Yelp! allow positive reviews?🤐
*Bonus: How to show off what your brand has to offer while making it shareable (Flex Tape)
#7. Screencasts in Email Formats
Would your subscribers benefit from a screencast?
No-brainer if you provide software or web services.
Besides direct tutorials, how else could you leverage screencasts though?
- Integrations with other apps
- How to fix common issues
- Highlight mistakes that cause inefficiencies
Be sure to use a tempting GIF or graphic to get readers to click out of the inbox to the video.
Alternate Email Format Wrap Up
I kinda enjoyed mixing in alternative content in this very edition of Inbox Hacking.
Never hurts to test. Especially if you’ve been pumping out a newsletter for a while. Adding different angles to promo emails is smart also.
Your audience will appreciate an occasional change of pace. You too.
I’ll leave you with some brain seeds → simplest visuals via Canva. They convey messages → easy as AB.
See…
Knowledge Base
Knowledge is power, but first, slow down a little.
Buy, sell, or trade (not a car lot) newsletter ad space.
5 stars are barely blah-worthy, try these titillating testimonial tools.
A / B Testing is intimidating → grow a backbone using these 15 testing mistakes as a guide
10 prime tactics to optimize your emails (don’t miss out on forwards)
In case you can market to Generation Alpha (they’ve no jobs, nor 💲 yet)
50% – 70% Open Rates. Consistently. Find out how Inbox Mailers can do it for you too. Schedule your FREE Demo.
Self Help
I fail to see the difference between AI writers and old article-spinning software.
But I’m not all that smart. No, it’s true.
Anyway, if you want to sniff out sites using AI content – use this tool.
Claims 94% accuracy even on the most amazing thing since 🔥💩→ ChatGPT.
Don’t bother testing this newsletter.
Before I’d stoop that low, I’d get a job doing… well a job.
(((People who’ve been accused / caught plagiarizing)))
*Shout-out to Inbox Hacking Subscribers →
📝Annie at ContractBook (contracts)
📣Tabitha at TabithaNaylor (marketing)
Facts and Stats
- 77% of businesses see off-brand content created in their company (Scoop.It)
- 85% of B2B content marketers give credit to content curation for organizations’ success
- 84% of B2B buyers start their buying search with a referral (Influitive)
Inbox Mailers Quote Circa 2023 (Today😉)… “Best time to train an AI writer for your newsletter is when you’ve hit rock bottom as a marketer.”
~ Shane ‘Bot-basher’ McLendon
Marketing Musings
I don’t know Megan Smith.
But she’s landing haymakers in this piece on value-based marketing.
It’s a 20-min read so don’t freak out.
Here are 3 bytes to chew on while you work up the courage to read it over the next few weeks. Kidding, it’s worth your time today.
#1 FITB- “You’re the best option for your customers because ________.”
#2 Value proposition goes deeper than unique selling proposition.
#3 Can’t prove your value proposition until you understand what your unique customers will most trust as proof.
Get Hacking
Know those email automations you’ve got running?
The crusty ones with cobwebs and stale open rates.
Why don’t we ease into our ESP. Open the hood. And improve at least two subject lines.
See what it does for opens and clicks by next week.
Should they go down, change them again (in case that’s unclear 😅).
Listen to Bert’s audio.
*Bonus: Case study shows 67% boost in newsletter revenue via ads
👍🏼Past posts other Inbox Hackers liked👍🏼
🎯Email Targeting your Unique Audience
📝Please take the survey below. Then return it, obviously.
