Variety, they say, is the spice of life…

…. It’s also the key to making your emails more interesting for your reader.

They’re like any other human.

We have things in common yet we are all individual. We are all so very different.

Take my mum. She’s conservative (small C). Risk-averse. Unadventurous – especially around food.

She goes to the same place for lunch every week. She always orders scampi & chips. Her favourite.

I think if scampi was not on the menu she would not know what to order (or take ages deciding).

I’m very different.

I like change. I have taken many a risk in my time. I like a bit of adventure.

Sure I have my favourite cafe, too (it serves the coffee and cake you see pictured).

But I don’t go there all the time.

I try other places, too. (As my 256.647 readers on Trip Advisor will testify.)

Variety is important to me. It’s almost a value to be held aloft like a glittering trophy.

It’s why my approach to copywriting may at times be different to the norm, the standard, the mainstream.

Which is good news for clients – they’re getting something based on science and research yet also fresh for their particular niche or market.

Take your email list, for example.

(Let’s hope that’s not been gathering dust for ages ready for this Hallowe’en).

One of the easiest ways to keep your readers reading… is to use a little variety.

– Short messages

– Long messages

– Add a link (or links)

– Have no links

– Link to something relevant but not your own

– Include a video

– Embed a video

– Embed a pdf file

– Use humour

– Be deadly serious

– Share a testimonial

– Provide a case study

– Make an offer

– Give a discount

– Have a sale

– Share some news

– Comment on the news

– Add a picture

– Add some colour

– Throw in some formatting

– Keep it plain black and white

– Send more than usual

– Send less than usual

– Launch a campaign

– Revisit a campaign

– Add a seasonal or celebratory touch

– Use short copy to move people to a piece of long copy

You probably have your own ideas to add to the list here.

However, writer beware.

Variety is good but some things should stay constant.

ALWAYS say something of interest to your reader (it’s about them, not you).

ALWAYS get to the point (avoid that warm-up copy I mentioned earlier in the week).

ALWAYS be relevant.

ALWAYS be educating, nurturing and guiding your reader (it’s why they signed up for your messages in the first place).

ALWAYS remember the point is to move people towards a sale. (You can’t live on ‘opens’ or ‘clicks’.)

ALWAYS add value for your reader.

And of course…

… ALWAYS use variety.

If you’d like some help putting your email messages together and making them work a littler harder to get you those sales, you know where to find me.

Here’s to variety and consistent success.

Gary Spinks