Susan B. Weiner's Blog, page 49

Personalized subject lines can backfire in emails

A good personalized subject line can boost your results. But mess up the personalization, and you’ll lose.

It’s great to tweak your email subject line to appeal to a specific recipient. For example, if you know the recipient’s hot button, include it in the subject line.

Another approach is to name the person or their organization in your subject line. There’s some data to support this approach. For example, “Including the recipient’s name in the email subject line increased open rates–some by as much as 42%,” according to Experian data cited in “How Pairing Personalization & Automation Can Skyrocket Email Conversions” on the Kissmetrics blog. I assume there’s a similar effect when you personalize other information in the subject line.

But you need to proofread carefully so you don’t personalize for the wrong recipient. A bad subject line (and email body) can send your email to spam. A badly personalized subject line can doom your email to stay in spam. That’s true even if your email is relevant to the recipient.

Example of badly personalized subject line

Today’s blog post is inspired by an email that was sent to me in my role as the editor of the NAPFA Advisor magazine. I found it when reviewing my spam folder. The subject line read “Idea for timely content/article for ZZZ Magazine.” The subject line said “ZZZ Magazine” where it should have said “NAPFA Advisor.” I don’t know if that’s why the message went into spam. But the wrong name in the subject line didn’t inspire me to click through on the email.

Putting the wrong name in the subject line puts you on the quick path to an email trash folder.

How to avoid mistakes in your personalized subject line

Proofread, proofread, proofread. That’s the best way to avoid mistakes in your personalized subject line.

Another possibility is to automate the inclusion of personalized information in your subject line. Some email programs allow you to do that in a twist on the mail merges you may know from word processing.

Contrary view on personalized subject lines

Although I argue for personalization in this post, the evidence is mixed on adding the recipient’s first name to your email subject line.

In its FAQ on “How do I personalize the subject line (or content) of my email?“, Benchmark Email says it “does not advocate adding a contact’s first name in the subject line of your emails. Doing so may lead to an increase of spam complaints, as spammers are known for using personal data in the subject line of emails.”

A MailChimp blog post says that subject lines using first names performed worse than those without first names. The blog suggests that names take up space without adding value,  according to “Personalizing Subject Lines – Does It Help Or Hurt Open Rates?” The post appeared in 2008, so it’s possible that things have changed since then.

What’s my take on this debate? Rote personalization—like simply adding the recipient’s name to the subject line—may not work. Personalization that truly appeals to the individual’s interests is powerful. I would have responded differently to an email that correctly named my magazine in its subject line.

Image courtesy of pakorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

The post Personalized subject lines can backfire in emails appeared first on Susan Weiner's Blog on Investment Writing.

Personalized subject line can backfire in emails

A good personalized subject line can boost your results. But mess up the personalization, and you’ll lose.

It’s great to tweak your email subject line to appeal to a specific recipient. For example, if you know the recipient’s hot button, include it in the subject line.

Another approach is to name the person or their organization in your subject line. There’s some data to support this approach. For example, “Including the recipient’s name in the email subject line increased open rates–some by as much as 42%,” according to Experian data cited in “How Pairing Personalization & Automation Can Skyrocket Email Conversions” on the Kissmetrics blog. I assume there’s a similar effect when you personalize other information in the subject line.

But you need to proofread carefully so you don’t personalize for the wrong recipient. A bad subject line (and email body) can send your email to spam. A badly personalized subject line can doom your email to stay in spam. That’s true even if your email is relevant to the recipient.

Example of badly personalized subject line

Today’s blog post is inspired by an email that was sent to me in my role as the editor of the NAPFA Advisor magazine. I found it when reviewing my spam folder. The subject line read “Idea for timely content/article for ZZZ Magazine.” The subject line said “ZZZ Magazine” where it should have said “NAPFA Advisor.” I don’t know if that’s why the message went into spam. But the wrong name in the subject line didn’t inspire me to click through on the email.

Putting the wrong name in the subject line puts you on the quick path to an email trash folder.

How to avoid mistakes in your personalized subject line

Proofread, proofread, proofread. That’s the best way to avoid mistakes in your personalized subject line.

Another possibility is to automate the inclusion of personalized information in your subject line. Some email programs allow you to do that in a twist on the mail merges you may know from word processing.

Contrary view on personalized subject lines

Although I argue for personalization in this post, the evidence is mixed on adding the recipient’s first name to your email subject line.

In its FAQ on “How do I personalize the subject line (or content) of my email?“, Benchmark Email says it “does not advocate adding a contact’s first name in the subject line of your emails. Doing so may lead to an increase of spam complaints, as spammers are known for using personal data in the subject line of emails.”

A MailChimp blog post says that subject lines using first names performed worse than those without first names. The blog suggests that names take up space without adding value,  according to “Personalizing Subject Lines – Does It Help Or Hurt Open Rates?” The post appeared in 2008, so it’s possible that things have changed since then.

What’s my take on this debate? Rote personalization—like simply adding the recipient’s name to the subject line—may not work. Personalization that truly appeals to the individual’s interests is powerful. I would have responded differently to an email that correctly named my magazine in its subject line.

Image courtesy of pakorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

The post Personalized subject line can backfire in emails appeared first on Susan Weiner's Blog on Investment Writing.

5 ways blog posts are like tulips

I love tulips. But for years I didn’t grow any because my backyard squirrels dug them up and ate them. I finally figured out that my front yard was a safe place for tulips, so I planted some.

As a result, when a writing exercise suggested thinking about red tulips, I was interested. The red tulip exercise yielded this post.

Here are five ways blog posts are like tulips.

1. Their starting points may be ugly

A tulip bulb isn’t pretty. Your blog post may start with a poorly shaped idea. With either one, if you plant and nourish it, it may grow into something beautiful.

2. Symmetry is powerful

A tulip has symmetry, with equal-sized petals around a center. This structure can work for blog posts, too. For example, it works in list posts like this, where each numbered item is like a petal of roughly similar size.

3. Everything comes back to the center

As a tulip’s petals connect to its stem, a blog post’s paragraphs connect to a central theme. There’s power in this connection.

Also, the petals overlaps slightly, forming a connection. That’s similar to how transition sentences link paragraphs.

4. Large collections are powerful

Have you seen photos of vast tulip fields in the Netherlands? They’re stunning, especially because they form single-color blocks. Folks can see them from far away.

Similarly, when you create a large body of blog posts with a narrow focus, they boost your visibility. You’ll appear prominently in search results. Also, the depth of your work will boost your credibility when people visit your blog.

5. They can be overrated

Have you read about the seventeenth century tulip mania, when a tulip could cost as much as a house?

Blog posts can be overvalued, too, though I doubt the mismatch will ever reach manic levels. A blog is not the solution to all of your marketing or communication problems. Your strategy must integrate other elements, too.

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy “Financial blogging lessons from my spinning class.”

Image courtesy of  panuruangjan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

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When do you push proper usage on your writing clients?

Some battles over proper usage in writing are worth fighting. Others are not. When should you push your clients on proper usage? If you write or edit for investment, wealth management, or other financial services firms, you’re likely to grapple with this question.

By the way, when I say “usage,” I refer to a host of issues that sometimes get lumped under “grammar.” In addition to grammar, it includes punctuation, spelling, and other issues of writing style.

When I say “clients,” I include internal clients—such as subject-matter experts or bosses—for staff writers and marketers, in addition to the clients of external writers and editors.

I usually point out improper usage. However, I divide usage issues into three categories. The seriousness of the category dictates how strongly I fight my client on an issue.

Category 1. Embarrassing or unethical mistakes

If your client writes “they’re” instead of “their,” it’s a no-brainer to insist on a correction. “They’re” instead of “their” is flat out wrong. These battles are usually easy to win. It’s best to treat them lightly, with the comment along the lines of “Oops, a typo sneaked in. It’s hard for all of us to proofread our own work.” I may also insert a link to an article explaining usage practices the client may not know.

Susan Rooks, Grammar Goddess, agrees with me about correcting outright mistakes. In response to my LinkedIn question about when to correct mistakes, she said, “When they will confuse others, or embarrass themselves or their company. While I do worry somewhat about punctuation, I am more concerned with the words that writers use. Mixing up homophones, using the wrong terms, or not seeing the impact of negative language on readers are all worth going to bat for.”

On rare occasions, I run into issues of copyright infringement. It has always been an innocent mistake. The person didn’t realize that simply naming the source doesn’t give you the right to use any text, exhibit, or image. It’s important to push clients on these issues. Why? Because their mistakes could inspire the copyright holders to sue them, bringing financial penalties and embarrassment. You’ll find resources to educate your clients about “fair use” of copyrighted material in my article on “Legal danger for financial bloggers: Two misconceptions, three resources, one suggestion.” You’ll also find tips in “Credit sources fairly in your financial blog posts.”

If you’re in financial services, your client will presumably run content through a compliance review. If you know that certain content typically requires a certain disclosure, you can mention that. But the client’s compliance professional is the ultimate authority.

Category 2. Mistakes that hurt reading comprehension

Sometimes your clients produce writing that’s unclear because of its vocabulary, length, or organization. That’s not good for them or their company’s pursuit of marketing or educational goals.

Many clients express gratitude and relief when you streamline their writing. Some do not. Instead, they cling to their original wording, perhaps because of issues I discussed in “Why experts love bad writing.”

What can you do with stubborn clients? Here are four options:

Present evidence for making changes. My articles, “Seven Ways to Talk Your Financial Execs Out of Jargon and Bad Writing” (free registration with MarketingProfs required) and “Financial jargon killer: The Wall Street Journal,” make a case for better writing. You could also share well-written articles by experts whom your client respects. As with category 1, it’s wise to take a respectful approach. Suggest changes by presenting information that you say your client might not have known. As Bob Hughes, director at U.K.-based Grammar Ally, says, “Persistence usually works better then insistence: the persuasive, collaborative approach versus the adversarial. Most people – there are exceptions – welcome information they simply didn’t have before. This makes ‘support’ and ‘sharing knowledge’ preferable to ‘correction’, which is often taken to be drawing attention to something someone ‘got wrong’ rather than simply didn’t know.”
Meet your client partway. Figure out what your client cares most about. See if you can satisfy their needs, while also improving the writing. For example, if the client insists on using the term “Goldilocks market,” define the term parenthetically. You’ll find examples of this in “Plain language: Let’s get parenthetical.” If it’s just one sentence that’s a problem, consider presenting several alternatives to your client.
Appeal to higher authorities. Does your boss, or the person at the client company who pays your invoices, believe in good writing? They may let you overrule your subject-matter expert’s wording. But tread carefully if you take this approach. It may not make a difference if the expert never sees the text again. On the other hand, the expert sees it, it could create ill will.
Cave in. In other words, pick your battles carefully. Some things aren’t worth fighting over, especially if they’re small problems in an obscure part of a well-written document.

Category 3. Mistakes that don’t inflict major damage

Some mistakes bother me much less than others. These are typically mistakes that hurt reading comprehension less than others. For example, excessive capitalization of titles is common in financial services.

I often see “Jane Smith, President and Chief Investment Officer” instead of “Jane Smith, president and chief investment officer.” That’s wrong, wrong, wrong. Words that are capitalized to stress their importance drive professional writers crazy. The use of initial capitals in “President and Chief Investment Officer” does slow reading comprehension slightly. But its effect is small compared with the effect of a sentence that improperly uses “they’re” instead of “their.”

When I have clients who use excessive capitalization, I inform them about the proper practice. Then, I let them decide about what to do. I save my energy for more important battles, which typically fall into Category 2.

Image courtesy of imagerymajestic/freedigitalphotos.net

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Financial PR opportunities for professionals–and they’re free

Everybody likes to get something for free. That includes free financial PR opportunities suitable for financial advisors and other financial professionals.

Your first stop in looking for free PR should be the professional associations that you belong to. Back when I reported for trade publications, I relied heavily on those associations to find me experts for interviews. I sent them the my topic, publication, deadline, and contact information. They shared my info with their members or suggested individual experts to me.

The flip side of the help that I received? These associations’ members received leads at no cost to them. Contact your association to see how it can help you with financial PR opportunities.

Today there are a number of services, such as ProfNet and HARO, which provide PR leads to broader audiences via email. I believe you must pay a fee to receive leads from ProfNet, while HARO leads are free only for an unfiltered flow of leads.

VestedIQ for financial PR opportunities and more

Recently I discovered VestedIQ as an e-newsletter source of free PR opportunities for financial professionals. As I drafted this post, the most recent issue of “Weekly Expert Source Requests” included press requests from CreditCards.com, Magnify Money, The Street, European Pensions, and Global Risk Regulator. You can sign up for this weekly email (and the other emails listed below) through VestedIQ’s contact form (or emailing iq@fullyvested.com)—and naming the newsletter you’d like to receive.

Of course, reporters are always in a hurry, so you have a better chance of making it into an article if you’re among the first to reply. You can sign up for real-time alerts from VestedIQ.

VestedIQ also has a “Weekly Opportunities” email that includes, but goes beyond, financial expert source requests. It also lists financial marketing opportunities, special reports, events, and award submission deadlines. A friend of mine found an exciting job opportunity in one of these emails.

VestedIQ is a financial database for PR, marketing and advertising opportunities. They want you to sign up for more than their freebies. I don’t know anything about their paid services, but the freebies are worth checking out.

What financial PR opportunities do YOU value?

I’m curious to learn how you find your best financial PR opportunities. If you’ve been speaking to the media for years, and you work with a financial PR agency, you may not need to work hard. But not everyone is so fortunate. Do you have advice for your peers?

 

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

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10-minute boosts for your financial content marketing

Financial content marketing helps you to attract new clients by boosting your visibility and showing that you can solve their problems. Great financial content takes time to create. But you don’t always have big chunks of time to devote to your content strategy, writing, editing, and promotion.

Don’t despair! You can give your content a boost when you have as little as 10 minutes to spare.

Generate financial content ideas tailored to your audience

Mind map ideas around one of your key topic areas. Put the topic in the middle of your map and record any idea that pops into your head. I discussed a variation on this exercise in “Photo + Mind Map = Blog Inspiration.”
Generate ideas by reading an article—any article. I got the idea for this article from reading “Time Crunch: 13 marketing tips that will take you 10 minutes or less” in the Journal of Financial Planning (July 2016). However, any article can spur ideas if you let your mind run free. For example,  the Boston Sunday Globe‘s “More height warnings coming to Storrow,” which discussed trucks crashing into road overpasses, made me think about those crashes as a metaphor for individuals ignoring warnings about their finances. It could turn into an article about “3 warning signs you shouldn’t ignore” or a topic in behavioral finance. It could also serve as a story for content about auto insurance, or infrastructure investments. You can also riff on the titles that appear on a magazine cover.
Ask your target audience what they want to learn. One technique is to pose a question on social media. The cool thing is that when people comment on your social media post, people whom you don’t yet know may see it and comment. This expands your network. I discuss other techniques in “Financial content: Ask questions of your readers.”
Do keyword-based research. Brainstorm ideas around the keywords for which you’d like your website or blog to rank high. Some online tools, such as AnswerThePublic, spit out ideas based on the words that people input into search engines.
Set up a Google Alert. See what people are talking about in your main areas of interest.

Create financial content

Introduce content you’ve already created. It took me less than 10 minutes to write an introduction and load an infographic that I’d had my virtual assistant create for me. You can see the results in “Infographic: 5 Ways to Add Personality to Your Financial Writing.” You can take content that you’ve created elsewhere—an infographic, video, podcast, webinar, SlideShare, or guest post on someone else’s blog—and re-purpose it on your blog.
Assign a task to a team member. You don’t have to do all of the financial content marketing work yourself. For example, every month I email my virtual assistant with introductory text and a list of articles to highlight in my newsletter.
Request a guest post. Ask an expert, referral source, client or other person for a guest post.
Draft a list of questions for a Q&A post. Think of a topic that you’d like to cover in an “interview” via email. After you gain your interviewee’s consent, send them a list of questions to answer.
Start a blog post with the intention of not finishing. You don’t have to finish every post in one day, especially if you’re pressed for time. Sometimes it’s good to stop a post before you finish dumping your thoughts on the page. Later, when you return to the post, it’ll be easier for you to resume writing by expressing the thoughts you had left unstated in your last session.

Edit your financial content

Assess your draft’s readability. You can use a free online tool like Hemingway, which I discuss in “Free help for wordy writers!”
Proofread by listening to your content. I describe this in “My best tip for editors who proofread their own work.” Of course, fixing things may take you more than 10 minutes.
Send your content to a colleague or a professional for proofreading, copyediting, or other feedback. Another set of eyes is always helpful.

Amplify your financial content marketing

Install an SEO plugin. I use the free version of the Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress to boost my awareness of how to highlight my keywords.
Learn more about SEO. You can find relevant videos on the Google Webmasters channel on YouTube. Some of them, like “SEO for startups in under 10 minutes,” are short. You can also check out classes on the Google Webmasters website.
Write a social media status update. Promote your content via LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or whatever social media channels work best for you.
Research a blog for a potential guest post. My two-part post, “How to guest-blog on personal finance or investments,” tell you how to approach blogs for guest posts and gives you links to some blogs that accept guest posts.
Pitch a guest post. Email your potential host to propose a guest post.

Hourglass image courtesy of Graphics Mouse at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

The post 10-minute boosts for your financial content marketing appeared first on Susan Weiner's Blog on Investment Writing.

Quit sending press releases as attachments!

Is your goal to get your press releases deleted from the recipients’ email inboxes as quickly as possible? Then continue sending press releases as attachments to your emails. Oh, and here’s another helpful tip: don’t hint at the content of your press release in the body of your email. The body of your email should consist simply of “Here’s your press release for this week.”

If you think my first paragraph is sarcastic, you are right. I do not recommend sending press releases as attachments.

Why sending press releases as attachments is wrong

It is annoying to receive press release emails—indeed, any email—that refer you to an attachment for a reason to learn about the sender’s news. When you send press releases only as attachments, you’re making me 1) take an extra step to find the information I need and 2) expose myself to the risk of viruses in the attachment.

My attention span, like that of most email readers, isn’t very long. “Our initial data indicate that, on average, readers are spending 15-20 seconds on each email they open,” said Loren McDonald, EmailLabs VP Marketing in “Alarming Research Results: Average Email Open Time is 15-20 Seconds — Recommendations for Emailers.” That article appeared on MarketingSherpa back in 2005. I imagine that readers’ attention spans have only shrunk since then.

Improve the odds of my reading your press release

If I must click to open your press release sent as an attachment, you’re demanding too much of my time. At a minimum, you should insert some teaser copy in your email that gives me an incentive to click.

However, even better would be to drop the body of your press release into the body of your email.

Concerned that you’ll lose valuable formatting by dropping your text into email? Then use newsletter software such as MailChimp or Constant Contact to increase your control over the appearance of your release.

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Top posts from 2016’s fourth quarter

Check out my top posts from the last quarter!

They’re a mix of practical tips on marketing (#1, 7, 8, 10), blogging (#2), writing (#3, 5, 6, 9), investment commentary (#4, 6), and newsletters (#7).

Good tips. Repurpose content! “Get more mileage out of your financial webinar or podcast” https://t.co/ExHEQN8e2V via @susanweiner

— MichaelKitces (@MichaelKitces) November 11, 2016

Get more mileage out of your financial webinar or podcast—Recycle your content! It’s one of the best ways to boost your marketing productivity.
Controversial topic spurs LinkedIn discussion
3 ways writers drive investment professionals crazy—This is the flip side of #5.
Market commentary for index investors
Why experts love bad writing
Mind maps: can they win buy-in for your writing?
Print newsletter vs. e-newsletter for financial marketers—Print communications may seem old-fashioned, but they can reach your audience when electronic communications can’t.
4 tips for mutual fund fact sheet templates
Infographic: Manage writing by committee—Many financial writers struggle with this challenge.
6 design tips for your first infographic

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Words to avoid in your investment communications with regular folks

Big words make your readers work harder to grasp your message. This is particularly true of jargon, such as “duration,” unless your piece is strictly for investment professionals.

Below are some words to avoid when communicating with regular folks. Most of them are financial jargon. Others—like “mitigate“—are unnecessarily long or confusing. Replace jargon and long words with shorter, less technical words that pack more punch. They also make it easier for readers to absorb your message.

Accommodative monetary policy
Active share
Alpha
Barbell
Basis points
Constructive, as in “we are constructive on small-cap stocks”
Contango
Convexity
Disseminate
Drawdown
Duration
Ecosystem
Efficient frontier
Expected return
Flight to quality
Headwinds/tailwinds
Inverted yield curve
Levered names
Liquidity
Long/short
Mitigate
Pricing power
Rerate
Reversion to the mean
Risk assets
Risk on/risk off
Risks to the upside
Secular
Sharpe ratio
Spread product—a Google Alert on “spread product” yielded results related to margarine and Vegemite
Tranche

On a related note, don’t use acronyms without first defining them. This means words such as AUM, CAGR, CAPM, CLO, DOL, EBITDA, EPS, LIBOR, MBS, MLP, TTM, YOY, and YTD. It’s often best to avoid acronyms completely. I’ve discussed this in “How to capitalize financial acronyms.”

If you’re writing an educational piece for regular folks

It’s okay, even admirable, to educate your regular Jane or Joe investors about complex financial concepts.

When you write to explain technical vocabulary, make sure you:

Define your terms using plain language. You can introduce the technical terms and then define them using the techniques in “Plain language: Let’s get parenthetical .”
Mention the WIIFM (what’s in it for me) so readers know why they should slog through the explanation.
Explain the benefits of the complex financial concept for regular folks. For example, don’t use a multi-billion dollar pension fund as your key example unless your readers are participants in a similar plan.
Use analogies, where possible, because they’ll stick in your readers’ minds better than dry explanations.

Must you bore sophisticates?

You may worry that your content will bore sophisticated readers if you go easy on technical vocabulary. No, you won’t. Not if you do it right.

Read “How to make one quarterly letter fit clients at different levels of sophistication” for my take on how to keep everybody happy.

If you’re communicating with other investment professionals

Some jargon is okay if your communications go exclusively to other investment professionals. In that context, jargon can act as a kind of shorthand. For example, “basis points” can be used in a way that’s more precise than “percent.” “Spread product” is more concise than the definition of “spread product.”

However, if you’re targeting institutional investors, don’t assume that they’re all sophisticated consumers of investment content. An investment committee, for example, can include less sophisticated members.

Still, there’s no need to make your professional communications overly complex or wordy.

Your suggestions for words to avoid?

If you can suggest words to avoid in your investment communications, please share them in the comments.

Image courtesy of Sira Anamwong at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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20 ways to organize a story

Looking for fresh approaches to your articles or blog posts? Check out this guest post by writer Kate Harold.

20 Ways to Organize a Story

By Kate Harold

When you write story after story like I do, you run the risk of getting stuck in a rut – where your stories can start to feel a bit stale. The standard article format of intro-details-conclusion is functional. However, use it too much and your readers may begin to think Ho-hum.

Stop Your Stories From Falling Flat

How can you keep your writing feeling fresh? Mix things up by altering how you organize what you write. A simple change in structure can help breathe new life into a long list of blog posts or newsletter articles. See if you can liven up your next story using one of these techniques to organize it:

Listicle: A story like this one, based primarily on a list. Often includes a number in the headline.
Q&A
Chart/Charticle: An article with a chart as the leading feature.
Age-based: For topics that cover varying ages, i.e. investing through the years.
Chronological/Timeline
“By the numbers”: Popular with sports statistics, but can be easily be adapted for other industries.
Recipe: Can be engaging when used for non-food-related topics.
Do’s and Don’ts
Whys and Why Nots
How to
Problem/Solution
Step-by-Step Guide: Use numbered steps as subheads.
Quiz
Pros/Cons
Myths/Facts (myth buster)
Slideshow: Group of related photos for online viewing, with short text to accompany each.
Round-up: Several ideas that fall under one theme, with a brief description of each.
Expert Roundtable: Group of experts offering varying insights on a subject.
Then and Now
Did You Know?

A quick glance through this list often helps me think of a subject in a new way. And when you can present a topic in a way that feels new, you can bet your readers will notice.

About Kate Harold

Kate Harold is an award-winning freelance writer, editor and proofreader based in Cincinnati, Ohio. She writes primarily for the healthcare industry, but has covered a hodgepodge of other topics including steel cranes, circus clowns, and caps for spray paint cans. Learn more about her at www.kateharold.com. 

 

Image courtesy of basketman at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

 

 

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