Long emails vs short emails: Which is the winner?

There's always debate about which are better long emails, or short ones. Here's a recount of a recent experience that yielded some surprising results!

I sent my longest email ever last week.

Yes, as a marketer I was hesitant because I KNOW that people prefer generally short. 

I was nervous my open rate would tank.

That the Unsubscribes would pile up. 

But to my relief, they didn't.

Instead, within minutes of sending it I had replies from people with lots of Wow, lots of Love and all the feels.

I even got messages from people saying they don’t normally read long emails but they read this one to the end, were inspired and wanted to take action.

So yes, it absolutely did it's job!

What the data showed...

For those of you that like a good spot of data, here's how the numbers stacked up so far. 

Open Rate - a nice healthy 37%

Interestingly, the open rate was slightly less than usual (slightly low, as mine usually sit at about 40-45%)

But the unsubscribe rate was unaffected so seems people weren’t too bothered.

Phew!

And there was no "Clicks" for this one, as the CTA (call-to-action) was to hit reply and respond.

(Which apart from getting me into a conversation with people who are a good fit to work with me, does wonders for email deliverability when so many people actually respond to a mass email)

And in short the people who needed to read it did, and those that needed to respond, did that as well.

Was there a a strategy?

I also got some valuable insights about how people respond to length. 

Including one very considered and kind email from someone who told me she does love my stuff but didn’t read that one because they flipped out when they saw how long it was.

She is a Marketing Director and was curious about whether I had a strategy behind it.

Because (to her credit) she had been noticing that I had been talking about clarity and simplicity and "getting to the point" with your messaging and this seemed to be "at odds" with a longer style email. 

And the answer is Yes.

Yes - in that my strategy was to take people through a train of thought to unpack some of the insights I'm seeing day in and day out where business owners are missing it.

And what the ones who are nailing it are doing differently to the ones that aren't. 

And from there present a compelling case for my Thought Leadership Accelerator is the most awesome solution for anyone struggling with it. 

But the thing is my Thought Leadership Accelerator is not for everyone. 

I do have people apply I don't think are a good fit, (and I let them know that!). Because in full integrity I only want to work with people I know will get amazing results inside my program. 

So I do aim to filter and screen people who apply as much as possible. 

There was so much value at the top of the email, I was confident that if anyone made it down to where I talked about my program, they had "qualified" themself as a "good fit". If they resonated with that messaging. 

And in this instance, it worked. As I didn't have any people responding (as I often do) who aren't a good fit. 

Breaking the Rules...

But what about long emails and clear messaging. Isn't it too much, I hear you ask?

Not if people want to read it. 

And if they already know what you're about.

When it comes to being succinct and clear in your messaging, it's not just about the number of words.

It's also about the sharpness of the message.

Consistency of the message. 

Even varying up the delivery of the message to drive the same single point home. 

The majority of the time it does serve best to keep messages bite-size, consist and succinct.

But rules are made to be broken right.

The key is you need to know WHICH RULE you are breaking and WHY - and do a cost/benefit analysis on whether it's worth it!

An even more powerful factor at play.

Yet while there was a strategy behind it in this instance, regardless of the approach I take - there's something else that I lean into, even more strongly.

And that's INTENTION.

Whether you like it or not, marketing is metaphysical as well as practical. 

I believe that whatever energy I whole-heartedly and intentionally put behind an email (or blog, or social media post, or video) is how it is received.

And that can transcend the actual content itself. 

So I don't sit there and over-analyse every single world.

I simply don't have time for that.

I trust myself, I trust my audience, and I trust people will pick up on my intention.

And that's enough for me. 

Listening to your Audience.

I completely understand people have different learning styles.

Some people like to read, others like to "see" and others need to "experience".

So I know that reading long emails is not for everyone. 

Later in the day, another lady I know sent me a Voicemail (about something else) but in it mentioned she saw my message then looked at the length and didn't read it because long emails "scare her".

And because I make a point to listen to what people say, and take it on board, even though the majority were clearly fine with it, I decided to try a different approach to meet the rest where they are at. 

What happened next?

Now, in the interest of "testing" and gathering more data, I decided to do a "shorter" version of this email and see how that lands. 

Stay tuned, I'll post the results here soon. 
 

What do you think?

Would you read a long email if it was from someone you enjoyed hearing from and you found their content valuable?

Or do you switch off and only read short ones? I'd love to know!

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Would you like insights like this in your inbox each week? I publish the best stuff to my email list first of all, and then eventually it finds its way onto the blog. So if you want in on the action and the best stuff ahead of the pack, click here now. 


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nina Christian is a Marketing & Brand Strategist who is all about doing marketing in a more connected and human way. She helps business leaders and social-change-makers use thought leadership content to build their authority and widen their impact.

She is the Director of Braveda, (est 2000), which was recognised as  "Best Marketing Agency" at the Australian Marketing Excellence Awards.

She is a Certified Practicing Marketer (CPM), a Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute & AMI State Chair (Vic) and runs two businesses of her own.

She has a knack for simplifying the complex which comes from being a hands-on mum to five young children, and uses this to turn time-sucking activities into easy to follow systems and processes that get outcomes fast.