What Iron Man Can Teach You About Great Open Rates

Today’s post is by Matthew Setter of Very Web Written.

What is it that makes people want to read what we write? What makes readers on our mailing list drop what they’re doing when our emails come in and read them straightaway, without delay?

Well, there are a lot of theories and much conjecture, but I believe it’s this: being bold! Don’t write passively and don’t write apologetically. Get out there, loud and proud and be bold.

And how are we bold? We’re bold by emulating Iron Man.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock in the last year or two, you’ll have heard about the new Iron Man movies. When Captain America asks, “Big man in a suit of armor, take that off; what are you?”, Iron Man’s alter ego, Tony Stark, replies, “Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.”

Some might see that response as arrogant, narcissistic or hubristic. I disagree. When you want people to notice your product or read about your service, you need to be bold. Why?

Because There’s Too Much Noise!

In 2011, according to Pingdom:

You don’t need me to tell you that that’s a lot of noise you have to rise above to be heard. Now, agreeably, a lot of the blogs won’t be used for long, a lot of the tweets are rubbish and the emails instantly deleted.

But it shows that as a society we’re becoming increasingly desensitized to people wanting our attention. We have to be, to stay sane. Wouldn’t you agree? As a result, as writers, marketers and promoters, we have to be constantly on our game, targeting our message in fresh, innovative and bold ways.

How Can We Be Bold?

Boldness comes in many forms, shapes and sizes. Here are some of the best descriptions of it:

“striking or conspicuous; challenging; not hesitating to break the rules; beyond the usual limits of conventional thought, action or imagination”

That’s a lot to take in, so I’m going to boil it down to 3 simple ways in which you can be bold, be daring and engage with your readers and get your message read.

1. Be Compelling

com-pel (verb) – to force or drive, especially to a course of action.
Are you writing in a way that forces or drives your reader to want to open your email and read your content – and then to take action? What journey do you build for your reader? Do you have a metaphor, a journey or a series?

Andreas from London Cyclist, another Aweber user gives two great ideas:

How do you compel your reader to engage with and remember you, your product, your message?

2. Be Thought Provoking

When you’re thought provoking, you engage with your audience. The Australian company Small Business, Big Marketing is great at this.

Its marketers don’t play things by the book or do things the “normal” way. Why? It doesn’t work. They really get people and know how to engage with them by stimulating their imagination, enticing them into conversation – a lot like the great directorial master, Alfred Hitchcock.

They’re constantly presenting different ways to catch the readers attention, just like this recent post on their Facebook page. It brought in a raft of funny and witty comments, making them memorable.

3. Know the Rules – Then Break Them

There are so many rules to email marketing, but I won’t bore you to death by repeating them. They’re not wrong and they all have their place, but if you follow all of them, then you’re just like everyone else. How about:

Be contrarian in your approach. If everybody’s writing long emails with loads of copy, write short, pointed and witty ones, like Seth Godin.

If everyone’s using plain text, use videos like Crystal Gouldey suggests.

If everyone’s using beautiful, artistic, eye-catching HTML email, use simple text.

If they’re writing War and Peace, use one word. Apple is a classic case of less is more. Beauty isn’t always in what you put in, but what you take out.

In Conclusion…

So when you’re next sitting down to write your emails, take time to consider how you can be bold, how you can connect with your readers needs in ways that are both compelling and thought provoking. How can you stand out and be bold by breaking accepted conventions of how things work?

Over To YOU!

What innovative ways to you compel your reader to act? How do you draw in your readers in inspiring and thought provoking ways?

Tell us all.

Matthew Setter is a freelance writer, technical editor and proofreader. His mission is to help businesses present their online message in an engaging and compelling way so they’re noticed and remembered.
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14 Comments

  1. Palo-Negro

    Thanks for the post. This is filled with great advice, this is a challenging market and you have to be unique to get noticed. Good example with your article title.

    6/28/2012 4:08 pm
  2. Matthew Setter

    Hi Palo,

    I’m really glad you enjoyed the post. Unique’s right. With so much noise, you have to differentiate. It can be such a fun game as well to think up and test different ideas and concepts.

    Best,

    Matt

    6/29/2012 3:28 pm
  3. Liudas

    Hi,
    My eye caught on this line:

    “112 emails were sent per day”

    Is this really true?

    6/30/2012 9:58 am
  4. Nathan Dippie

    There really is some good information in here! I also think another important concept to stand out from all the noise is to be controversial! As you said break the rules… often by saying something bold and against the grain will evoke a response and debate which will be great for traffic and getting your name out there. Thanks for sharing your other great tips.

    6/30/2012 10:15 am
  5. Kent

    Agree with you. But before we can be bold, make sure that we have bold quality otherwise this is a double-edged sword.

    6/30/2012 11:11 am
  6. Matthew Setter

    Liudas, I’d say that that figure was a bit of an understatement. Email’s so integrated into our daily lives, both business and personal that it’s hard not to imagine such a figure.

    7/2/2012 8:26 am
  7. Matthew Setter

    Nathan,

    that’s a good point, but I’d say do it in a thoughtful, intriguing, compelling way, not like a shock-jock from the radio. Make it really grabbing, but not just noise.

    7/2/2012 8:27 am
  8. Matthew Setter

    Kent,

    exactly! There’s no point just being loud. We have to deliver real meat every time so that people have a reason to listen to us and they can take away value from what we write.

    Matt

    7/2/2012 8:28 am
  9. Nathan Dippie

    Matthew,

    Yes it needs to be intriguing and truthful, most importantly it needs to add value to the debate/topic. But you shouldn’t shy away from difficult or contentious material, as this is often the sort of subject that can really drive people to interact with you.

    You’re right though making noise for noise sake is pointless!

    Thanks again.

    7/2/2012 11:40 am
  10. Andrew Youderian

    One more tip – be selective. When we get a lead’s email, we’ve earned a certain amount of goodwill and trust. Each mailing we send either ads to or detracts from that level of trust and rapport.

    So don’t broadcast a message just because it’s been a week since your last message! Make sure every message is full of interesting material for your audience. Otherwise, you’ll soon lose them….

    7/2/2012 3:06 pm
  11. Larry Prevost

    Matthew,

    I agree with Andrew’s point that we also need to be selective. Much of what you outline in the post is applicable to opening a sales call and sales reps can gain insights from this. Yeah, in sales, we have to get our get our prospect’s attention, just like an email campaign. But before that can happen we need to be selective in who we approach, again just like an email campaign. Once we have that audience, then it’s time to pull out the stops and rise above the noise by being bold.

    Your stats paint a grim picture. The typical individual will wonder how they can compete in a world filled with that much stuff. The answer is to be uniquely you, but to express it boldly.

    If you have sales reps who are struggling with their prospects, send this post to them.

    7/5/2012 11:25 am
  12. Matthew Setter

    Nathan,

    You’re so right mate – contentious material gets remembered. I don’t remember who said it, but I think the saying goes: If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything. And people want real value. So if you get in there and have something worth listening to, you’re definitely going to stand out.

    Matt

    7/5/2012 3:45 pm
  13. Matthew Setter

    Andrew,

    that’s a really good point. I used to “just get something out there” for quite some time when I started blogging because I thought that “I had to”. Now I always get a post out once a week, but do my best to proof it a number of times to ensure I’ve done my best to deliver clear value.

    As you rightly say, people sign up to our newsletters because of trust. So we need to work extra hard to keep earning that trust and keep them coming back – as well as letting others know about the value that they’ve found in us.

    I’d love your suggestions on a good self litmus test.

    Matt

    7/5/2012 3:48 pm
  14. Matthew Setter

    Hey Larry,

    thanks for the feedback and for the tweet about it too. There’s so much on today, whether it’s X-Factor, great science programs or all the controversy’s going on every which way.

    Being selective is coming up quite a lot and seems the best way to avoid the noise and hone in on what counts. I really appreciate yourself and Andrew pointing that out. It seems much simpler and more effective to work with the people that you can best serve than try and be a jack-of-all trades.

    Thanks for the feedback and I’m glad this post has helped you out.

    Matt

    7/5/2012 3:51 pm

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