Besides the noble art of getting things done,
there is the noble art of leaving things
undone. The wisdom of life consists in the
elimination of non-essentials.
Lin Yutang
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The best things in life are nearest: Breath
in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers
at your feet, duties at your hand, the path
of right just before you.
Robert Louis Stevenson
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It is not how much space there is, but rather
how it is used. It is not how much
information there is, but rather how
effectively it is organized.
Edward Tufte
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Business writing, like life, is better kept
simple. From web content to sales
presentations, the fewer the words, the
stronger your message. Today, when people are
more likely to scan than read, your words
have to pop with purpose. Each well-chosen
word has to compel your impatient reader to
click or call ... to buy or believe. In
short, when you want to amplify, simplify.
Here are four
tips (PDF) on sparing the words to
sharpen the message.
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| HOT POINT |
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Optimize Your E-mail Marketing
Here are three e-mail marketing insights from
the Minnesota
Interactive Marketing Association (MIMA)
Summit
that we attended on October 5th.
- 73% of readers decide whether to open an
e-mail or report it as spam based on the
"from" address.
- 49 characters or fewer make the most
effective subject line.
- Your company name in the subject
line adds clarity and credibility. For
example, Acme Shoes: October Sale.
Want more? You can access many of the MIMA
Summit
presentations now.
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| WORDWISE |
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Goodbye FTAF, Hello SWYN
What would we do without acronyms ... other
than communicate more clearly? Here's a
relatively new one related to e-mail
marketing. Instead of encouraging people
to forward to a friend (FTAF), the
newest call to action is to compel readers to
share with your network (SWYN).
SWYN enables marketers to tap into social
networks by making it easy for readers to
share content via social sites such as
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, MySpace and Digg.
Evidently SWYN wins the results race:
According to MediaPost,
the forward rate for FTAF is about 0.7%; SWYN
reportedly achieves two to three times that.
We thought the new abbreviation also works
well for stale words yield nothing or
start wildly yelling now – both
appropriate in the face of too many acronyms.
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| HIGH POINT HIGHLIGHTS |
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CCEFP: Membership Renewal Campaign
The Center for
Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP)
is an engineering research center with
administrative offices at the University of
Minnesota. The Center is supported by a grant
from the National Science Foundation as well
as funding from industry partners. When it
was time to ask these partners to renew their
membership pledge, the Center looked to High
Point Creative to create a simple yet
compelling campaign.
We created three pieces for the membership
renewal request – a letter, a fact
sheet and a lift letter – to help raise the
response rate. The letter spoke directly to
executives, reminding them of all the
benefits they gain by partnering with the
Center. The fact sheet showcased the Center's
outstanding achievements "by the numbers" and
what advantages those achievements give to
the industry partners. Finally, we
interviewed several members to hear what they
really had to say, then used some of those
quotes in the lift letter.
Phone: 651-426-4012
E-mail:
newsletter@highpointcreative.com
Web:
www.highpointcreative.com
On Point: Subscribe
now or find
previous issues in the archive.
About: For 20 years, High Point
Creative has delivered smart creative
solutions with a focus on strategic thinking,
effective copywriting and flawless execution.
Look to us to provide the right words for
your next project.
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