You may have noticed that some emails you receive from top marketing gurus are three or four sentences tops. Other emails contain paragraph after paragraph of long, scrolling copy that seems to go on forever.
Some small business owners swear by “the scroll,” while others insist that short and sweet can’t be beat.
So which email style is right for your small business and your customers?
Here’s the long and short of it:
Short and Sweet Email Copy
Pros: Short email advocates swear by the method because of its power to create curiosity.
Without a lot of text, the copy you do use can pack a bigger punch. Strategically placed links in short emails encourage the reader to click in order to find out more information (and purchase your product!)
Short emails are also less intimidating for those who don’t consider themselves “readers” and might feel overwhelmed by multiple paragraphs.
Cons: It’s difficult to develop trust with just a sentence or two, and your audience might not take the bait and click your link if they don’t know you very well.
Also, super short emails, while highlighting a strong call to action, don’t give you an opportunity to address your customer’s potential objections.
Long, Scrolling Email Copy
Pros: With long emails, you have endless opportunities to insert multiple links, highlight affiliate offers, and appeal to a wider audience.
Long emails also give you a chance to usher your reader through your sales funnel right from their inbox – you can highlight all of the benefits of your product/service, answer all of their objections, and guide them toward the purchase.
By the time they click a link, they’ve already made up their mind to buy (or not buy).
Cons: Long emails might distract the reader from the call to action you want them to complete, especially if you include lots of affiliate links.
Some people may only skim the email when they see how long it is, missing out on crucial benefits and important information.
Finally, long emails don’t work as well when it comes to creating a sense of curiosity, because the information they contain already answers all of your customer’s questions.
The Verdict:
The style of email marketing you choose should cater to your customers’ tastes. If you are an author and have built a platform around storytelling, your audience will most likely be open to reading longer emails.
If, however, you’re in a more visual field like web design, short copy will focus attention where you need it most – on your graphics and visuals.
If you’re still not sure what your audience will respond to, try this test: create content for two separate emails, but make sure those emails have the same call to action.
For example, let’s say you want your customers to sign up for your upcoming webinar.
Send a short email to half of your list, and a long email to the other half of your list.
Check back in a few days (remember people don’t always get to their email right away) and see what your click-through rate is. Which email sent more people to your webinar sign up page?
Keep in mind that you may need to toggle back and forth between styles depending on what you’re promoting. A short email may work well for a webinar, while a long email might be great for a live event or course.
Which email style are you currently using? Is it working? Why or why not?
Post your thoughts and comments below!
Lowell Sandoval says
Simple is in. Complex and long explanations are out. Know who you are talking to, why and what you want them to do.
Lily Mensah Yeboah says
Short and with bullet points. If you need to say more, add an attachment.
Pieter Kop CFM says
For those interested in more, there should be additional information available. Attachement, a link or call to action.
Christopher Mensah says
Simple, short gets home to readers best.
Robert Herridge says
Short enough to be impactful. Long enough to have enough substance to show you actually know what you’re talking about!
Michael Lapp says
Short email with attachment covers different styles.
Luci Matthews says
I think most people today are busy, therefore if they see a long e-mail with a lot of text, they are automatically inclined not to read it as they feel they don’t have time. I am guilty of this, or marking the e-mail as unread then never getting chance to return to it later. If they can glance at the e-mail, get the gist, then if they are interested, they can be pointed in the right directions, as Pieter mentions, an attachment, a link or a call to action. What is your opinion Sydni, you are probably in a better position to advise what works best?
Tijs Jansen says
In my experience long messages are nor red completely. Therefore I use short to the point mails. Tijs J.
Tamara Beck says
Everyone who reads emails, and that’s mostly everyone, will tell you that they skip the long ones and go on to the shorter ones. This suggests that you should follow suit by sending short messages to your prospects. Direct marketers from the old days when mail meant only the snail kind, will tell you that longer letters got them better results. We have a dilemma, that perhaps @Michael Lapp has a good solution to, short email with longer attachemrnt detailing and repeating your message.
Gabriel Nuncius says
My preference is… longer is better and more informative. However people’s patience is directly proportionate to their active listening skills; if they are not good active listeners during in-person verbal communication they tend to get frazzled by long emails or even long articles or long videos. Perhaps because it feels like they are being forced to listen, so to speak, even though they are reading. And often people assume too quickly, judge too quickly, reject too quickly, thus possibly manifests in being unable to read long messages. I don’t get frazzled by long emails because in person I am capable of being a good listener without interrupting others. And the amount of learning and data I acquire because of this (rare) skill becomes addictive to me, and thus is why I also like enjoying reading long emails. One thing I personally hate with sales emails or sales websites though… too much verbage regarding ‘have you ever wanted to live the good life and drive a nice car?’ blah, blah, blah stuff. But send me a long email, I will read it all. Short and sweet though seems to be more accepted by others in general. As a side note which is slightly related, someone recently told me something that was funny: if you write long posts on social media sites it is often viewed as “babbling”. And I have been accused of that too often. But if you instead publish the long post on a blog and link to it, then magically (lol) it becomes valid; you are no longer a “babbler” but instead are a “writer”. General (sarcastic) rule of thumb: people are morons, keep it short and sweet.
Kevin Markl says
It depends what the purpose/goal of the email is.
If you are just trying to provide information, the email is likely going to be longer than trying to achieve a specific call to action where you’ll want to keep it shorter/to the point.
Mike Mecredy says
Short is IN.
Most of these comments are short as well. Congrats all.
Dennis Dilday, D.C. says
I vote for “just right”. Emails can be many things but to me email is a communication tool. As with all other communication, I try to anticipate the needs of the receiver and make it easy for them to take the next step (understand and see the next step at least).
I like short, but not everything can be expressed in a sound bite. Email is fabulous because while in the email the focus is on the 6 journalistic questions, it can also have the links to the longer stories.
I also use several techniques within the email that make it easy for people to skip to the good stuff or get more detail Sydni
Aline Guetta Dinoia says
I would say short. when the email is long, I read the first sentence and the last sentence. No time to read 100 emails per day.
Audrey Huddleston says
I really enjoyed your rhyme, “short and sweet can’t be beat”, it adds a fun flair to the article. I personally prefer short emails (you are trying to communicate not write a novel) so I tend to stick to this style when sending emails.