Being personal is IN. Gone are the days when people used to go with template sign off messages or subscription invitations to company newsletters, that sounded machine rather than man. For example – Enter your email Id has now become: Stay tuned to our interesting updates.
Thanks for joining us has now become: We are glad you joined us.
A slight twist in the tone is doing wonders – not too great but yet noticeable.
Social Media sharing buttons now have interesting texts like – Sharing is Sexy / It’s Good to share / If you liked it, others will too / Why not share & spread goodness / etc, etc.
Recently I received a Thank You note from a leading Internet Marketer on subscribing to his newsletter. It was as below:
—-
Hey
Thanks for joining XYZ!
If I could write about 1 thing to make your day better, what would it be?
P.S. – I read all mails 🙂
—-
What you see above is an exact replica of the mail I received on subscribing and this is what he sends to everyone, yet it feels as if the question has been asked just to you.
How great it feels. You are being asked of your opinion. A mere thanks is now becoming very very redundant (pun) and a marketer should now play with words to make sure that one doesn’t feel like subscribing to yet another newsletter.
Similarly the sign offs are being worked out in a very interesting manner to end the mail on an engaging and appealing note.
So it’s not just – Regards and Warm Wishes, but something like – Stay warm this cold season/Let’s meet over a cup of coffee to take this forward / Waiting for your tring-tring (yes I received one such), etc, etc.
I am so glad to see the tough-to-handle internet world turning soft and warm in words and following a affectionate approach towards connecting online.
The Rodinhoods weekly newsletters are yet another example of this. It has a warm feel in its way of beginning and ending, the manner the conversation is prepared and because there is no particular format to it. The sole purpose of it appears to be just one – to share with you what there is.
I would love to hear from you on what you think and have you ever tried being personal with your Signature/Subscription/or sign offs. Any example which you would like to share? 🙂
This article was originally published here.
asha chaudhry
very neat topic anamika!
i think it’s very very important to be personal, interesting, but genuine to break through the clutter created by social media. be it a newsletter or an official note. it is so difficult to engage and be remembered when the person you’re sending an email to is bombarded with thousands of msgs a day. so you have to stand out!
personally, being a writer, i make it a point to send out memorable emails when i can (i have canned responses as well, but i make it a point to write the person’s name at least!). my husband (a sr creative director/writer of many years and who is not generous with his compliments) admits, “email toh tum achha hi likhti ho…” 🙂
thanks for appreciating trhs newsletters. i keep reminding alok, that even i look fwd to his newsletter so i can imagine how the rest of the 4400+ members feel 🙂
i’ll try to pull out some examples if i can – but i remember sending an email query to an e-comm company and getting a reply from the founder himself!!! that left me impressed. and guess what? he is now a rodinhooder and a good friend. yeah… i need to share that story one of these days as well…..
Anamika Joshi
Thanks Asha.. You have simply added all the points which I missed in the article – breaking the clutter/keeping it memorable/sounding genuine even while being personal..
And yes Rodinhoods newsletters are always a delight – all because they sound very warm and genuine. Share your experience soon with us. WaitinG!!
asha chaudhry
this post of alok’s might interest you anamika (in case you haven’t already read it!)
https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/e-mail-signatures-and-out-of-…
E-Mail signatures and out of office messages – can they be creative?
We generate and respond to tons of e-mails everyday.
Beyond the content in them, I think e-mail endings and out of office messages require some thought!
Here is some inspiration!
This is my e-mail sign off (as on 25-08-2012-12pm onwards)
– The “keep parking” goes to a bit.ly bundle that has links of some case studies and presentations of our #1 game Parking Frenzy – See this
The idea is to get the recipient of the mail to be intrigued by your business.
Suggestion – Say or link something at the end of your mail that almost begs for action (other than obviously hitting reply to your mail).
If you don’t have anything unique, at least insert a link to a nice section of your website and describe it well (Example call it ‘Our Wall of Fame’ and link it to your case studies).
Don’t put just a dumb weblink to the home page of your site!
– I shamelessly add my personal blog/s links on e-mails.
I am not sure if this is good corporate culture and is even allowed in MNCs, etc. I get away with it.
If you can, you should add a link to a blog/photo album/site that defines you as an individual. Could be your passion, your hobby, anything!
– I was inspired this morning to add a disclaimer for my 2win colleagues not to reply to my mails on the weekend.
I got a subtle message from one of them last week indicating that reading office e-mails over the wekend was not their priority.
Completely agree!
Unfortunately my days are blurred and I work and play as and when I feel inspired. When I notice something or have an inspiration, I e-mail people…
Hence this disclosure.
– Out of office message/holiday messages:
This is what I had created last time:
OOF (Out of Office) e-mail is a tricky one.
It depends on the business your run, the protocols, etc. etc.
I added this message and much to my surprise, the Asia CEO of PR Newswire visited me out of intrigue (thanks to the India office sending her this forward)!
I just wanna make people smile when I mail them – even if I’m not around!
The statutory warning stuff…
Oh, I forgot. People still have some strange, wikipedic sounding garbage legalese at the end of their mails.
The ‘anything you say, do, can do, will not do, have done…will be done…can be done…has not been done… is not liable for…. etc. etc. ‘stuff’ extends for a few miles.
When you (unfortunately) print out a mail with this kinda kachra, the printer runs out of paper and ink ‘coz the garbage has more content in it, than the mail.
Never understood it. Never read it. Never will.
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What do you mail? Do you have ideas and things you do that you could share?
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Anamika Joshi
Thanks a lot Asha for sharing.. I remember reading this. But its always good to re-learn some amazing lessons!