10 Tips of Email Writing
Acknowledgements
This presentation was created by Lauren Miller in conjunction with New Organizing
Institute.
These new media materials have been developed over the course of many trainings
by Lola Elfman, Lauren Miller, Matt Compton, Ben Simon, Larry Huynh, Nate Thames,
Becky Bond, Michael Silberman, Mia Cambronero, Adam Green, Jason Rosenbaum,
Colin Holtz and many others.
Restrictions of Use
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• You may modify the work, provided that the attribution to the New Organizing
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What can email do for you?
Reach people quickly & cheaply
Activate people to take action
Enhance what you’re doing
everywhere else
A few key principles
It’s about everything else you’re
doing
It’s about story telling
It’s about number crunching
So how to I write an email?
Basic structure of an email
1st sentence:
Attention grabber
Try to keep it to one
sentence. One line if
possible.
Basic structure of an email
2nd paragraph:
Summary. Why are you
sending this email?
Avoid too many facts,
figures. That’s what the
rest of the email is for.
Basic structure of an email
3rd-4th paragraph: Take
Action.
What do you want
people to do?
What is the theory of
change?
Basic structure of an email
Links
Stand-alone (separate from
paragraphs)
Should you hyperlink text or
write out urls? It depends
Don’t just use picture links
Basic structure of an email
After the link
2-4 more paragraphs with
background info, quotes,
bullets, etc.
Repeat your theory of
change, action, link
10 tips for better emails
1. Keep it short.
People don’t want to read a long essay.
2. Think about your subject line.
Be concise
(5-7 words)
Grab attention,
but don’t cry wolf
Be creative
Don’t be too
wonky
Good Subject Lines
Can I dial you in?
(DCCC)
For your eyes only (YES
to Fairer Votes)
I agree with George W.
Bush (Howard Dean)
Missing you (Kiva.org)
We’re 54.7% sure…
(Families USA)
Spill baby spill (Brave
New Films)
Bad Subject Lines
The ____ Update
June 2011 Newsletter
Tell your Senators to
vote no on S. 2191
Urgent FEC Deadline
Maryland GOP Calls
for End to New Poll
Tex for Absentee
Ballot Voters
3. Keep it conversational.
Snarky is ok.
A formal letter isn’t.
Have voices,
personalities in
your email.
4. Never send an email without
an action…
All you can do is unsubscribe.
Sign a petition
Write a letter
Tell a friend
Watch a video
Follow us on Facebook
or Twitter
Call Congress
Make a donation
Share your story
Give us your
feedback
Attend an event
4b …But don’t ask people to do
a million things.
Multiple actions
confuse/overwhel
m
Splits the returns of
your actions
Better solution:
Segmentation &
Daisy Chain
5. Ask people what they want.
Surveys are good for you and your list.
Find out more
about your list
Solicit new
ideas
Make your
members feel
like they’re
part of the
team
6. Treat new supporters differently.
Make a good first impression.
Send an intro message describing your org & what
you’ll be asking them to do.
Don’t ask for money – but don’t wait too long.
7. Keep formatting simple.
Use images sparingly.
Compelling buttons
can help action rates
Most don’t matter
Don’t hold up an email
for an image
Don’t make your
whole email an image
7. Keep formatting simple.
Avoid fancy formatting.
You are not
writing direct mail
Fancy formatting
distracts from links
8. Timing is everything.
Sometimes it’s better to be
the 1st than to be the best.
General wisdom:
Tuesday-Thursday late
morning
In reality: Whenever
something urgent
happens
9. Checklist your emails.
One bad mistake can ruin
your email.
Ask someone who
didn’t write it to
proofread it
Ask someone to click
every link & take every
action
10. Test & Segment Your emails
Tests:
Sender name/format
Subject lines
Time of day
Images (including
headers)
Length
Links
Landing pages
Segments:
Geography
Donation history
Past actions taken
Signup date
Whatever you’ve
got
Landing Pages
Landing Pages: Keep it simple.
Make sure it’s clear
what you want
people to do
Limit the number of:
Distractions
Fields
Clicks
Landing Pages: Daisy Chain
You don’t have to
just send people to
a “thank you” page
Prioritize based on
what you need
most:
Tell a friend
Donate
Events
Other actions
Why plan emails?
To avoid the blinking cursor paralysis.
To make them part of a larger campaign.
To have more time to write better emails.
To have get better content.
To get something done!
1. What are your goals?
1. What are your goals?
Online goals:
Offline goals:
List growth?
Pass a bill?
Fundraising?
Save the….
(puppies, seals, unicorns)?
User generated content?
Twitter/facebook
followers
Events?
Volunteers?
Press attention?
Drive a news story?
2. What are your resources?
2. What are your resources?
Email list?
Volunteers on the ground?
Friendly bloggers? An organizational blog?
A technology platform?
Allied organizations/partners?
Online advertising budget?
Video capabilities?
Other technology abilities?
3. What are your key moments?
3. What are your key moments:
online and offline milestones?
Internal news
External news
Media
Personal stories
Holidays/Days of Importance
Other solicitations
Is this a long or short campaign?
Are there deadlines
you must meet?
Moments along the
way that you can
highlight?
4. What are your segments?
Do you need different emails
for different people?
Action takers/non-action takers
Geography
Interest
How they joined the list
Donation history
Demographics
Superactivists vs. Lurkers
4. What can people do to really
help?
What is your theory of change?
Get a grid.
Plug in your offline
activities/milestones as the
base.
Petition: When will you be delivering it?
Events: Should we invite them? Ask them to donate
or share? What can people do if they can’t attend?
Videos/ads/offline materials: Can the list contribute
content? Money? Share?
Reports/research: Can they comment? Debunk it?
Share?
Fill in the rest.
Kicker messages
Follow-up results messages
Donation messages
Other creative things you can give
people to do
How much email is too much
email?
How often do you have something
urgent and meaningful to say?
Quarterly
Almost
certainly
too little
Monthly
TYPICAL
Credit: Idealware
Weekly
Daily
Probably
too much
Sample Campaign:
Debbie Shank has paid enough
Debbie Shank has paid enough
Goal: To stop a lawsuit.
Resources: 100,000 person email list. Petition &
Speakout technology. Contact with the family.
Timing: Debbie’s well-being was in jeopardy
Segments: People who signed/didn’t sign
petition; frequent letter-writers; Facebook
followers
Theory of change: By shaming Wal-Mart, they’d
drop the lawsuit.
What did we do?
Launched a
petition
(email and
Facebook)
Wrote letters to
Wal-Mart’s top
management
Wrote to news
outlets to
cover the story
It worked.
It worked.
Never let the grid stop you from taking
advantage of key moments.
Thank You To:
Lauren Miller
lauren@bluestatedigital.com
@laurenm
www.neworganizing.com
@neworganizing