Email marketing is still a cornerstone channel in the world of golf course marketing. With that, golf facilities are always looking for new ways to improve their email marketing strategy. For many, this has meant writing longer, more descriptive emails, containing multiple promotions or messages within a single email. Unfortunately, this leads to confusion and loss of interest, which yields less of the positive engagement you’re looking for.
By the title of this article, you should already know what we’re recommending. Shorten up your emails! But let’s get into the reason why.
With a Changing World Come Changing Marketing Strategies
With the majority of emails being read on mobile devices these days, long-form emails are quickly fading away. On mobile, reading long emails can be trying, especially if your emails don’t format correctly on your device(!). We also have less time, shorter attention spans, and more “fluff” to sort through than ever before. Users prefer bite-sized pieces of information that are to the point and easily digestible.
How Long is Too Long?
Keep in mind the purpose of each email. Is it to inform your members of course changes? Then it may be appropriate to be a little longer. Is the goal of the email to sell gift cards for the holidays? A few sentences is probably plenty. We’re not going to give you a magic word count, just use your discretion. One thing is for certain, however, shorter emails with a clear call-to-action receive higher click-through rates, so it’s in your best interest to be more concise.
No More Multi-Message Emails
If you’re currently in the habit of sending out a weekly or bi-weekly email blast containing all of the specials and happenings at the course all in one email, it’s time to rethink that strategy. By breaking specials and events into their own, separate email, you’re going to see high open rates (due to a more specific subject line) and better conversion rates. Rather than forcing your customers to comb through a long email to find the parts that are pertinent to them, they’ll be able to read the subject line alone and know if it’s something they care to read more about. It’s already difficult enough to get your customers to open emails, don’t make it harder for yourself or them. A good rule of thumb is that if you have more than one call-to-action, then you should separate into two different email campaigns.
Ditch the Fluff
Fluff is commonly referred to as “sales copy”. While we agree, some things require a bit of selling on the course’s end, it’s important to limit the words used to get the point across. A great way to avoid unnecessary fluff, while still selling your offer is through the use of bullet points. You can list all of the features and benefits that help excite the customer, without overwhelming them with text.
Another strategy is to let images and graphics to some of the talking for you. While it’s not a good idea to have too many images in your emails, images can help you sell your product or service better than words can. A thoughtful graphic over the correct image will get the point across without using paragraphs of text to do so. It also limits the amount the customer has to read and digest.
Don’t Overdo It
We often see courses dump hours and hours of time into a single email campaign that ends up suffering from poor performance due to its length. Generally speaking, the worst offenders here are the overachievers. They believe that the more time they sink into an email blast, the better it will be. The unfortunate truth is that’s not the case. Oftentimes the best email campaigns are created in minutes and contain just a few sentences. In parting, I’d like to leave you with one thing to remember during your email marketing efforts: don’t overdo it.
