We see on television daily examples of how to appear to be saying something useful whilst in fact obfuscating. Some politicians have brought this to an art form. They can speak for minutes when, in theory, answering a question but later review will show that they said nothing in reply. Email software encourages you to do the exact opposite. Say little and explain a lot.

There is lots of research into how a reader will approach an email and what processes they go through when deciding whether to delete it. Whilst the conclusions vary to a great extent most agree in or around it taking readers less than ten seconds to make up their minds. You need to get in quickly and overwhelm. Waffling isn’t an option.

You might wonder what the most important aspect of the marketing email is. Some say pictures, some say the banner and others the copy. Many feel that the way the email as a whole is presented is the real clincher. 

We want a reader of an email to do something specific: click through being the norm. So anything that confuses, delays or bewilders is to be avoided and the simplest method of ensuring this is to keep it simple. You have to click with your readers, establish some form of relationship, but from then on it is sell, sell, sell.

It is no exaggeration to say that every word must have a purpose. If you can reduce the copy by 15% then you must reduce the copy. The pictures need to be understood at a glance and a quick one at that, so no detail.

Email software will be designed to facilitate keeping things simple. However it requires input from you. Focus on limiting what you put in. If the product necessitates including technical detail or similar, then you have the option of a click through to another page or, perhaps, the detail being included further on in the email.

There is an old engineering adage: simplify and add lightness. For us it is simplify and increase sales.