But there are times and places where you have to rely on words alone to create a scene and engage your reader.

Microcontent, as defined by Jakob Nielsen, is short content that needs to be immediately clear and inviting to a reader, and which still make sense when removed from its original context.

Many writers use adjectives and adverbs as their go-to way to create a picture in a reader’s mind. However, many adjectives do nothing more than pad out copy or create redundancies.

And what about email subject lines, headings, and social media posts?

When you only have a few words to make an impact, using descriptive nouns and verbs as opposed to adjectives and adverbs will help bring the reader into the story more quickly.

For example:

Instead of “run fast” use “sprinted” or “dashed”

Instead of “small child” use “toddler”

Instead of “beautiful flower” use “rose”

You need words that already have meaning embedded in them as opposed to words that need more words to convey the proper imagery.

In fact, in his book, Zarrella’s Hierarchy of Contagiousness: The Science, Design, and Engineering of Contagious Ideas, Dan Zarrella crunches the numbers and found that social media posts with adjectives and adverbs were less likely to be shared than those that had more descriptive nouns and verbs.

Writing concisely has always been an important skill for nonprofit communicators, but email and social media have made it a necessity. To get your message across, you have to say it well and say it fast. Simpler is just better.

What do you think works better for a subject line or social media post?

Help us provide assistance to the people who are living on the streets so they can figure out where they can sleep for the night.

OR

Help the homeless find a bed tonight.

The second one gets straight to the point. No wasted words. No distractions.

Don’t waste the little space you have on more words than you need.

You shouldn’t fight the character counts; use them to inspire better writing!

HOMEWORK:

Take some type of microcontent you’ve written – an email subject line, social media post, headline, etc – and take out all of the adjectives. Did it make that big of a difference? Are there any noun/adjective combos you could combine into one stronger noun?

For more resources on writing better microcontent, see:

6 Easy Ways to Punch Up Microcontent

Cut the Glut! Wordy Phrases to Eliminate from Your Writing (And Alternatives)

Cut the Glut! Part II – Redundancies to Eliminate from Your Writing

249 Strong Verbs That’ll Spice Up Your Writing

Verbs Aren’t Hashbrowns. Don’t Smother Them

People Are Not Really Reading Your Emails – How You Can Help

Write with Strong, Specific Nouns.

The post Writing More Visual Microcontent appeared first on Nonprofit Marketing Guide (NPMG).

Writing concisely has always been an important skill for nonprofit communicators, but email and social media have made it a necessity.

To get your message across, you have to say it well and say it fast.

You can’t expect supporters to dive into your website, newsletter or other written materials unless you entice them with pithy, pointed or engaging subject lines, headlines, tweets and status updates.

That’s where microcontent comes in.

Your email subject lines, social media updates, and headlines all have an enormous amount of power, but you only have a small amount of space to accommodate all of that power.  And while you don’t have a lot of words to work with, these areas are the some of the most important you’ll write.

Some professional writers will draft 25 versions of a headline for an article before they pick the one they’ll use.

Other writers will spend 20% of their writing time on the body of the article and 80% of their time getting the headlines and subheadings right.

Why? Because that’s what people read.

Here are six time-tested ways to punch up your microcontent and get more attention.

1. Use the Word “You” or “Your”

Make it personal for the reader. People like to read about themselves!

Examples:

• You Still Have Time
• It’s Your Choice
• A Video That Will Make You Laugh and Cry

2. Use the Word “My”

People are often more responsive to personal stories and recommendations from peers than from seemingly impersonal organizations. Using the word “my” sparingly can make your emails feel more one-to-one.

Examples:

• My Reason for Giving In
• My Favorite Way to Save
• How I Made My Decision

3. Use a Number (e.g. Top Ten, 5 Ways to. . .)

Numbers can boil down the overwhelming to a more digestible form.

Examples:

• Five Ways to Get Kids to Eat More Vegetables
• Three Neighbors Whose Lives You’ve Changed
• Top Ten Reasons to Register

4. Start with “How To”

We are all looking for easier, faster, cheaper ways to get things done.

Examples:

• How to Stop Animal Abuse in Your Community
• How to Teach Your Child to Share
• How to Give – and Save

5. Add a Deadline (e.g. Last Chance, Ends Friday, 5 Hours Left)

Genuine urgency can motivate action, as long as it doesn’t sound like a sales pitch.

Examples:

• 10 Hours Left to Double Your Gift
• Last Chance to Get Your 2018 Tax Deduction
• Early Bird Registration Ends Tomorrow

6. Ask a Question

Readers will think, hmm, do I know the right answer? Let’s see . . .

Examples:

• Do You Know What Your Kids Eat at School?
• What’s Next for Billy Joe?
• Can You Spot the Mistake in This Video?

The post 6 Easy Ways to Punch Up Microcontent appeared first on Nonprofit Marketing Guide (NPMG).

Want your supporters to pay more attention to deadlines? Use one of these email subject lines:

1. a race to the finish
2. across the finish line
3. almost over
4. are you in?
5. are you missing out?
6. can we count on you?
7. can you make it by midnight
8. can’t be short
9. can’t wait
10. coming up short
11. days left
12. deadline
13. did you forget?
14. did you miss this?
15. don’t forget
16. don’t miss
17. ending soon
18. ends today
19. ends tonight
20. falling short
21. final call
22. final chance
23. final day(s)
24. final reminder
25. help us finish strong
26. hours left
27. in xx hours, it’s over
28. it ends on [day]
29. it’s time
30. just a few hours left
31. just a few more
32. just xx days left
33. last ask
34. last call
35. last chance
36. last day
37. let’s do this
38. let’s finish strong
39. let’s own the finish line
40. midnight deadline
41. missing: You
42. not going to make it
43. not without you
44. now is the time
45. only hours left
46. push us over the top
47. reminder
48. something is missing
49. this is it
50. tick-tock
51. time is short
52. today is the day
53. tomorrow is too late
54. tonight is the night
55. we can’t do this without you
56. we have a short window
57. we’re counting on you
58. we’re short
59. we’re XX short
60. we’ve come too far to come up short
61. we’ve got to finish strong
62. where are you?
63. xx hours left
64. xx hours to go
65. xx, but missing you?
66. you don’t want to miss this
67. you won’t want to miss this
68. you’re missing out
69. your name is missing
70. your XX is still missing

Got another idea (especially one that WORKS)? Share it in the comments section.

The post DON’T MISS THIS: 70 Email Subject Line Ideas for Fundraising, Advocacy and Event Deadlines appeared first on Nonprofit Marketing Guide (NPMG).

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Photo credit: https://flic.kr/p/7R6ZER

microcontent
Small groups of words that can be skimmed by a person to get a clear idea of the content of a web page or email

Email microcontent is the small stuff in your email, the little things like Alt Text and Preheaders that are easy to miss, skip, or gloss over.

Don’t do that. Mind your microcontent. Here’s why.

Microcontent can’t make up for bad main content, but well crafted microcontent can add up to success in your email. These pieces can get more people to open your email, key in on calls-to-action and important messages, and CLICK!

In other words, ALL THE IMPORTANT STUFF.

Some of these are must-haves. Others are simply good ideas. Master them all to rule your email domain.

1. SUBJECT LINE

Which one of these emails would you open?

OK, Captain Obvious, we knew this! Yes, you did. Hear me out.

The subject line is one of three pieces of frontline microcontent that determine if an email gets opened. (See #2 and #3 on this list for the others.) If a subscriber does not think your subject line is worthy, nothing else matters. Your email is dead.

My advice? Never, ever just write one email subject line. Even a simple word switch can make a dramatic improvement in your open rate. The folks at Upworthy have to crap out 25 headlines for every piece of content. Should you? Nah. Somewhere between 5 and 25 is your goal.

And know this: you will write crappy subject lines. A lot of them. But this is the process that produces gems, so don’t skip it. That last subject line you eek out might be your salvation.

2. SENDER NAME

Do you trust these people?

Who is your email from? A real person or simply your organization? Perhaps a combination?  Either way, sender name conveys trust, and is the second piece of frontline content that determines if your email gets opened. Make sure it’s as strong as it can be.

Is one method better than another – org, real person name + org, or just real person name? Depends. Your mileage may vary. The only way you’ll know is to test.

Can you change up sender name from time to time? If you’re introducing a new voice — a first person celebrity fundraising appeal for example — yes, change it up. Just don’t switch sender name without purpose (improving open or response rates, or establishing authority).

3. PREHEADER

Give subscribers a sneak peak with your preheader.

You know that small bit of copy at the top of your email, that often appears in the preview of the email? It usually says something like this:

“To view this email on the web, go here.”

The preheader is the third piece of frontline content that determines if your email gets opened. Think of it your email’s sneak peek. And to be frank, it’s usually as exciting as a doorstop.

Why leave such a valuable piece of real estate to an administrative message, especially when it’s totally customizable? 

Lure me in. Get me to open. Get me to click.

4. ALT TEXT

Are you using your alt text to its maximum potential?

Alt text is text that shows when a photo doesn’t load, either because it’s blocked or it hasn’t loaded yet. How often have you filled out the alt-text field with a bland file description?

BORING! This is another missed messaging opportunity. Why is that? A huge chunk of email clients block images by default. That’s right, that image you so carefully chose, cropped and placed in the email never shows up. Strong alt text is your back-up plan, your block-image salvation.

Never miss this opportunity again! Write an active alt text. Make a call to action, or ask me to turn on images to see your fancy infographic.

5. HEADER & SUBHEAD

Does your headline and subhead pull you in and inspire you to act?

Headlines distill, inspire, entice. Most subscribers are scanners, so we’re in the business of catching eyeballs and attention. A well designed (big, bold) and well written headline does exactly that.

6. CALL TO ACTION

Is your call to action a can’t-miss feature of your email?

Your call to action is there to provoke a specific and immediate response – a click! Make sure readers can see it and click on it, especially with fat thumbs on a mobile phone!

Hyperlink several words, preferably one whole sentence or more. In advocacy and fundraising emails, make at least 2 calls to action.

7. CAPTION/SIDEBAR

Does your sidebar do this?

Are you using a sidebar or right column in your email? People scan and read little bits of copy like the sidebar and photo captions. Don’t give this copy short shrift! Make it compelling. Make it work!

8. P.S.

To P.S. or not to P.S.? That is the question. ANSWER: Occasionally for fundraising.

Is the P.S. old school or still working? I say, still working, use strategically, mostly for fundraising emails, and always with a call to action.

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