All About Email Marketing

Adding Personality to Your Emails – What Match.com can teach you

April 2003 | By Jeannie Ruesch

As I was driving home the other day (or rather sitting in Silicon Valley traffic), I noticed a billboard that told me there are 8 million people on Match.com, a leading online dating service. And with little else to do but contemplate the billboard ad, I thought about those eight million people. In the world of email marketing, most companies are communicating to tens of thousands …but eight million? Talk about saturation of the market!

First I'll make a confession to you. I was one of those eight million people on Match.com a little more than a year ago. (I do live in Silicon Valley, where everything is done online.) As a member, I wrote my own personal ad profile and I read a lot of other profiles. And while I thought about that, I realized that I was actually doing the same exact thing every day at work that I had done on Match.com - attempting to connect to my target audience via online marketing. Essentially, Match.com is all about direct marketing. A member on Match.com has the same tools to work with that email marketers do - subject lines, graphics, content. They also face much the same challenges that we face - a vast amount of competition, an overburdened audience and the need to separate themselves from the crowd. But that is where Match.com members excel and email marketers often fail - separating from the crowd.

It really boils down to personality. Match.com profiles have it in droves. Email marketing efforts often lack it completely and it's probably the biggest oversight that email marketers make today. Our own anecdotal evidence suggests that newsletters with a strong personality (and great content) consistently produce significantly higher open rates than those without. My favorite email newsletters are ones that have oodles of personality. I could tell you what I think of the company that sent it, or I could tell you whether or not the contributing writer or editor has a sense of humor (or only thinks she does.) When I click away from the email, I leave it with a distinct perception of the email and the company associated with it.

Now you might suggest that adding personality to a Match.com profile ad is a lot easier than building personality in an email. Before you say that, I'd challenge you to write a personal ad first. It is a difficult task to express personality in a way that speaks to the audience, whether you are a member of Match.com or an email marketer. So, I thought we'd see what we could learn from Match.com on how to effectively add some personality to your emails.

She has a great personality.

The one thing that Match.com members do their absolute best to portray is their personality - because it truly is the only thing that sets them apart from the rest of the fold. That personality comes across in every word they write, every picture they post and even the things they don't say. It's the voice they use to communicate with.

Personality is a combination of style, tone, humor, emotion and attitude. It's also what human beings connect to, and it's important to remember that a human being is on the receiving end of your emails. When choosing the appropriate voice to speak with, you need to consider two things. First, what do you want to project to your audience? Whether it's a company image or a one-on-one connection, you want a reader to close your email with a clear understanding of whom that email came from. And second, what is your audience looking for? Connecting with someone means finding something that you are looking for or offering something they want. Isn't that what Match.com is all about? It's also what can make email marketing so successful - offering something to your readers that they desire. The idea is to find the right voice in which to present those desires in.

What kind of impression do you make?

When you are writing a profile on Match.com, your goal is to create an impression in the minds (and hearts) of the reader. That impression is dependent on a combination of factors - from the initial subject line, the pictures associated, the content written and the overall personality that shines through. It all combines to create an overall image of what you want the reader to see in you (and hopefully it's the truth).

Email marketing is also very dependent on impressions. From the time your reader views the subject line, they've already begun forming their impression. Every step along the way can either cement that impression or change it. From the first view to the last click, you want your customers to connect with your email in a positive way, and in order to do that, it's important to think about the individual elements of your email and how they can combine as a whole to create an impression.

What does the subject line say about you?

In Match.com, the subject line is a teaser, something that entices the reader to click and continue. It's also the first chance to help the reader form an impression about you. Are you fun? Are you serious? Based on that initial impression, a reader will click to open and see if the rest of the profile cements that impression. Subject lines perform the same function for email marketing. That subject line is written in such a way that entices the reader to open the email and check out what's inside. It also gives the reader a starting impression of what they will find. It's important to consider the impressions you are giving your readers by the tone used, the words and hints about the content within and whether the content follows through on that impression. While it's important to use a catchy subject line, you don't want it to be misleading.

Do your graphics support your claims?

Graphics have more power than you might realize as far as giving a general impression of what that email, or company, is about. For instance, if a Match.com profile stated that the person was a happy individual and yet not a single picture showed that person smiling, you'd realize that the graphics did not support the text of the profile. The graphical impression of the profile would not be consistent with the content impression, and you would result in a slightly confused, uncertain reader who would be less likely to continue on with your profile.

The same can be true with your emails. Whatever tone you set in your email needs to be followed through with the supporting graphics. If you are a design firm addressing clients or prospects, your impression needs to be graphic-oriented. Using a number of bland stock photographs in your design would probably not score too many points. However, if you were a consulting firm, stock photography would be just fine, as your focus would be more on the content. Graphics can change the impression of your email by their quality and what they say about you.

Does your content connect?

Match.com would not have eight million users if those users were not consistently getting what they asked for - a connection. And the majority of that connection comes from finding someone who matches their wants, needs and desires. A basic human emotion is fulfilling a need and believe it or not, that can help you succeed in email marketing. When a customer requests to receive your emails, they are expecting you to fulfill a want or need. For instance, let's say you went to a large banking website and signed up for their Small Business Newsletter. When you receive that first issue, you want to see information that is relevant to you as a small business owner. You do not want to see articles on corporate finance and risk management, yet you would want to see tips on accounting for small businesses.

In order to connect, your readers also need to feel connected to you. A simple change might be adding a personal touch - perhaps an article or note from the editor, written in first person. It can create a more personal connection with the reader, if they feel the email comes from a specific person rather than just a company in general. Readers can develop a greater affinity to a person behind an email rather than just a company brand, and will be more likely to open the email.

The Bottom Line

A good email provides useful information, but a well-written email provides useful information in a voice that your readers can relate to. Match.com members have made a successful business out of using personality in marketing, by understanding that writing with personality is the strongest factor in connecting with another person. By adding a dose of personality to your emails, you can connect with your readers on a stronger level and build a relationship that is more personal and fulfilling to both of you.

And for those of you who are curious, I did find my "match" on Match.com and am very happily not one of the eight million users any longer. (But that's another article altogether.)