How Long Should an email marketing Campaign message be?

200-250 words.

Less than 1 word is too short. More than 10,000 words is probably too long, and should be turned into a book rather than an email.

The question of long copy vs short copy has been debated ad nauseam for decades.

My answer is always the same. Whether it's email, a sales page, news articles, books, or anything else...

The question isn't "long -vs- short".

The real question is "interesting -vs- boring".

People will read what interests them, and they won't read what doesn't.

Unless you're writing on a platform that strictly limits the length of your message (like a twitter post) then worry less about the number of words, and focus more on the quality of content.

No, you're not. An email "swipe" is one you "swiped" from someone else.

Many people swipe emails from "guru" types. Many product vendors provide emails for affiliates to swipe.

If you create it yourself it is not a "swipe."

I am only starting with email marketing myself. So I can't tell from my own experience. But I am on several marketers' email lists.

One of them is writing really short emails, that read like this... "Hey, this is something you should take a look at, if you want to make money fast. Here's the link... You can than me later." Not more than 3 sentences. That's an extreme example. But he says, it's better to keep emails short and don't write any product features or details in it. Because the reader should click the link to learn more about the promoted product.

I still have to make my own experiences in writing marketing emails. But I can understand this concept, the shorter the mail, the more excitement it creates, and the more clicks it produces.

So if you write soft sell emails, where you want to give some value to your subscribers, you can actually go up to about 800 words if you know enough to write about a topic.

And then there are the hard sell emails where you want to promote a product. These are the shorter emails with about 200-300 words.

Any fixed answer to this question is wrong because it will be different according to niche, what is being promoted (for example promoting a free webinar training might need a different approach than a review of an affiliate product, which might need a different approach to promoting your own product etc.) how you've built your list, and even what day or time of day you're posting.

The only REAL answer is TESTING !! You can certainly get an idea of what works for other people by signing up to some of the list-owners you know are making good money, such as those on leader-boards, or some big lists promoting webinars. Do something similar to they are doing, and test lots of different variations, and see what works in reality, for you.

Chris

It depends on the goal of your email.

If you're using a curiosity based email just to get the click, shorter is better.

On the other hand if you're using storytelling a little longer wouldn't hurt.

I learned that most people have short attention spans and want to be entertained.

That's why "infotainment" works well IMHO.

As long as it needs to be to get your point across

My core business is lead generation.

So I'm just looking to generate enough curiosity to get a click / keep it short.

Hi Henry, I think if your message delivers in two words then do it two words. Just yesterday, in a Facebook marketers group. I saw this email SS of Wayfair and the subject said "CURTAIN RODS." and inside there was a CTA with Shop - Limited Time Deals.

I'd say a handful of paragraphs is fine. If it takes you one minute or less to read, you're in the clear.

Just don't make it too long. I've seen emails with enough copy to be entire sales pages. Those are exhausting.

Well i think if you plan to redirect people from your email to another page a shorter message its better but if you only want to teach something in your email and not redirect then a longer email like a blog post should be ok

What is the goal of the email?


To keep them reading - build credibility or brand yourself? To convince them to do something that will lead to taking action/buying?


To get the reader to go FROM the email TO a 'buy now' or 'sign up' link? You can't write an effective email until YOU know what the goal is.


It's not about 'short vs long' - it's about what action you want to generate form the email - and whether the person on the list finds it interesting. short or long - if you send someone an email you need to get that person's attention from the first sentence.


After that, every sentence either brings the reader along with you or loses his interest and he drops out of reading the rest. no pressure.

Henry,

Some interesting responses below. Here's my take based on my experience.

Don't approach this as a "how long should my message be" problem. There is no one correct answer, and it really is unique to your product and industry and most importantly, where your audience is in the sales funnel/loop.

I know that isn't the answer you are looking for but here's a framework I follow that gives me results with clients across different situations.

But before you can use the framework, you must identify the goal of your email - What is the email supposed to accomplish? Do you want the user to read the email and then come back to your website for more? In which case your email shouldn't give away too much. Or is the email supposed to convey everything? In which case, maybe your email should cover everything.

Here's the framework :

1. Open your email with a benefit centric statement that tells the user exactly what the email is about.

2. Back up this statement with a reference to a real life example that your product helped achieve.

3. Elaborate on the benefits of the product in bullet format. Don't do more than 4 points.

4. Ask for action (identified when you decided what the goal of the email was)

Here's what it would look like in practice :

Let's say I'm selling a fat loss ebook. The goal of my email is for the reader to return to my website and make a purchase.

Dear xxx,

Today, I'm going to show you exactly how you can lose 10 pounds in 40 days without starving yourself. These are the exact same steps that Matt took just in time for his wedding. Click on the link below to see his before/after pictures and how my ebook changed his life. Unlike other approaches my ebook lets you :

1. eat what you like
2. not have to run 10 kms a day
3. not have to lift heavy weights
4. actually have a social life

But don't take my word for it. Check out what Matt and my other clients have to say in the link below.

(CTA)

There are obviously a lot more you can do in that email but I wrote this in 5 mins just as an example. Your website should then have more proof and reasons that convince the reader to buy, and so on.

If you are stuck at any point, remember to think about the customer and what they'd like to see more than what you want to say. Hopefully this helps!

- Sats.