Social media is all about getting a message distributed through “sharing”. But while sharing on Facebook and Twitter has to be taught and encouraged, the original online sharing method – forwarding an email – comes naturally to everyone. That’s why it’s always surprising that businesses don’t put the same effort into making their promotional emails “shareable” in the same way as they do their social media efforts.
Even if you don’t participate in social media for business, you know the rules. You post stuff written in such a way that not only will your followers find it interesting, but they’ll also think that their followers ought to find it interesting. And so they pass it on.
Now look at your recent email newsletters. Was there anything in them which might get the recipient thinking: “Ooh, this is good. I should forward this on to a colleague”?
Creating content which people want to share means creating content with a message that the recipient would want others to see. So, perhaps you know your prospects understand your technology, but have to explain it to senior management. Do this for them, and you’ll get the message passed on.
I get one or two email newsletters which manage to achieve this, time and time again. But the vast majority fail miserably to excite me. If I forwarded them to anyone, it’d probably make me seem as dull as the newsletter.