The approximately 200 digital newsletters and e-zines I subscribe to contribute to the 5,600 emails I receive monthly. However, I discard 90% of them without reading due to one frustrating reason: the message is concealed. This is the most detrimental mistake you can make in email communication.
The primary error in most online publications is related to the physical constraints of email. Typically, an email recipient only sees the first 10 lines of text on their screen. If your message isn't within these lines, it's likely to be overlooked.
Why then, do numerous e-publishers expect us to scroll through multiple screens to discover the "In This Issue" section?
I'm not discussing content quality. The content in the newsletters and e-zines I subscribe to — some of the best on the Internet — is consistently worth reading IF you have the time to scroll through multiple screens to reach the actual content. Expecting a reader to scroll through more than one screen to find out your message is as unnecessary and nonsensical as taking five minutes to introduce yourself every time you call a family member.
Between flashy HTML headers, lengthy publisher letters, privacy policy information, and unnecessary prose, it's rare to find a newsletter or e-zine that provides a table of contents on the first screen.
Common ways that e-zines waste space and time include:
Using an HTML header that occupies the entire first screen of the email, then expecting us to read through advertisements to reach the table of contents. Many sites, including eMarketer, eZined, i-Advertising, Silicon, Red Herring, and ZDNet, are guilty of this. While many of these newsletters are excellent once you reach the content, I suspect that 90% of the issues go unread because people don't want to scroll to see a table of contents.
Occupying the entire first screen, and sometimes up to three screens, reminding us that we subscribed to this publication and are not being spammed; that the mailing list will not be shared and that new subscribers are welcome. Only then, after as many as 40 lines later - that's 4 screens in Outlook Express - are we informed about the issue's content. Of course, I'll never know, because I won't still be reading, and I suspect you won't either. Publications that waste screen space with this type of information include newsletters published by Content Exchange, HealthScout, Industry Scoop, and AddMe.
Using excessive white space between paragraphs introducing the issue, then making us sift through a 10-line ad, a few paragraphs about the newsletter, and a privacy statement before we reach the beginning of the first article. Sites guilty of this include LockerGnome, AtNewYork, List-Universe, Ecommerce Times, and List-A-Day.
The physical limitation of email should dictate how you present your message. Email is not a printed page that the eye can scan at once. The screen on which most people read email - text or HTML - can only hold 10 lines. If your message isn't in that first screen, it's likely to be discarded.
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