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Microcontent is your pearls of clarity in your subject line. You only get less than 30 characters to explain your "macrocontent" in your subject line. Unless the subject line make it absolutely clear what the email is about, users will never open it.
Clearly explain what the article (or email) is about in terms that relate to the user. Microcontent should be an ultra-short abstract of its associated macrocontent. Written in plain language: no puns, no "cute" or "clever" headlines. No teasers that try to entice people to click to find out what the story is about. Users have been burned too often on the Web to have time to wait for a page to download unless they have clear expectations for what they will get. In print, curiosity can get people to turn the page or start reading an article. Online, it's simply too painful for people to do so. Skip leading articles like "the" and "a" in email subjects and page titles (but do include them in headlines that are embedded within a page). Shorter microcontent is more scannable, and since lists are often alphabetized, you don't want your content to be listed under "T" in a confused mess with many other pages starting with "the". Make the first word an important, information-carrying one. Results in better position in alphabetized lists and facilitates scanning. For example, start with the name of the company, person, or concept discussed in an article. Do not make all page titles start with the same word: they will be hard to differentiate when scanning a list. Move common markers toward the end of the line.In email you send, make the "From" field clarify the customer relationship and reduce the appearance of spam or anonymous intrusion (but don't use the name of the staff member sending the email. unless the user has actually established a relationship with that person: mail from unknown people also has a tendency to be deleted). |
