Development Seed Blog

Well Written, Unique Emails Stand Out in Crowded Inboxes

I’m still deciding which candidate to support in the primaries. This means I get a lot of email every day from the several candidates I’m following. I don’t pour over every message that hits my inbox. Usually I delete most without a thought and only read the ones that really catch my eye, which doesn’t happen all that often. Today I was excited to get an email that not only caught my eye but also kept my attention. 

There were two reasons this particular message worked – it was a clever idea and it was incredibly well written. The message itself was essentially just an email forward. Senator Chris Dodd forwarded me an update he got from his online director on how his online campaign is doing in comparison to the other campaigns. (Disclaimer: We designed the Senator’s first presidential website at the end of last year and helped with online strategy but haven’t worked with his team recently.)

The mass email forward has been done before by candidates and advocacy groups, but this one surpassed other efforts I’ve seen. Its personal tone and great writing throughout made me scroll down to read the entire email chain – and happy that I did. The email even made me want to donate so Dodd can beat John Edwards’ fundraising goal, and I like both candidates.

Kudos to the Dodd team for sending out a superb email – I think you’ll see a good boost to your fundraising numbers from it. I’d love to see some smaller organizations try to replicate this message for their causes. The returns will easily transfer to many issues, and sending supporters an honest and unique email like this will make a good impact when it’s well done.

Read the message and pay special attention to the tone and writing style throughout it – that’s what really sets this apart and makes the message work.

Dear Friend --I only have a few moments on my way back up to New Hampshire.I asked my Campaign Manager for an update on what we accomplished online during the month of October, and I was so pleased with her response I wanted to make sure you saw the email chain. She tells me that in addition to a spike in traffic and mentions on progressive blogs, we could beat John Edwards October online fundraising goal if I emailed a few people and asked them to help get us there.So, it might be one day removed from October, but if you chipped in $27 right now we can pass another campaign in this important indicator of support.You can contribute here:http://www.chrisdodd.com/contributionsI'll be in touch,Chris-----Original Message-----From: Tim Tagaris [mailto:ttagaris@chrisdodd.com]Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 10:18 PM To: scohen@chrisdodd.comSubject: Re: Update?Hey Sheryl,Here's your update:For the month of October, we raised right around $400,000 on the internet alone. By contrast, Biden set a goal of raising $500,000 online by the middle of November.  He is halfway there, having raised $246,270 as of Tuesday morning.Even more impressively, Edwards set a goal of raising $500,000 online in the month of October.  For all the hype their internet team and Joe Trippi gets, we finished the month nipping at their heels. Frankly, we've been so successful online over the past month because of the Senator's leadership in the Senate.People really responded favorably to his stand on preventing "retroactive immunity" for telecommunications companies that helped the Bush Administration spy on Americans. They appreciate his Iran vote, consistent leadership on Iraq and really are beginning to recognize that when he takes a position on an issue, the rest of the candidates seem to follow his lead.We are really on the verge of something special online -- a tipping point, almost: * Our web-traffic rankings have shot past Biden and Richardson.* We have seen an almost universal surge of support in online polls.  From 21% at Daily Kos, to winning the PA Dems online vote after Tuesday's debate. * References to his leadership on blogs across the country have spiked in the month of October, and I only see that number rising between now and the Caucus.So ... there is a lot of encouraging information coming out of the tubes.  We're gonna do everything we can to keep growing -- something that is made easy as he continues to lead on the issues important in this race. Tim-----Original Message-----From: Sheryl Cohen [mailto:scohen@chrisdodd.com]Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 7:18 PMTo: ttagaris@chrisdodd.comSubject: Update?Hey Tim, The Senator is looking for an update report of how we did on-line in October.  He knows we did well, but he's getting a lot of questions about it on the road from reporters and supporters.  Please send me some additional information/data for him -- thanks much.  Sheryl