Blog: Election

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.