I guess I spend a little too much time reading my email while watching TV, because TV was my inspiration for this post. I talk a lot about proper expectation setting and yet most of the time this topic is solely focused on the opt-in process and welcome email. I search hard for examples to showcase, or point out past clients I’ve worked with, when there are nightly examples available on every TV channel.

Picture the little light bulb popping up over my head while I’m watching a re-run of “Ghost Hunters”, and after the episode ends there is a 15 second lead in to the new episode which will be on tonight. I know, big shocker, a television show uses preview content teasers to keep my interest and create excitement about watching the next episode. But what they actually just did was set my expectations on what the next episode is going to be about as well as when it will be on.

So how does this apply to email? Regular content and publishing schedules provide the perfect formula for serialization and teaser content. Look at your publishing calendar, do you already know the lead story/topic/product for the email two versions ahead? Can you include a one sentence description (think catchy headline or subject line) at the bottom of your message that describes what and when the next column will be coming? Simple right, yet how many emails have you seen do this?

Actually, only one of the newsletters I regularly read, "No man is an iland" The Email Marketing Reports newsletter, takes the time to remind me of when the next edition is coming, but even this best practice example doesn’t provide me a “sneak peak” into the future topics. Here’s how it signed off last edition “That's it for this issue - see you again June 30th...”

You can apply this simple tactic to promotional messages just as easily as newsletters - think about providing your email subscribers advance notice of new products, release dates, upcoming sales, etc. These sneak peeks into your promotional schedule become an added benefit to your subscribers that you re-enforce each time you use this tactic. You can promote on Monday that prices will be dropping on Friday for your summer 3-day blow out and build excitement for the sale.

So just as the “snippet” can be used in pre-header text to build off the subject line and drive the reader deeper into an email, it can also be used in closing to drive interest or action in future editions.

Watch for my next post later in July about “Constructing the Perfect Email Paragraph”.

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