Susan B. Weiner Investment Writing - Susan B. Weiner Blog

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Writing likable emails can help you and your firm differentiate yourselves, as I discussed in “Reader challenge: How can investment and wealth managers apply this tip?”

However, institutional investment managers’ emails aren’t known for likability. In fact, they’re more apt to be formal and impersonal. They may feel this suits their corporate personalities as portfolio managers for corporations, government bodies, foundations, endowments, unions, and other organizations.

Here’s my poll question: Should institutional asset managers strive for likability in their sales, marketing, and client emails? Your choices include the following:

• Yes, always
• Yes, most of the time
• Yes, but only when they have a personal relationship with the recipient
• No, it doesn’t matter
• [You can also enter your own answer]

Please answer the poll in the right-hand column of my blog and add your comments below. I’ll publish the results in my e-newsletter.

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“You can differentiate yourself by communicating in a likable, authentic manner,” says author Sue Hershkowitz-Coore in Power Sales Writing: Using Communication to Turn Prospects into Clients. Her book emphasizes email communications.

To write in a likable manner, the author suggests you use the following techniques:

1.      Create a message that genuinely revolves around your prospect.

2.      Use more you and your words than I or me words.

3.      Reflect the prospect’s style.

4.      Start with something that matters to your reader.

5.      Be positive.

6.      Be brief, but not blunt.

7.      Be authentic!

How do YOU rise to this challenge?

Differentiation is a challenge for investment and wealth managers. Please tell me how YOU make yourself likable in your professional communications.

I recommend Power Sales Writing as a good read for any business person who needs to write emails that persuade. Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from McGraw-Hill in return for agreeing to write about it.

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Kristin Harad writes irresistible, conversational email subject lines. I feel as if her emails are addressed to me, so I open them even when they’re part of a mass mailing.

I’m delighted that Kristin shares her subject line secrets in her guest post.

Subject Lines: Are you reading this?

by Kristin Harad, CFP®

When you send email communications to your list, is your subject line an afterthought or a strategic decision? When I started my marketing career, I worked for an agency managing direct mail for a large bank. Unbelievable amounts of time, testing and creativity went into figuring out which 5-10 words on the outer envelope would entice the recipient to OPEN the mailing. To call the practice strategic is an understatement. Open rates were the first measure of success for these expensive campaigns.

In the new world of overflowing Inboxes, email subject lines serve the same purpose as those teasers from the old world of mass direct mail. The primary objective of your subject line is to persuade the recipient to open up your email. You may feel jaded just thinking about trying to be strategic for every subject line you send as you communicate with your database. Relax. To be deliberate with this critical ‘lure’ you just have to select the right style for your specific message and keep the words conversational.

Match your email content with one of the FOUR TYPES of subject lines:

1. Matter of fact: “Here is the information you requested.” This kind is tried and true. You are delivering information that the reader asked for from you. Without a doubt, this type of subject line has a high open rate. As it should. These can also include compelling How To’s such as “5 ways to lower your heating bill”
2. Time Sensitive: “Last chance! Registration closes at 5:00pm EST” “Urgent last minute teleseminar” Very effective when you actually have a deadline for an event or an offer. Beware of crying wolf! If everything is always on a deadline, you lose your credibility. Used periodically, these are quite powerful.
3. Personal: “Kristin, have you seen this?” or the less personal “Did you see this?” A cool feature of some email service providers is the ability to pull in first name into the subject line. Tip: Questions work better than statements. People will actually think you are only asking them. Exclusivity entices.
4. Evocative: “OMG!!!!!!!!!!!” “A harrowing tale…” Esoteric in nature, these subject lines leave the reader asking “WHAT?! I MUST know.” Try using only one word or make up a crazy word. No one can resist solving a good mystery. Curiosity drives action.

As you can see, what makes a subject line effective depends on the situation. Test out different ones to see what works best for you and your brand. Keep your eyes peeled for the subject lines that make you click and the ones that you delete. Remember, your subject line objective is to engage the reader’s interest just enough to open the email. Then it’s all up to your email copy to drive your reader’s next action.

About the Author:  Kristin Harad, CFP® is the President of VitaVie Financial Planning, a fee-only financial planning firm in San Francisco.  She offers a free video series on marketing strategies for financial advisors at http://www.next10clients.com.

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A simple subject line can make or break the open rate for your emails.

Would you click on an email with the following subject line?

Subject: =?windows-1252?Q?Conference=20Planning=20Survey?=

I’m probably not alone in my instinct to trash this email. I figured it was probably the work of an unsophisticated spammer.

Looking at the snippet of email address displayed by my email service didn’t inspire confidence either. All I saw was “marketer-ese.” At best, I figured, this was an email from some market research firm.

However, I felt curious, so I expanded the email line. I discovered the email was from an organization I respect, but won’t name. The full email address was something like marketresearch@ORGANIZATION.com

Your bottom line: Pick your subject line carefully

If the organization had a better subject line, I would have opened it without thinking.  Something simple, such as “ORGANIZATION NAME wants your input” would have done the trick.

Have YOU ever deleted or ignored an email because of a poorly written subject line?

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If you’re a sloppy letter writer, then my friend’s old employer is your biggest nightmare. But clean up your writing, and you can win over even this tough customer.

The impatient reader

“How do you go through your mail so quickly?” she asked after watching him flip through letters one after another without pausing.

His reply? “If it’s not in the first sentence, I don’t read it.” People who wrote flowery introductions to their letters had no hope of communicating their messages to this impatient reader.

Your solution

You can reach impatient readers by getting to your point in your first sentence. Tell your readers what you want – and why it should matter to them. For example, “Here’s a review of our recent meeting with a checklist of the actions you must take, so I can implement your plan.” Save the niceties for the end of your letter.

Some financial advisors think it’s rude to write a letter that doesn’t “make nice” for the entire paragraph. Indeed, some of your readers may prefer a leisurely, chatty introduction.

However, a letter that immediately gets to the point is kinder to your readers. It relieves them of the burden of searching through your letter to figure out what you want. You’ll benefit, too. More readers will do what you want when you’re clear up front.

Take a second look at your most recent letter. Is it direct enough?

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If you have questions about e-newsletters, mosey on over to “The freelancer’s guide to e-newsletters” on Michelle Rafter’s WordCount blog. I’m quoted extensively in answers to questions including

• What’s so great about e-newsletters?
• How long should it be?
• What kind of software can I use?
• How can I get subscribers?

If you’re a financial blogger, you can recycle your blog posts in your newsletter, perhaps adding one unique bit of content for your subscribers.

It takes time to build an e-newsletter email list. Even if you don’t think you need one yet, start building your newsletter now.

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You can snare some quick tips for advisor-client email communications in my guest post for the KBK Wealth Connection blog.

The tips boil down to

1. Get to your point quickly
2. Keep it short
3. Organize clearly

Visit Kathleen’s blog for more details.
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Susan Weiner, CFA, writes and edits articles, white papers, blogs, investment commentary, web pages, and other communications for leading investment and wealth management firms. She has presented “How to Write Emails and Letters Your Clients Will Read” to great reviews by financial advisors.  

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Did you notice that I went wild in May, posting every day as part of the Word Count Blogathon? For your convenience, I’m listing my May posts by category.

Blogging

• The two most important words are…
• Financial bloggers’ posts may violate copyright law
• Spice up your blog with free or low-cost photos
• Setting myself a challenge: A May Blogathon

Economy, investments, and wealth management

• “Have mutual fund fees gone up or down?”
• Poll: Which should investors fear most? Which #CFA2010 speakers were right?
• R Koo, “Lessons from Japan: Fighting a Balance Sheet Recession” from #CFA2010
• GMO’s Jeremy Grantham on “The Ethical Hole in Finance” at #CFA2010
• Dan Ariely says disclosure may hurt investors: Report from his #CFA201 talk
• Roger Ibbotson attacks asset allocation “folklore”
• Hear Roger Ibbotson on asset allocation
• Morgan Creek Capital’s Yusko riles up Tweeters with comments on investment fees
• Morgan Creek Capital’s Yusko on investing
• Small-cap investing opportunities according to Artio’s Dedio

Marketing

• My Boston-area networking suggestions
• Tip for how to connect with your workshop attendees 
• If you enjoy my #CFA2010 tweets
• Top four email mistakes to avoid when you’ve got a referral
• Timely, creative financial ad from Northwestern Mutual
• How to improve your financial planning client relationships
• Your customers, your inspiration

Social media

• Using CFP in your Twitter name–Read the CFP Board’s position
• The compliance-constrained advisor’s guide to LinkedIn, Part II: Status updates
• Can you help with my Facebook dilemma?
• How I’ve benefited from Twitter

Writing

• Plain English can bring your financial topic to life
• How to write subheads that command attention
• Executive’s lesson for your communications with clients and prospects
• Start with a good lead, or lose your reader
• Guest post: “Correct Grammar Errors in Your Writing Quickly and Easily”
• 10 blogs I can’t live without: Writer’s edition
• Financial advisor poll: How do you sign your business emails?
• Whoa, insurance=spam?

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Receive a free 32-page e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter.  

_______________________________________________________________
   
Receive a free 32-page e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter. 

Copyblogger Brian Clark’s lessons in “The two most important words in blogging” apply equally to any form of marketing communication. Pay attention because using these words will make your communications more persuasive.

See if you can guess the two words before you surf to Copyblogger’s site. If you have attended any of my presentations on writing, you should know one of the two answers.
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Receive a free 32-page e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter.  

_______________________________________________________________
   
Receive a free 32-page e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter. 

Adults often struggle to improve their writing skills. That’s why I’ve become a fan of the teaching techniques of @LindaAragoni. In this article, Linda shares a technique for cutting the number of grammar errors in your written communications.

Do you have trouble correcting your writing for grammar errors?

I know I do.

I suspect you do, too.

Here is a simple way to make correcting your writing easy.

First, keep a list of the grammar errors you make regularly. Most people make a few errors repeatedly. An error you make once in five years is no big deal, but a grammar error you make once every five sentences is an error you need to eliminate.

Your teachers probably have told you about your habitual errors for years. Errors like sentence fragments, comma splices, and run-together sentences top the list. Subject-verb agreement errors and problems with pronoun-antecedent agreement are not far behind. Chances are you know how to correct those grammar errors if you see them.

To make sure you see grammar errors so you can correct them, read your completed paper looking for just your most frequent error. If your most common error is writing sentence fragments, scrutinize each group of words between terminal punctuation marks to see if it is a true sentence. Do not worry about anything else when you look for fragments. If you see any other kind of error, highlight it to fix later.

After you finish reviewing your paper for your most common mistake, go through it looking for your second most common error.

Keep doing that one-error-at-a time correction until you have examined your paper for each of your habitual errors.

When you correct for a single error at a time, take a break between errors. Do not try to cram the editing into the hour before a paper is due. If you do your editing in 5-10 minute sessions spread over a day or more, you will do a better job and experience much less stress.

Although this single-minded correction strategy sounds as if it would be terribly time-consuming, it can be done quite quickly. And it pays off quickly, too. If you can eliminate from your writing three errors you make habitually, your writing will show a big improvement immediately.

Linda Aragoni’s one-mistake-at-a-time strategy grew out of teaching grammar study skills to first-year college students using their error-riddled papers as practice exercises. Her e-book Grammar Abusers Anonymous teaches mature high school and adult students how to master grammar without paying tuition. Copyright 2010 Linda G. Aragoni. 
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Receive a free 32-page e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter.  

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Receive a free 32-page e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter.