Have you ever read an email from a friend and thought, “Wow! That sounds exactly like what she’d say if we we were chatting over a glass of wine”?
That’s precisely what you want to do when it comes to bringing personality to your email.
Adding personality to your email is so much harder than it seems on the surface. It’s common to struggle with thinking we don’t have anything interesting to say, or worrying that we’re going to say the wrong thing.
It’s easy to see why your email may end up being a little boring or lifeless. Which, when you’re trying to stand out in a crowded inbox, you simply can’t allow to happen.
If you have a personal brand, you need to bring your personality to your email or you’re going to get deleted.
How much personality and what aspects you include will vary greatly depending on your brand and what your community needs to know from you. Let’s break this down:
Define Your Brand’s Personality
Think of brands you absolutely love. They all have certain attributes you connect with on some level. That’s their personality at play, and every brand has a personality.
This may feel a bit challenging, so here’s a quick exercise. If your brand was getting dressed up to go to a party, what would they wear? Or how would you describe them to a friend?
Are they classic? Reliable? Quirky? Modern? Off-beat? Do they wear killer heels or basic flats? All black or a mash up of colors that are unpredictable?
Take those descriptions and start to define what your brand’s personality truly is. It may evolve over time, but think about how you want your brand to make people feel, and then you can add more of that personality into your emails.
What Do I SAY?
You need to look at what you’re comfortable with sharing and how much personal or behind-the-scenes information is appropriate for you and your brand.
Scoop client Emily Williams from I Heart My Life, writes her emails in a very personal way that makes you feel like you’re talking directly to her.
Every email includes the behind-the-scenes parts of her story, which is perfect for her audience of aspiring coaches.
But let’s say you’re a copywriter who works with technology companies. They don’t need to know about your personal life, but they may want a glimpse into your writing process or emerging trends with your unique personal spin on things.
Jessica Mehring is a copywriter who works with Scoop, and she’s written a number posts and emails on the power of long form content. Perfect for her audience of IT and B2B companies as they’re likely wondering if long form content is for them.
It all comes down to knowing your audience and what you need to do to connect with them. Take the time to consider:
- How they like to consume information
- What they like to read
- What they NEED to know
- What they may be thinking or feeling
Armed with that information you can serve up valuable email content that delivers immense value, reinforces trust and creates a vision for how they may be able to work with you in the future.
Know How You Shine
If you’re not sure how to add personality to your email, one tool that’s been very helpful with my clients is the Fascination Advantage System.
When I use this system with clients, we can pinpoint how they best communicate and how the world sees them. That way, they’re able to focus on tapping into their personal strengths and bring out their best.
Scoop co-founder Maggie is the Provocateur archetype, which means she’s a combination of innovation (which is all about ideas) and mystique (air of mystery). When she writes she talks about big ideas, trends and keeps our community guessing about what’s next.
They trust her to be changing the rules of the game and she keeps them fascinated because there’s always that little bit of intrigue they can’t resist.
Best of all, she knows that she doesn’t need to focus on trying to be a super in-your-face digital marketer, because that’s not really going to work for her.
Digging into how you best communicate gives you a distinct advantage as you avoid tactics and approaches that don’t work for you or give you the big-time “ick” factor. Plus, it can make adding personality to your email marketing so much easier as you’re not trying to be everything to everyone.
The Recap: Ditch the Boring Emails for Good
Adding personality to your email marketing doesn’t mean it has to be about airing your dirty laundry or letting it all hang out. You can add personality, serve your audience and make sure you’re showing up the best way possible.
Want more ways to jazz up your email marketing and get better results? We’ve got you covered with this free resource below:
