The Value of Personalization - Thought of the Day

"The newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest problem in the relations between human beings, and in the end the communicator will be confronted with the old problem, of what to say and how to say it."

Edward R. Murrow

I was initially going to focus this SoMe Edition strictly on online communication, but I got a Christmas card yesterday that incited me to step back for a moment and consider the parallels between online and traditional means of communication.

You have probably all received one of these holiday cards… the one that includes the printed family letter that provides a timeline of the sender’s COMPLETE activities and accomplishments for the year. Who cares? Who has the time? Who reads this stuff?

Why, you might ask, am I so concerned with holiday card etiquette? Well, it’s because I think the same rules that apply to good holiday card writing should also be used when forwarding an interesting story or fact via email. The majority of Internet users are afflicted by varying degrees of a disease - “E-Mail Fatigue.” Most of you reading this can probably relate. (Especially if it’s Friday afternoon and you’re just now getting to this one!)

So, next time you’re ready to fire off an email to a group of “interested parties,” please pause for a moment, take a deep breath, and do the following:

• If you really want the recipients to get the most out of the “forward,” personalize the message.
  
  Think back to that holiday card. Wouldn’t it be more palatable if you were made to feel that the person actually had you in mind when sending the card?
  
• Provide a short note that explains why the article is particularly relevant.
  
• Bullet point the main points and highlight important quotes.

This will certainly take a little more time, but your chance of relevance and successful reception are far greater than with an email with the subject line “Interesting Article” and only a URL link in the body.

Clear!Blue is committed to creating spectacular experiences and every facet of our communications should be extraordinary, not just the execution of our next live event or PR campaign. Check out the website under “Things We Don’t Do” and it will be even clearer to you why we should all take the time to personalize our email communications.


Have a great Wednesday!

Jonathan