And what’s more, you should hate club sandwiches too.
First, because, you’re never sure what you’re going to get. Is it Chicken, or Turkey, bacon or ‘meat’? There’s always a random ingredient that the chef has decided to shove in there.
It’s like Subway but even worse as you don’t get to choose which fillings to avoid.
As far as I can work out, the origins of a club sandwich were to get rid of the ingredients that a restaurant doesn’t use as regularly. To use up the old stuff.
Errm, no thanks.
I’m sad to say that, in my experience, professional services marketing emails can be a bit like club sandwiches. People try and shove in an extra ingredient or something past its best before date and hope it’ll make things better. It never does.
Think of the classic combinations: egg and cress, ham and cheese, bacon lettuce and tomato. Flavours working in partnership, achieving a better result together.
But egg, bacon and lettuce? No.
Jam and egg? Knock yourself out, but no for me, thanks.
And as it is for our lunch choices, so it should be with our approach to marcoms. Fewer ingredients, and in the right combination makes the whole thing digestible.
Instead, here’s how to think about your email comms (and your sandwiches):
- They should be easy to consume at your desk
- They should be there at the time when you’re hungry for them
- If you add an ingredient, take one out
- Let the data tell you how many to prepare each day/week
- Make them fresh and more people will appreciate them
If you’d like to make better sandwiches, try this. If you want to write better communications for your audiences, try this. But please don’t confuse the two.
