Earlier this month, the folks at Eat My Words, a San Francisco-based naming firm, were kind enough to send us a copy of their very first Emma campaign. I said campaign, mind you, not newsletter. “The second you call it a newsletter, people are like, ‘Yikes, I’m on a list,’” says co-founder Alexandra Watkins. “People don’t need our services every day, so we need to constantly stay on their radar. The trick is not to be annoying or sound canned … we have to stay true to our brand, which is very playful. Email marketing allows us to entertain, educate and engage our audience.”

Alexandra is not ashamed to admit that the goal of this first non-newsletter was to brag a little bit about landing Frito-Lay as a client. They approached the news with their playful brand in mind, beginning the article “As vending machine junkies…” and keeping the light-hearted tone for their other features (including “What Not to Name Your Company”). And when the numbers came in, it was clear that their lighthearted un-newslettery approach had worked. 86% of the people who clicked *any* link on their campaign chose to click the site link at the very bottom of the email.

That shows the gals at Eat My Words that the folks on their list aren’t just opening and reading their campaigns - they’re reading all the way through. And it shows the *rest* of us that people really do take the time to read an entire email from someone they know and trust. It just takes a little time and discipline to pick meaningful content and stay true to your brand when you present it.

Technorati Tags: eat my words, frito lay, email marketing, newsletter tips, myemma.com

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