Caps and spaces
Got an invoice the other day.
The email address it came from was 'themaidsexpert'.
See the issue? No, those weren't the services they provided.
The next day, an email from Digital Synopsis with examples of the importance of letter-spacing and kerning.
'Landlord reaches agreement with ten ants'. What about all the other ants?
'Don ate your old glasses here'. Hope he found them delicious.
'Faculty o farts'. That stinks.
Help your reader by getting the detail right. Worry about how it looks. Capitalise letters in web or email addresses, for example.
I often end workshops with my email as 'Jon@TheMaxim.com'.
So, the invoice should have come from 'TheMaidsExpert'.
Capitalising within email or web addresses makes no difference. JonMaxim@AnyOldCompany.com.au is much easier to read than jonmaxim@anyoldcompany.com.au
And works just as well, technically.
It's the little things that can make all the difference. And we who need to think about it.
Onto the info that grabbed me this week ...
2020 in review
I know: we're all trying to move on from 2020.
But I liked this review from McCrindle (the research gurus).
Australia's most Googled terms (in order): US election, coronavirus, NBA, Zoom and coronavirus symptoms.
World's most downloaded apps: TikTok, Facebook, WhatsApp, Zoom and Instagram.
Most liked Insta posts: Ronaldo's tribute to Maradona, and the announcement of Chadwick Boseman's death.
Colour of the year? Classic Blue: suggestive of the sky at dusk.
Webinars
Remote learning: copywriting courses, by remote. Got an internet connection? You can learn. Pick your topic, then contact me Nice idea, Jon ... >
Eye tracking
Having run dozens of virtual training sessions (way back to 2015, actually), one of the key issues is knowing if people are engaged.
Few people have their camera on. So it can be hard to know if you (that's me, the trainer) are doing a good job.
The City College of New York has done a bit of a study.
They found eye tracking can be used to measure the level of attention online. And it just uses a standard webcam.
They found attentive students had higher eye movements. And that those eye movements predict higher test scores.
So: being engaged means a better outcome.
Sure.
But I like this quote: 'Experienced teachers pay close attention to their students, adjusting their teaching when students seem lost.' Too right.
The study suggests being able to measure interaction remotely, and then adjust the training to suit. Nice.
Email benchmarks
This is fantastic: Campaign Monitor's email marketing benchmarks for 2021 (based on last year).
Total send volume increased 7% last year.
Open rates increased by more than 13%. Average global open rates are now 18%, with a 2.6% click through.
Highest open rate is for government and politics (26.7%); lowest for retail (12.6%).
Best days? Friday (yes: that's a shock) for open and click-throughs.
Australia benchmarks: 20.6% open rate and 3.10% click through.
What a goldmine of info.
Overview by industry and day. Or full pdf in link below.
QotW
Quote of the week:
'Writers don’t have lifestyles. They sit in little rooms and write.' Norman Mailer
Workshops
• Maximum Copy: online and in-house
• Copy Ninja: the craft via Zoom
• Writing for Digital: about the web, over the web
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