Simon Sinek is one of our favorite speakers and authors, he is thoughtful and is careful to craft his message in such a way that really connects with his audience. Which is why we were so surprised by his lackluster daily emails.
We took time to put the same care into his emails that Simon puts into his talks. Let’s dive right in!
What we’re starting with:
The Good:
- Send time, this sends early AM, which tends to be rather good for engagement. Especially for this kind of content: very brief, encouraging note to get you through the day with the right mindset.
- The from name is “Simon Sinek” recognizable, that’s good.
- Bulletproof button, the email is largely actionable through image blocking.
- Encourages easy sharing.
- That’s kind of it :\
The Bad:
- The subject line AND preview text is exactly the same every time: “Notes to Inspire.” In order to actually be inspired by the quote, you’d have to take time to open every email. As a result, fewer people are going to see it. Our recommendation below: Have the quote also be the subject line or preview text so I can see it at a glance.
- The concept, company name, ted talk, book and website are all “Start with Why” it’s powerful and recognizable, but absent from the email. Simon’s face isn’t in the email either, we run the risk of marking this as spam if it isn’t instantly recognizable. People honestly forget why they receive emails, even ones they signed up for, having his face and company name will remind and ground them and reinforce trust.
- There is not much clarity in all the different calls to action. Our recommendation is to add some visual clarity by making the quote more front & center, and clarifying why we should share this quote.
- There are too many buttons to click. We’d recommend dropping Google plus, and we’d watch the metrics regarding which platform is most popular and drop the ones that aren’t (and perhaps testing Instagram or other platforms as well).
- The secondary call to action (to dig deeper with the new book) should be separated a bit from the note and easier to parse at a glance.
- The footer text is stock, and not particularly helpful. We’d recommend using Simon’s “why” as a subscription reminder to encourage & remind people why they signed up for this note and reduce unsubscribes. We’d also make the footer a bit more friendly overall.
Our Revised Version:
Would you like us to overhaul your email designs? Drop us a line, and let’s chat.