Everyone is a writer in the same way that everyone is a plumber. You turn on a tap and water comes out. That’s cool. However, if you fail to secure a compression joint the same thing happens only in the wrong place. That’s writing for you.

Writing for an email marketing campaign is not easy just because there are few words. In fact, this is what makes it difficult. Every word is vital and, if it is of a high standard, remove one word and the whole paragraph fails. That’s the skill.

Writing copy, i.e. something that will be published, in this case in a marketing email, is a creative process and although inspiration isn’t something that is essential, the hook needs to be decided early on. 

I know it is hardly an original statement but the most difficult part of writing is starting. The blank screen can be rather overpowering. One way of overcoming this is to have an overall plan; for some it is ephemeral, others need a rigid structure. Knowing what the finished product will read like is halfway to producing it. 

So when your writer has their eyes shut, or they are doing something strange with a pencil, they will almost certainly be working. Planning is the hardest part and the easiest thing to destroy is the thought process. 

I work from home and when in full flow I turn off my phone. This is my most productive method of working. Interruptions interrupt. Those writers who work in an office have more problems. When restricted to an office, the dreaded meeting was just the thing to ensure I lost the flow. 

The normal reason for an invitation to discuss the coming email marketing campaign was to emphasise the deadline. Yet here they were, stopping me working. It was a nonsense. 

Only interrupt/distract a writer when you need something essential from them. If you’ve made them aware of when the copy is required, asking them if they’ve finished when they are typing is a way of delaying them.

Unlike many, I enjoy research and it is possible I spend too much time doing it. However, this is a more economical waste of time than not doing quite enough. So encourage your writer to look at what other people are doing. Let them subscribe to the email marketing lists of your competitors. Just because they might enjoy doing it does not make it wrong.

Many people complain that ‘there’s nothing worse than…’ when they mean something is mildly irritating. I retain the phrase for when I’m infuriated. There’s nothing more irritating than being informed of a decision, such as the targeted audience, so late in the procedure that a rewrite is required. Please tell your writer the nature of your segmented email marketing list as soon as you know.

Give your writer full access to all relevant information. There’s nothing worse than being told, ‘Oh, that’s in Mary’s database.’

Treat your writer as one of the team and measure their performance on results rather than keystrokes.