One meeting with Heather Prince (Email Marketing Dept. Head) and you’ll know you are talking to a very unique person. I was convinced, after talking with her on the phone about this blog post, that Heather has more than 24 hours in a day, and yet she seems calm, focused, and not at all overwhelmed.
Heather was first educated in English and Secondary Education, then went on to get a degree in Ornamental Horticulture — and now she’s thinking about getting certified as an arborist. After all of that, and working with The Garden of Words, she uses her spare time to create. She makes jewelry, is learning the art of glass bead making, and collects tiny plastic dinosaurs.
At GOW, Heather runs client meetings, dreams up ideas for email content, edits and proofs emails, and makes sure all the balls are rolling and processes are flowing. If you ask her, she’ll say she’s a “professional nagger,” but that’s just HeatherSpeak for “I know what needs to be done and I’m going to make sure it’s done.”
And for anyone using email marketing in their business, she’s got a wealth of tips to keep content coherent and polished:
- Resist center-justifying your text: Heather says she can approve of 1-2 lines or image captions that are center-justified, but after that, it’s left justification, baby! (This is a hill Katie will die on, too)
- Link your pics, logos, and events: This is something people often forget to do. Every image, every place your logo appears, every event you write about should be linked to their appropriate destination — a sign up form, a way to purchase, more info, etc.
- Use buttons: Just like with images, logos, and events, people really like to click on things, so give them those buttons! Buttons that say “Buy Now,” “Register Here,” or “More Info” are exactly what readers scan for. Use a big button that helps them take the action you want them to take.
- Add alt text: Alt tags are short descriptions added to an image’s code on a website — so if the image fails to load, there is text in its place. They also help low-vision or visually impaired people to understand what the visual content is. And here’s something more: AI will prioritize content with images that have alt tags, so don’t forget to add them. They are a win, win, win.
At the end of the day, Heather simply loves to learn new things, and it shows in every area of her life. She’s fond of saying, “Go do fun things!” and honestly, that’s a great motto, isn’t it? From your work with team member and clients to everything you do in your personal time, have fun with it. Keep learning, growing, and engaging with the world. We love having Heather on our team, and if you’ve read this far, you won’t wonder why.
Heather’s Offbeat Tip: Always, always, think about how the end user is getting information from your email. Is the text easily skimmable? Do you have all of the necessary information there? Are you making your reader work too hard? Did you forget to link something important? When we only approach email from the standpoint of the one creating it, we miss the opportunity to consider the experience of the ones receiving it. And they’re the ones that matter the most.
