As of lately, I’ve heard several customers call in and ask about the length of their email marketing campaign that they are putting together. They want to know if it is wise to pack their email full of information or if it’s better to be brief and to the point.

Our email marketing studies consistently show that recipients often prefer short emails that are direct and to the point. An email that seemingly scrolls forever can often be intimidating and may scare off your reader.

Plus, it’s important to realize that your recipient has limited time in their day to devote to your email marketing campaign and if your email is designed to exceed that time (because it’s so long!) then you run the risk of them stopping short and potentially missing some key messages. Whereas, if your email is very much focused on your key points and kept as short as possible, then chances are your recipients will read all the way to the bottom and nothing will get left out.

One tactic that is very helpful for email marketing campaigns that run the risk of being very long is to include a short ‘teaser’ type paragraph and then put a “Read More” or “Learn More” link at the bottom. When the reader clicks that link, you bring them to your website where they can read the full version of the article.

This is a great approach because those that want more information can easily click the link, whereas those who aren’t particularly interested in that article can easily skim over it and move onto the next article (as opposed to just giving up completely).

The length of your email marketing campaign is an important factor and if you haven’t asked yourself lately “Is my email too long?” you may want to stop and ask that because if the answer is “yes, then there are quick and easy remedies.