The Perfect Email Is 50 - 125 Words

The email productivity company Boomerang researched which emails are most likely to get quick responses, and the winners are between 50 and 125 words. According to the study, "a 25-word email works about as well as a 2000-word one, with only a 44% chance of getting a response."

By analyzing more than 5.3 million messages, Boomerang identified other features of successful emails. The company does acknowledge that these guidelines may not be best in every situation. Of course, your audience and the context always trump averages, but when in doubt...

• Write at a third-grade reading level. Use simple words and short sentences. 
• Use a tone that's slightly negative or positive, rather than neutral. 
• Use 3- or 4-word subject lines.
• Include 1-to-3 questions for a 50% higher response rate.
• Send your email early in the morning or during lunch. 

The company experimented with interesting versions of emails for dating and criticism. See whether you can guess which were most successful. 

Boomerang can be useful in managing messages. You can schedule when emails go out and receive reminders from the software.  

Discussion Starters: 

• How does this research match your own experience? Does anything surprise you? 
• How would emails to your manager, for example, differ from these guidelines? 

How to Communicate with College Applicants

A new survey could help college admissions officers reach applicants. A Chronicle of Higher Education article describes the results as "complicated," but I think most students would say they make perfect sense. Students want to receive texts for timely information, such as application deadlines and events, but they don't want general information blasts. Students are also open to one-on-one texts with admissions counselors. 

Differences among students may show their willingness for assistance. First-generation, low-income, and underrepresented minority students were more open to receiving texts. 

When asked which communication channels were helpful, students rated letters 46%, emails 65%, and the college website 52%.  

Image source.

Discussion Starters: 

• What about the survey results, if anything, surprises you? 
• How do you think the results may have changed in the past 5 years? 10 years? 
• What should admissions officers do with this information? 
• How well does this work as an infographic? Compare the image to principles in Chapter 9.

Marriott Movie Is a Big Hit

With 3.6 million views and counting, Marriott's movie short, "Two Bellman Two," is a testament to engaging audiences with innovative content. According to Skift, this second Marriott movie tops the first, which was shot within one LA property. This one targets the luxury traveler and sells the destination: 

"In Dubai, Marriott is now emphasizing the destination to sell the hotel by highlighting the wide panoramic vistas across the desert and sea, along with scenes of various tourist activities ranging from sand dune surfing to water jetpacking."

According to Skift, "All in all, Marriott has developed something with this movie franchise that transcends all of that. They have created two winning brand identities that establish JW Marriott in an entirely different consumer market landscape."

The movie site is about about the movies; we see no promotional information or links to Marriott properties at all. 

Marriott Content Studio is behind the innovative films. A look inside the company shows a central control center, M Live, with "nine screens, showing everything from the social media campaigns of Marriott's 19 brands to real-time booking information to Marriott's editorial calendar." Swivel seats are for different departments within the company. According to David Beebe, Marriott's Emmy-winning vice president of global creative, 

"This is a tool for everybody to use in the building. It's customer-first thinking. That's why a lot of brands can't achieve what we're doing. They think, ‘I can't do that because someone over there is not going to like it.' It gets very internal-political."

Discussion Starters: 

• What are the potential downsides of a company venturing into this type of creative marketing? 
• Read more about the Content Studio and the analytics: how is the company measuring success? 

Chipotle Practices Transparency

Chipotle is working hard to improve its food safety procedures and its image. After several reported E. coli outbreaks, the company announced a four-hour closing of its 1,900 stores to retrain its employees. The meeting was live-tweeted via @ChipotleTweets.

Chipotle also announced a local grower initiative to help farmers meet the company's new food safety demands, which can be tough on small farmers. The initiative includes education and training, financial assistance, and opportunities for add new farmers with greenhouses and other technologies.

In a fully developed section of its website, Chipotle outlines new plans for food safety for suppliers and in restaurants.

The good news for Chipotle is that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) declared the outbreak over as of February 1. Chipotle CEO Steve Ells is, of course, confident about a comeback, but he's not alone. Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti expressed his confidence in the company's future as have analysts such as Darren Tristano, executive vice president of industry research firm Technomic: "Consumers have a surprisingly short memory. I would be surprised if it's still affecting them by mid-next year."

Discussion Starters:

• How do you assess Chipotle's messaging? Analyze its website and social media presence. Consider the audience analysis, communication objectives, messaging, organization, tone, and so on. 
• What's your prediction for Chipotle's future?

Trump's Reaction to the Iowa Caucus

In the Iowa caucus, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump lost to Senator Ted Cruz after having a consistent lead in the polls, but he's still confident about winning the election. Analysts say his infrequent visits to Iowa and lack of campaign organizing may have hurt him. He also skipped the most recent Republican debate because of a quarrel with Fox reporter Megyn Kelly, which didn't help.

But Trump says, "I don't feel any pressure. We'll do what I have to do." He also said he's "honored" to finish second.

His tone did change in this video: he seems just a little humbled, and he compliments his opponents, which is quite different from his previous approach. The New York Times compiled "Donald Trump's Twitter Insults: The Complete List (So Far)."

Last week, Trump made headlines after Sarah Palin endorsed him, with her usual, grammatically questionable style, for example,

"When both parties, the machines involved, when both of them hate you, then you know America loves you and we do love he who will be the next president of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump!"

Discussion Starters:

• Compare this video to Trump's previous speeches. Do you notice a difference in tone? What indicates a change?
• What's your view of Trump's tweets? Is this a good political strategy, or will it eventually backfire?

22 Clinton Emails Under Scrutiny

Hillary Clinton has more email trouble: 22 messages on her private server while she was working for the State Department have been identified as "top secret" and won't be released to the public. The Clinton campaign says the emails weren't classified at the time and that the issue "appears to be over-classification run amok." This has been her defense for using a private server for these messages, which she also admitted was a mistake.

The timing, just days before the Iowa caucus, is unfortunate. Republican candidates are using the news to their advantage, although Bernie Sanders is still leaving it alone. As he said in a debate back in October, "Enough of the emails. Let's talk about the real issues facing America." 

NPR describes other messages that were released recently: discussions of an upcoming presidential speech, observations about Joe Biden, support for her testimony about Benghazi, and issues with the press. From NPR's excerpts, we get a sense of Clinton's work style and personality.  

Discussion Starters: 

• Should Clinton say more about this new group of emails? If so, what? 
• Now that the Democratic primary is getting close, should Bernie Sanders use this news to his advantage? What are the advantages and downsides of doing so?

Coca-Cola's Campaign Misfires

The company describes the campaign "Taste the Feeling" as more focused on product than the previous slogan "Open Happiness." Chief Marketing Officer Marcos de Quinto explains, "We've found over time that the more we position Coca-Cola as an icon, the smaller we become. The bigness of Coca-Cola resides in the fact that it's a simple pleasure-so the humbler we are, the bigger we are. We want to help remind people why they love the product as much as they love the brand."

New 60-second spots show people enjoying the product, and a series of print ads are described as "Norman Rockwell meets Instagram." 

That's all fine, but the company also launched a GIF maker for people to create their own ads, and we can guess what happened next. People created ads about divorce, foot fetishes, and predictably, bodily functions.

The company responded with this statement:

"Our intention is to invite people to share their feelings in fun and uplifting ways as they discover our new ‘Taste the Feeling' campaign. While the vast majority have used ‘GIF The Feeling' in positive ways, it's unfortunate to see that some people have chosen to use our campaign to do just the opposite." 

Discussion Starters: 

• Should Coca-Cola have predicted the results? A writer on Digiday thinks so. 
• Assess the company's statement. How well does it work in response to the failed GIF maker?
• Besides this failure, what's your view of the "Taste the Feeling" videos and pictures? 

"Reply All" Trouble

We can take a lesson from Time Inc.: check before hitting "Reply All." At the largest magazine publishing company in the United States, an employee asked a benefits question that went to thousands of employees. A photo editor inquired about the heath savings plan: 

The funny thing is, after reading more, we learn that this is an IT issue, which sent a response email back to the listserv (the entire company). Maybe some of the criticism was unfair. Still, we should check to see where our email goes before sending it. A listserv in the "To" line could be dangerous.. 

Of course, Time employees made the situation far worse by replying back to everyone with snarky comments: 

This brings us to the second lesson: if you get an email like this by mistake, just delete it. 

Discussion Starters: 

• Have you experienced something similar at work or school? How did you or the company handle the situation? 
• What other advice would you offer people before they "hit send"?

ESPN Forgets to Identify Social Media Ads

The Federal Trade Commission's guidelines are clear: when people are paid to write social media posts that relationship must be disclosed. This applies to company employees. Two incidents this week show companies skirting those rules. 

ESPN employees tweeted about Dominos, but didn't disclose their relationship to ESPN. By law, the tweets should include #ad or #spon to identify a sponsored ad.

ESPN responded to a request by Deadspin, calling the tweets an "error": 

ESPN says this is all a mistake and that future tweets associated with Domino's ad buy with the network will be compliant with federal law. Which is fine, though we're still skeptical that New Year's Eve means either college football or pizza-and so were the millions of fans who didn't tune in for this year's college football playoff games.

Yet, a couple of days later, an ESPN journalist tweeted another advertisement. The company has argued that journalists aren't paid endorsers, and a Wall Street Journal article explains, "the issue of whether [ESPN's] roster of pundits and anchors are journalists guided by traditional editorial strictures or entertainers allowed to hawk products has been a thorny one for some time." However, Deadspin argues that Schefter and Mortensen are clearly "personalities," and the connection to the brand is clear.

This issue isn't new. The FTC admonished Cole Han for promotions on Pinterest, and I'm sure others have been caught. 

Discussion Starters:

• We could argue that identifying ads is just a technicality. Some accuse the FTC of being too snarky about social media posts. What's your opinion on the issue? 
• Would a hashtag identifying the posts as ad change your perspective on the post? How do you think fans would be influenced either way?

Does Anyone Read Privacy Policies?

A Wall Street Journal article describes how some progressive Internet companies are simplifying language in their privacy policies. Although most of us click through and "accept" policies to get to the page we want, some read them carefully. Increasing concerns about data use and information sharing has affected how people use some sites. According to a Pew study, most mobile app users didn't download at least one app because of personal information that would be collected. 

The article further explains the move towards plain language: 

"The effort to simplify privacy policy language is a response to public suspicion of opaque policies and the collection of ever more data, said Fatemeh Khatibloo, a Forrester Research Inc. analyst who studies privacy. Some companies "are finally getting on board with the idea that privacy - and how they use our data - is closely tied to trustworthiness," she said. In addition, they're trying to write policies that will be viewed favorably in Europe, which has set a higher bar than the U.S. for what counts as consent to use personal data."

A good example of a privacy policy is from the Plain Language Institute. This group's mission is to improve government communications. However, the Plain Language website is simple, and the group doesn't benefit from sharing information. Pinterest, Facebook, and other social media sites need to collect user data to improve user experience and garner advertising revenue. 

This reminds me of our U.S. tax code: it's complex. Trying to simplify information too much may not serve users in the end. 

We know that Facebook has struggled with its privacy policy since the network's inception. People never seem happy with it, and continuous changes to the policy and settings frustrate everyone. 

Discussion Starters: 

• Look at a few privacy policies for your favorite websites. How easily do you understand what's written? 
• Compare policies for static sites, such as news portals, and interactive sites, such as social networks. What additional information are the social networks trying to cover? 

Twitter Updates Rules Again

After criticism that Twitter needs to do more to prevent ISIS from recruiting and spreading hate, the company has updated its site rules. ISIS managed more than 46,000 Twitter accounts between September and December of 2014. Twitter rules are categorized as Content Boundaries and Use of Twitter, Abusive Behavior, and Spam.

According to Reuters, Twitter "previously used a more generic warning that banned users from threatening or promoting 'violence against others.'" The new rules should make reporting and blocking new accounts easier. Under the subheading "Hateful Conduct," the rules specify,

"You may not promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability or disease."

In a blog post describing the change, Megan Cristina, Twitter's director of trust and safety, writes, "Keeping users safe requires a comprehensive and balanced approach where everyone plays a role." Cristina also explains, "We believe that protection from abuse and harassment is a vital part of empowering people to freely express themselves on Twitter."

Discussion Starters:

• Read Cristina's blog post. How well does she describe the change and Twitter's ongoing commitment?
• Is the company doing enough? How much responsibility should Twitter have for "hateful conduct" on its site?

iPhones Cause an iHunch

  A New York Times article by Amy Cuddy warns us about physical harm caused by the iPhone. Cuddy says our posture is taking a hit because of hunching over the phone, dubbed the iHunch by New Zealand physiotherapist Steve August.

Cuddy cites her own and others' work indicating that posture isn't just the result of our mood but could determine our mood. People slouch when they're fearful or depressed, but does slouching cause us to perform more poorly, or the opposite-does good posture improve performance? Cuddy cites several studies that indicate both.

Most relevant to business communication is probably the 2009 Japanese study of children's posture. When children were instructed to improve their posture, their "academic writing productivity increased."   

To avoid posture problems, Cuddy offers this advice:

Keep your head up and shoulders back when looking at your phone, even if that means holding it at eye level. You can also try stretching and massaging the two muscle groups that are involved in the iHunch - those between the shoulder blades and the ones along the sides of the neck. This helps reduce scarring and restores elasticity.

Finally, the next time you reach for your phone, remember that it induces slouching, and slouching changes your mood, your memory and even your behavior. Your physical posture sculpts your psychological posture, and could be the key to a happier mood and greater self-confidence.

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• How could you use this information in your personal life? Which of Cuddy's suggestions could you apply?
• Why do you think posture improved writing performance in the Japanese study? How well do you think the study of schoolchildren could translate to college students and business professionals?

Reese's Handles Criticism Well

Several tweets showed some questionable-looking Reese's trees. In addition to this example, people wrote, "I feel deceived," and "Does this look like a Christmas tree to you??"

These photos do look more like shapeless blobs than tress.

In response, Reese's shifted the focus with a funny play on appearance. In a second post, Reese's showed four trees with the same slogan; however, all of these examples are more, may I say, shapely than the ones posted by consumers. 

Inquisitr called the response "epic."

People are fussy. Critics said Starbucks' polar bear cookies look as though their throats have been cut.

Discussion Starters: 

• What are other ways the company could have responded to the criticism? What are the advantages and downsides of other approaches? 
• The response worked well, but I could see further criticism because the Resee's example don't quite match what people are finding. Could the campaign have backfired? 

Study: Ending Texts with a Period Is "Truly Monstrous"

A Washington Post article doesn't hold back in interpreting a Binghamton University study. Published in Computers in Human Behavior, the study compared receivers' reactions to periods used in handwritten and text messages: 

We ask whether punctuation-specifically, the period-may serve as a cue for pragmatic and social information. Participants read short exchanges in which the response either did or did not include a sentence-final period. When the exchanges appeared as text messages, the responses that ended with a period were rated as less sincere than those that did not end with a period. No such difference was found for handwritten notes. We conclude that punctuation is one cue used by senders, and understood by receivers, to convey pragmatic and social information.

A New York Magazine article calls the period in a text message "the 'k' of punctuation." Apparently, "k" is highly offensive, indicating a power trip, laziness, and other terrible qualities.

The text period has come up before in BizCom in the News. A Mashable article quoted a linguistics professor at the University of Pennsylvania:

"In the world of texting and IMing … the default is to end just by stopping, with no punctuation mark at all. In that situation, choosing to add a period also adds meaning because the reader(s) need to figure out why you did it. And what they infer, plausibly enough, is something like 'This is final, this is the end of the discussion or at least the end of what I have to contribute to it.'"

The Binghamton University study proves it.  

Image source.

Discussion Starters: 

• How did we get here-where our smallest punctuation mark has taken on such grave meaning? 
• What's your view of the "k" in texts? Do you share the criticism?

Latest Hashtag Trouble: Lane Bryant

You never know what you'll get on Twitter with a hashtag campaign. Lane Bryant's CMO Brian Beitler tried to engage customers with #AskLaneBryant, but he got a lot of tough comments. PR Daily captured many of them and complimented some of the company's approach: 

To the brand's credit, Beitler addressed several concerns during the hour, and the brand's account tweeted its thanks for the "candidness" from chat participants.

Several comments criticize the plus-size retailer for product, model, and associate choices. Although some tweets were "snarky," as PR Daily calls them, Beitler could have been bolder in tackling some of them. 

One of the more challenging tweets referenced a study published in the journal Social Problems. Here are the tweet and article abstract: 

Drawing on participant observation at a women's plus-size clothing store, "Real Style," this article draws on the unique experiences of plus-sized women in their roles as workers, managers, and customers, to examine how mainstream beauty standards, body-accepting branding, and customers' diverse feeling rules shape service interactions. Despite branding that promoted prideful appreciation for "Real" bodies, the influence of these body-accepting discourses was constrained by women's internalization of mainstream fat stigma, resulting in an environment characterized by deep ambivalence toward larger body size. This ambivalence allowed hierarchies between women to be reified, rather than dissolved; although plus-sized employees and customers expressed gratitude to have Real Style as a "safe space" to work and shop, workers experienced gender segregation of jobs, and thinner employees were privileged with special tasks. Further, managers and white (but not black or Latina) customers used body-disparaging "fat talk" to elicit workers' emotional labor while confronting thinner workers for defying aesthetic expectations. This research offers a more nuanced understanding of the ties between aesthetic labor and emotional labor, while highlighting some of the factors that prevent stigmatized groups from successfully reclaiming status within consumer contexts.

Image source.

Discussion Starters: 

• Read PR Daily's compilation of tweets. To which do you think the company should have responded?
• How should Beitler have responded to the reference to the journal article.
• Once again, should companies just avoid a branded Twitter hashtag? Discuss the value and the downsides.

Nordstrom Excelling on Social Media

According to Engagement Labs, Retailer Nordstrom is doing a great job on social media based on three performance rankings on specific social networks: 

• Engagement: how much interaction the company's posts receive
• Impact: the level of reach to constituencies 
• Responsiveness: how quickly the company replies to specific users' comments

Of all the brands Engagement Labs analyzes, Nordstrom is doing the best, according to a write-up by Forbes:

"Upscale fashion retailer, Nordstrom, is a top performer on Facebook FB +0.00% and Twitter TWTR -1.20%. On Facebook, Nordstrom has the highest eValue average score on the list at 93.11. It has enjoyed fan growth of 89,536 within the one-month tracking period and attracted 380.57 likes per 1,000 fans-the highest on the entire list."

Engagement Labs also follows Vloggers and has highlighted YouTube stars PewDiePie, Smosh, Rhett & Link, and others. 

Discussion Starters: 

• What is your favorite brand, and how would you rate its levels of engagement, impact, and responsiveness on social media? What examples do you see of interaction? 
• How, if at all, does a brand's use of social media affect your purchase decisions? 

Executives' "Email Habits"

Business Insider has identified ways CEOs and other executives manage their email. On average, people send and receive 116 emails per day, but we can expect this group to handle many more. 

Here are a few of the lessons learned from executives: 

• LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner sends less email, believing he receives fewer in return: "After recognizing this dynamic, I decided to conduct an experiment where I wouldn't write an email unless absolutely necessary. End result: Materially fewer emails and a far more navigable inbox. I've tried to stick to the same rule ever since." Weiner is right, according to a 2013 study in London. 
• Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos seems to scare his employees when we forwards a customer complaint with only a question mark in his message. According to Businessweek, "When Amazon employees get a Bezos question mark email, they react as though they've discovered a ticking bomb. They've typically got a few hours to solve whatever issue the CEO has flagged and prepare a thorough explanation for how it occurred, a response that will be reviewed by a succession of managers before the answer is presented to Bezos himself."
• Zuckerberg Media Founder and CEO Randi Zuckerberg has two rules: "1. She waits at least 20 minutes after she's woken up before she checks it, and 2. She holds off on sending emails when she knows she's feeling overly emotional."

On the somewhat random list, others don't start with "I," wake up at 3:45 a.m. (or 5:30 a.m.), don't check email right before bed, hire "email ninja" to help, or ask people to specify by when they need a response.

The CEO of Hootsuite sometimes "declares inbox bankruptcy" and deletes everything. He recommends doing this only occasionally and letting people know in a disclaimer. This is the second time I've heard this strategy in the past two weeks, and it scares me. I would never do it. What if I miss a great opportunity or an email from a student in crisis?

Image source.

Discussion Starters: 

• What are your biggest challenges in managing email? Which of these tips may help you?
• What's your view of "inbox bankruptcy"? Who can get away with this and under what circumstances?

IHOP Gets Cute But Crosses a Line

Sure, companies need to attract attention, and social media is a good way to differentiate a brand. But IHOP went too far with its references to breasts, and people didn't respond well. These images and the tweet say it all. 

With an edgy voice, the company is trying to reach a younger demographic, but it backfired. People responded with anger and surprise. @JuddLegum tweeted,  "Something is going on with IHOP on Twitter and I hope I never find out what it is." 

To the company's credit, it sent a quick, natural apology tweet: 

Discussion Starters: 

• It's difficult for companies to know what's just edgy and funny-and what crosses an ethical line. How would you advise companies to distinguish? 
• Assess IHOP's response tweet. Does it work? Should the company have issued a longer or different apology?

KU Must Reinstate Student Who Posted Derogatory Tweets

The University of Kansas lost a lawsuit after expelling a student for posting derogatory tweets about his girlfriend. According to the court decision, the university's code of conduct applies only to tweets posted while a student is on campus. Without clear evidence, Navid Yeasin should not have been expelled: he could have tweeted while off campus. 

Although the university argued that off-campus harassment can create a hostile on-campus environment, the court disagreed: 

"It seems obvious that the only environment the university can control is on campus or at university-sponsored or supervised events. After all, the university is not an agency of law enforcement but is rather an institution of learning."

An attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) supported the decision: 

"To police stuff that doesn't have any connection with the university is a waste of resources. And to police speech - no matter how (offensive) that speech is - is a waste of resources. KU needs to focus on real sexual assault on campus."

Discussion Starters: 

• What's your view of the court's decision? 
• Should UK make a statement at this point? What would the university say, whether or not it decides to appeal?

Questions About Facebook's Dislike Button

Facebook is introducing a "dislike" button, and people are wondering how it will be used. During a Q&A session, CEO and Founder Mark Zuckerberg explained that the button will express empathy. He said people have requested this since 2009 as an alternative to liking something sad, such as a death announcement, which seems odd or insensitive.

Others worry that the button will bring more negativity to social media. A ZDNet article warns that it could be used for trolling or bullying. The article describes the data the new button will reveal for marketers. It seems that the dislike button will have commercial value in addition to the social value Zuckerberg describes.

Although the button seems easy to implement, Zuckerberg said it's "surprisingly complicated" and is in testing now. 

Image source.

Discussion Starters: 

• How could people misuse the dislike button? What are the chances this will happen? 
• For what posts would you use the button? 
• If people have been asking for the button since 2009, as Zuckerberg says, why do you think Facebook waited this long to implement it?