SIMPLE WORKS

Earlier this week The Armed sent out an email newsletter (above, right). As you can see, it’s similar in layout to an Instagram post (above, left).

The rest of the email is the same; photo, text, image, text.

White background. Dark text. Like an Instagram post, or a book, a newspaper.

• Make sure your text isn’t too tiny
• Don’t use eye-searing background colors
• Make your link colors stand out – they’re important!
• Make photos full-width
• Don’t use columns (yeah, I said it)

Make the bulk of your email a reflection of your authentic self, as The Armed did here:

“Well that’s it for right now…we’re in North Carolina and it’s 96 degrees. We play at 6:30 pm outdoors and there is no shade anywhere. So uh..I guess if we die, please remember LIAR 2 as our final, irrevocable mathcore legacy.”

An intern (or AI) didn’t write that, that came from the band.

That’s the opposite of mullet marketing.

Your social media feeds are the party. Loose and free, filled with witty rants, spontaneous photos, lengthy captions.

The likes pour in, and the replies.

Party in the back.

Then you subscribe to a band’s newsletter and get their “email blast,” which is just a few vinyl mock-ups of their album, some text, a button.

No lively text. No attitude. No swagger.

Business in the front.

Remember, the bulk of your social media followers don’t see your posts, so copy, paste, and elaborate on the wonderfully long captions you’ve already written.