Most Desired Action (M.D.A.)



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Most Desired Action (M.D.A.) - What's Yours?
By Christopher Knight

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What's your Most Desired Action that you want your email newsletter members to do?

So often we get tied up with the details of producing, delivering, promoting and managing our Ezine that we forget one of the most basic tenets:

Always know your "Most Desired Action"

This can be different than your "end outcome."

Example:

Your end outcome for your Ezine this week might be to increase your product sales by 27 units before Friday.

To accomplish that end outcome, knowing your previous conversion statistics, your Most Desired Action (M.D.A.) might be to achieve 550 clicks to your teaser copy or landing page of your website where you give a further sales pitch or additional reasons why they should trust and buy from you.

I'd argue that if your email list members are current clients, that you could make your Most Desired Action the same as your end outcome. If you are mailing to your prospects, you have a different type of sales cycle to pull or educate your list members through.

Here's a 6-step process on HOW to define your Most Desired Action:

Define the action you want your email list members to take

This might be as simple as clicking on a link to drive product sales or advertising impressions; It could be to hire you for consulting or speaking; or any action you want them to take as a result of receiving your email newsletter.
Get real specific with the action you want them to take.

Rather than ask them to buy something from your store, ask them to buy a specific product or service you are offering for a special price or other consideration.
Narrow the actions you want them to take down to (1) or (2) at the most.

Remember that your email list members are often only scanning your ezine in about a few seconds to 15 seconds at the most. To give them a dozen actions to take can be overwhelming and lead them to take no action out of confusion.
Make it easy for them to take the action you desire.

Be obvious. We don't have time for games in today's information-overload society. Your list members will not fight to do business with you nor will they fight to figure out how to take the action you want them to take. Make your M.D.A. stand out from the rest of your ezine copy.
Prioritize your M.D.A.'s

If you're going to ignore my previous suggestion of only giving (1) or (2) M.D.A's per email newsletter issue, at least prioritize them in order of importance using the "order listed" or font sizes or colors to make it obvious which action is more important for your list members to take.
Make your case and sell them reasons "WHY."

No email list member of yours or mine will ever take a desired action that is not in their best interests. Therefore you must educate them as to why it's in their best interest to do your most desired action.

Most Desired Action Conclusion:

Your email list members are silently begging to be lead. (Ok, I probably owe that distinction to Jay Abraham as I recall him teaching me a decade ago the importance of helping my clients to be lead to the sale they want to purchase.) Lead your list members and make it easy for them to do what you want them to do as long as you remember to speak to their most basic desires and needs.

"Ask, and Ye Shall Receive" and "Ye Have Not, Because Ye Ask Not"
– Book of Matthew

If all of this sound confusing, then do this one step: ASK your audience to take (1) action that is in their and your best interests to take.

This Ezine-Tip was submitted By Christopher Knight -- Email List Marketing Expert, author and entrepreneur. Get your weekly dose of Email newsletter publishing, marketing, promotion, management, email-etiquette, email usability and deliverability tips by joining the free Ezine-Tips newsletter: http://www.emailuniverse.com/subscribe/.

Ezine-Tips for November 30, 2004

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Most Desired Action (M.D.A.) - What's Yours?By Christopher Knight

Most Desired Action (M.D.A.) - What's Yours?
By Christopher Knight