Plus, I'm off for a few weeks.
Academia is an online library for science papers. As a subscription business, they have recently changed the way they engage dormant members like me.
It's really clever.
Here's what they used to include as the subject line:
The from name field mentions the name of the researcher, "PDF By Hyunjin Song". The subject line lists the name of the paper, "If It's Hard to Read", and suggests I pick up from where I left off.
Here's the new approach:
Now from says "Bri's Papers", like it's my own curated repository. The subject line still lists the paper, "Social Influence and Stakeholder Engagement", but tells me "Bri, your next paper is ready to open".
Why is this clever?
It's about me! It's for me! It's mine!
Academia are leaning heavily into one of the keys to attention: personal relevance.
By repositioning the emphasis from the paper's author to me, they've made me want to open it.
If that sounds egocentric, you're right.
But that's how we're wired.
Even deep in conversation, we tune into our name being mentioned across the room.
But you might be wondering, if personalising emails is so good, Bri, why don't you do it?
Sadly, the software I use to publish this newsletter doesn't allow me to personalise. The tech hasn't caught up to the psychology.
The lesson from Academia? Make it about your reader, not the content.
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This is the last regular newsletter you'll get from me for a few weeks. I'm off adventuring in my van.
As always, there's plenty of past articles for you to explore or short videos to watch.
See you in a few weeks!
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