TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY, WHICH IS A DAY SET ASIDE TO..(ok thats enough of that). It is a day set aside to celebrate what is normally regarded as bad etiquette, especially when used in emails.
Using ALL CAPS in your emails is widely regarded to mean you are SHOUTING at the recipient. Something which contributed to Vicki Walker of Auckland, New Zealand getting fired.
Vicki would often write her emails and include whole sections in all caps, highlighted in BOLD and Red. In a tribunal Vicki’s employers argued the constant use of all caps in her emails spread “disharmony in her workplace” and justified her dismissal.
So what can Email Marketers learn from the case of Vicki Walker?
Although all caps is more acceptable in creative design, email marketers still need to exercise some restraint. Using all caps can work well in highlighting your key message, but if overused it will make your whole email unreadable. Below is an example of all caps making an email hard to read:
Another retailer that loves the caps lock key is Sugarhill Boutique. They love all caps so much, that there isn’t one single lowercase letter in their entire email.
Even their subject line was made up entirely of capital letters, which is quite ironic as they were attempting to whisper to their subscribers to let them know about a ‘secret’ summer sale. Instead they in affect yelled at them saying “PSST SUMMER SALE ON TODAY”.
Having said all that, there email is a lovely looking thing, so I will forgive their excessive use of all caps. Especially today, on INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY.
In summary, it is a good idea to use your caps lock key wisely. After all, as I highlighted in my call to actions in emails blog post, if you highlight everything you end up highlighting nothing.
Well, I’m going to go read some @DRUNKHULK tweets now and revel in some ALL CAPS goodness.
