"Dear John..."

"Hello, Sherry--We're splitting up". That was the subject line of an email I received today from fashion brand Ben Sherman. Having been dumped while eating cornflakes and via the phone but never by email, I had to open up the message.

Phew--Ben Sherman wasn't breaking up with me. "'Breaking up is hard to do' bemoaned Neil Sedaka. Not so!" began the email. "Splitting can be a wonderful thing (the atom, the bill... the list goes on) so we're dividing and conquering the content of our newsletters to bring you more of the men's or women's lines you'll love." The message continues with a link where I can indicate if I want to receive the menswear enewsletter, the womenswear version, or both. It's an almost-textbook example of how to ensure that your customers and prospects receive the email content they want. And it's also a textbook example of great email copy.--SC