Email Marketing: 9 Tips to Writing Email Copies that Convert
There is no doubt that email marketing works — it works magic, but only when its copy hits the target.
These days, competition is high, jaw wrecking and devouring, and marketers are devising new marketing channels to stay atop. Think social media. Think influencer marketing. Upon all these new trends and practices, email marketing remains unscathed and it won’t be — not now, not for a very long time. If you ask me, I will tell you that any businesses that undertone email marketing is doing themselves a disservice.
First off, what is email marketing?
Email marketing is simply DIRECT marketing that involves businesses sending contents to prospects and customers via electronic mail. It’s an efficient and cost-effective method of building brand awareness, new customer acquisition, and increasing product sales, as well as fostering trust and loyalty with customers.
Email remains one of the best performing marketing tools and that’s not changing soon. In 2019, about 3.9 billion people use email and this figure is expected to grow to 4.3 billion users in 2023. That’s half of the world’s population. In fact, every $1 spent on email is expected to return $42. That’s some clear 4200% ROI.
Astounding yeah?
But with all these juicy figures, some email marketers still find it difficult to create emails that really convert.
There is no doubt that email marketing works — it works magic, but only when its copy hits the target.
In this article, I will give 9 tips on the golden guides to writing emails that convert. So if you have been doling out emails and it’s all… little or no conversion, hold my hands and allow me to take you through 9 best tips of writing badass money-generating email copy;
- Proper Appeal:
Before you write anything, you need to find the proper appeal to use to pique the interest of your audience and the best way to do this is by knowing their persona. Research them, go to where they gather on the internet, monitor and listen to their delights and pains.
Your audiences are your best shot in pooling the best appeal you can use to reach them. You can even ask them what they want and how they want it. You see, this single act alone shows that you respect their opinion, that you care for their needs and wants.
Without knowing your audience, there is tiny or no chance on this spherical earth your email will appeal to them. Research your audience today, and stop shooting blanks.
2. A Strong Subject Line:
Take it from me, this is the mitochondria of your email, the powerhouse. If your subject line is not powerful enough, your email is as good as still sitting away on your computer. There are few techniques to use in writing a fire subject line. According to John Caples, your subject line can feed on either of;
- Curiosity: this is one of the emotions Dan played on to get me to sink in the mail, it has been reported by marketers to be more effective, it carries teasers that pick on the “I want to know” sense of your audience.
- News: a news announcement that targets your audience current need will do just the trick. Your mail will meet the anticipation of your audience.
- Self-interest: when your email talks in terms, thoughts and wants that are important to your audience, it will trigger your audience to quickly open and see the content.
- Fear: you can create fear in your audience by emphasizing the short availability of your offer. But fear must come after you have established that your offer is irresistible.
But regardless of the one you choose to use, you must make sure your subject line is either attention seeking but not shouting, tempting, give a hint of benefit, unique, or specific. Intrigue and eye-catching subject line will surely get your email open. It is the smallest piece but it is the one you want to visit and test over and over again.
Mind you, after a fire subject line, there must also be a fire first paragraph (opening line) too. Sometimes, the power of subject line ends upon opening. In this case, the first paragraph is what will keep the intensity. If the first paragraph fails to hold and continue the flow, that campaign ends there. Apply the same principle to the first paragraph too. Make it as hot as the subject line.
3. Write As you Talk:
It is very important to write in a very conversational way. You don’t want to be too formal and impersonal. Your audience doesn’t want another Shakespeare, forget vocabularies and big grammar. If you have heard Dan Lok talk and read any of his content, you would understand the simplicity in the way an email should communicate.
People get somewhat uncomfortable when you’re too formal. You want your writing to be clear, convenient to understand, and effortless to read. Don’t attempt to show off with massive words or complex sentences. Nobody cares about your flowery muscles or vocabulary aesthetics (don’t do what I just did there).
Keep it simple. Write as you talk. The more conversational, the more people will enjoy reading your emails and obey your call to action. Get to the point quickly. It’s an old saying that the quickest way between two points is a straight line. Don’t make your email a maze.
4. Reflect your Personality:
This one is tricky. If you are a terrible person, please keep your personality to yourself. But if you aren’t, don’t fret, it will work magic in your favour. You are just an email away from cashing in your own fair share of loyal customers.
Don’t bore your audience, give them a personality to flow with. People won’t even read your email talk more about buying your product if you bore them. That’s why your emails should have your personality. If you personalize your email, you will constantly make more sales. Plus, people will enjoy reading your email, you will record high conversion. They’ll open and read all of your emails more often, and these will lead to them paying more interest to you.
Be yourself. Be fun. Add a feel of humour. Show a little emotion every now and then. Allow your audience to keep an image of who you are. The more this happens, the more they’ll want to get closer to you and your product. They’ll anticipate your next email copy.
Don’t be afraid to throw in some thoughts, feelings, dialogue — they help, and it all makes your email copy a lot interesting to read. Ask them questions, smile, and add emojis.
One thing you should also take note of is addressing your customer by their name. For example, “Hi Jack” or “Hi Jack (insert emoji)” triggers Jack’s sense of importance, he will take the content personally and digest it as such. If you are just “Hi” or “Hello” person, stop that NOW.
5. Optimize Storytelling:
“Brand storytelling is a great way to get your point across, differentiate your brand, and work out new ideas. Today, if you want to succeed as an entrepreneur or leader, you also have to be a storyteller.” — Richard Branson
In a 2017 email I got from Dan Lok, he told a story about his mum and how he started persuading people to allow him to mow their lawn for a ridiculously low price. In that moment, as I read on, I sincerely wasn’t seeing Dan, I began to visualize myself pitching all those people and securing the bags.
Look at you smiling, you can’t agree less because you’ve been waiting for me to mention this. You can’t go wrong by infusing your email with the captivating storyline. Tell the story behind the establishment of your brand, of your products, of your services. Tell them the story of your inspiration and motivation. Tell stories from your life. Tell them about your successes, your failures, your mistakes.
Tell more of your WHYs and HOWs than of your WHATs. Human are wired to see how a story unfolds, where it ends and this is why most effective email copy always start with them. Word tells, story sells.
Nowadays, customers are more sensitive, crave transparency and want to know about your business. So, when it comes to brand storytelling, be clear, concise and honest. Don’t complicate this part, don’t shot yourself in the foot. Tell a good story in your email copy and move on.
6. Stuff your Email with Benefits:
Hello! Are you still there?
Good!
Now to the big benefits, this is the big reason why your audience is still reading. The benefit is what you are selling, something they must get, a reward for reading your email.
You must always stuff your email with benefits. The idea of benefits can be tricky. You don’t want to be singing the features of your product to your audience all through the email copy, there is probably a million businesses that sell the same products with the same features as yours, even better.
Benefit statements go beyond a mere description of the features of a product or service and tell your prospect what is in it for them. Benefits solve a problem, be sure you state them clearly. Don’t ambiguous.
Pour in emotion into your benefit. Instead of saying “this car is big and has space for 10 people”, say “this car will allow you to travel with your family and friends in the same space.” One strikes deeper feelings of family and the other pride on the feature.
In that Dan’s 2017 email, he sold to me a promise of a good life, a life that will put me in control, not a product, not a course.
“People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!” — Theodore Levitt.
7. Make an Irresistible Offer:
Before you call to action, you can make your prospect an offer that is hard to resist. This is like a preparation for the big O call to action.
There are two things this does;
- Removal of the psychological and financial reason for saying NO.
- Guiding your prospect to a no-brainier YES decision, you are making him see yes as the only wise decision.
There are few ideas you can adopt in your setting your offer.
(i.) Offer a free trial: this will get your product in prospects’ hands to test drive and will ultimately result in sales. Also, you can use this free trial as a lead generation device for your salespeople to follow up on.
(ii.) Offer a risk-free trial: With a risk-free trial, you actually collect your customers’ money first. This means that customers can get their money back if not satisfied.
(iii.) Offer a limited-time FULL money-back guarantee: You can adapt this if you have confidence in your product.
(iv.) Give away a few freebies: you can offer some of your product for free, this warms the customer up to begin to trust your authenticity. For example, newsletter publishers always include with a trial purchase a number of FREE special reports prospects can keep regardless of whether they decide to continue their subscription.
This is a great way to draw your audience in. Often times, it is the KILLER strike.
8. A Clear Call to Action (C.T.A):
The objective of an email copy is to influence someone to perform the desired action. With email, you always want to tell someone what to do. Tell them to click. Tell them to reply. Tell them to watch the video on the next page. Tell them to buy. Nothing happens until you instruct your reader what they should do next.
Every email should have a call to action. Remember… people on your list have problems. They are hoping YOU are the one with the solutions. They want to be led. And they want YOU to lead them. Be their ordained shepherd. If you are not asking your prospects to try or buy your product, then your efforts are simply a short story.
That’s why it’s crucial that your call to action is constructed in a way that gets your prospects to ACT. Here are a few tested and proven calls to action that will help you spark an immediate response:
(i.) Limited time offer: This emphasizes the little availability time of the product. It gives your prospect a deadline to act on, else forfeits the offer. For example: “Order now! Sales end April 10.”
(ii.) Free gift: This actually works magic, getting a free gift with a purchase. Dozens of split-run marketing tests have proven that giving your prospects a free gift with a purchase can increase orders by as much as 20% to 50%.
For example: (i.) “Buy 5, get 1 for free.” (ii.) “Buy 3 pairs of jersey, get a free soccer ball.”
(iii.) Limited supply: this creates a rat race between prospects, this mostly works well in selling discontinue the product. Prospect would race to pick up out of the few available.
(iv.) Fast response bonus: This is a kind of reward you give prospect who order on or before the day you fix. For example: “Buy your ticket in 5 days and get free Popcorn and a bottle of coke.”
The good thing about the call to action is that you can decide to combine them to form a single offer.
9. Include a Nice PostScript (P.S):
“P.S is the most charming part of a letter, it’s the wink you give as you walk away” — Shaun Usher.
Surprisingly, you may have been writing awesome emails, from the subject line to the action call but you’ve always omitted P.S, or you don’t include a call to action in your P.S.
Research has it that 90% of people who opened an email just scanned through to read the postscript first, before reading anything else. And since you’ve not been writing P.S, they’ve been logging out of your email and hitting delete.
Postscript may be the most important thing you will write in your email after the subject line. A P.S here allows readers to take proper notice of your message, clearly understanding it, and more likely to take action.
Sometimes, oftentimes, your P.S is all you’ve got. So use it effectively. Use it to reinforce the urgency of your email and call to action. You can add other important things you either forget or can’t fit in the body. You can also share surplus values. Construct your P.S in a way that can independently influence your reader to ACT.
P.S: always make available your clickable links all over the email. Don’t make it too much or choke, but save the reader the stress of looking for where to click. It may get boring and tiresome. There is no time, so make your link(s) seeable.
Also, consistency is key, you have to be deliberately continuous. You have to send out as many emails as the number of emails on your lists. If you are sending an email once a month, you aren’t trying. Try and do once a week and compare your ROI. Another juicy thing about email marketing is that you own your list, you are in total control of your email lists. So the more you can send out the mail, the more bag you can secure.
