For the last few weeks, I’ve been writing a series about how to structure and write emails that convert. I go through each section of an email to show you how to make it stronger, so it gets your subscribers to take the next action you want them to take. Last week I demonstrated how to write an email call to action that gets your subscribers to… well… follow your instructions and take action. This week I’ll show you the power of the PS and how it can make your emails much more effective.
Why would the very end of your email matter when it comes to conversion? I mean, shouldn’t your subscribers have made their minds up by then as to whether they’re going to click or not?
The truth is, lots of people need to be convinced, all the way to the end of an email. (Some may need several emails to be convinced.) That’s why knowing how to use a PS in email is such an important skill.
What Does PS Actually Mean?
PS stands for postscript.
According to Wikipedia, “A postscript (PS) is an afterthought, thought that’s occurring after the letter has been written and signed. The term comes from the Latin post scriptum, an expression meaning “written after” (which may be interpreted in the sense of “that which comes after the writing).”
Basically, when people wrote letters by hand or on a typewriter, you added a postscript when you forgot something or when you had an additional thought you wanted to send in a letter.
Why Should I Use PS In Email When I Can Change the Text?
This is a fair question. We no longer live in a world of erasers, ink blotters, or even whiteout or typewriter erase ribbon. We can read and re-read an email before we ever send it, changing the text to our hearts’ content.
It has become very common to use a PS in email, even if it seems a bit antiqued, as a way of wrapping up your thoughts. You’re giving that little extra… something to the person you’re writing to.
There are 2 main ways to use a PS in email:
- At the end of a sales email
- At the end of a nurturing email
Using a PS in a Sales Email
This is the most common use of a PS in email these days. It comes from Direct Marketing when copywriters would include additional benefits and bonuses at the very end of their printed sales letters, to drive home their calls to action and get their readers to call that number or fill out that order form.
Many readers scan a sales letter quickly and go straight to the PS at the end. Some do it to get a better idea of what they’re in for if they decide to read the full letter. Others because they want to see who the letter is actually from. If there’s a PS after the signature, it gets read.
It turns out that the PS is the second most read part of any sales letter, after the headline.
Since many copywriters transitioned from print to digital, the tradition continued, both on sales pages and in email.
In an email the intention of the PS is the same, to get someone to take action. Instead of getting someone to “buy now” you want them to click on a link, which will take them to a sales page.
There are several ways you can do this.
Restate Your Offer
This is the most common use of the PS in email. You may have already stated your offer several times, but repetition is necessary in any sales situation. It can take 7-10 points of contact for a message to sink into your subscribers’ brains. Your PS is another opportunity to make your offer clear and get them to say yes.
Mari Smith, Premier Facebook Marketing Expert (AKA the Queen of Facebook), does that here by restating the offer and deadline for her most recent course on Facebook marketing.
Use Urgency to Get Your Subscribers to Take Action
If your offer includes a deadline (and it should) state that specific deadline in your PS. I like to do it down to the minute and include the time zone for the deadline, so it is absolutely clear what time this offer ends.
Include FOMO to Push Them to Click
Fear of Missing Out (also known as scarcity) is a very powerful motivator. Talk about what they’ll lose if they don’t act now.
I used both of these as part of a PS in a recent email for the Grow Your Blog 2020 Virtual Conference. I added a countdown timer at the top of the email and referenced it in the PS, as well as what subscribers would lose if they didn’t act now. I also made the deadline absolutely clear by making it bold.
Restate and Strengthen Your Guarantee
People want to know they’re going to be treated well once they become a customer. Restating your guarantee, with additional information on how it works, can be the push a subscriber needs to click through to the sales page.
Remind Your Subscribers of the Bonuses
Bonuses are a surprisingly strong motivator for people to buy any product. (That whole, “But wait… There’s more…” thing works for a reason.) Remind your subscribers of the bonuses they’ll get when they click through and buy on the sales page.
You can also add an additional bonus in your PS. (If you’re only giving people this bonus if they click through on this email, make sure you use a trigger link, so they get segmented into a special group.)
Make an Alternative But Related Offer
I don’t recommend using this one often, but it’s a good idea to convert subscribers who haven’t taken advantage of your current offer, but may be interested in something slightly different.
Damon from Simplero’s Customer Success team does that here. The email is the last call for a paid challenge they’re running. The PS directs subscribers to a webinar, which will ultimately lead to the same offer of buying a subscription to Simplero’s course and membership building platform.
Using a PS in a Nurturing Email
The difference between using a PS in a sales email and a nurturing email is that you’re not necessarily pushing a sale. You are still pushing an action.
Reiterate Your Primary Call to Action
If you want someone to click through to a blog post, podcast or other piece of content, remind them why they should do it now.
Here’s a great example from Amy Porterfield’s recent email that promotes her latest podcast.
Candidly, I would have linked to the podcast on the last sentence, so the link was right there in front of my subscribers. Ultimately, that’s up to you.
Ask Your Subscribers to Share Your Email
One of the best ways to get new subscribers is through your current subscribers. I do this at the end of my emails by asking my subscribers to forward the email to someone who they think should read it.
Ann Handley of Marketing Profs goes a step further and includes a link for new subscribers to sign up. (And asks people to buy her books.)
Give Your Subscribers the Option to Stop Receiving a Sales Campaign
I’m seeing this use of a PS in email a lot more from marketers, especially those who do affiliate marketing. I’m sure it’s because so many of them promote each other’s launches and they know a lot of their subscribers are on other marketers’ email lists.
It’s a simple opt-out message that lets your subscribers stop receiving emails specific to this sales campaign. The idea is, you, the subscriber, can still get the “regular” emails but you don’t get the constant barrage of sales emails on top of what is normally sent. I’ve started doing it in my emails too.
You can do this with a trigger link, which sends the subscriber to a thank you page, letting them know they’ve been removed from this particular campaign, but they’ll still get emails from you. The trigger link also adds a tag to their email list, so you can segment them out of the rest of the campaign emails.
Danny Iny did this at the end of his recent email promoting a course.
Remind Your Subscribers How to Contact You
Sometimes, folks have questions. You always want your subscribers to have an easy way to contact you, whether it’s through a contact form or via email. Remind them you’re just a click away in your PS.
The TRIBE team did this when they closed a Facebook group recently.
Promote a Product or Service Related to Your Email Content
Your content emails should still be promoting your products and services, even if they aren’t hard sells. For example, you can add a link to your scheduling app if you offer a free consultation for your services.
Or, you can go all out like Ryan Deiss from Digital Marketer does here, and promote a related product in a content email that links to a blog post about why your delivery rate may be going down.
There are Lots of Creative Ways to Use Your PS In Email
Choose one of these ideas for your next sales email and your next nurturing email and add that extra push for conversion. Then make it a regular habit.
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