For the next few weeks, I’m writing a series about how to structure and write emails that convert. I’ll 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 the power of email preview text. Today, I’ll show you why email copywriting matters so much to your bottom line.
Everyone thinks email copywriting is hard.
It’s not.
Candidly, it’s a lot like any other form of copywriting. Except you don’t have to write as much copy to accomplish your goals. (Which means technically, email copywriting should be easier than “regular copywriting.”)
That being said, there are copywriting techniques you want to employ a little differently when you’re writing an email.
I’ll cover those, along with other best practices and rules you’re welcome to break, below.
What’s the Difference Between Email Copywriting and Writing Any Other Copy?
As I said above, not a lot.
You should employ a lot of the same techniques you would use when writing any other piece of marketing copy.
For instance:
Keep Your Writing Tone Conversational
You know you’re sending this email to more than one person. But they don’t necessarily know that. (Okay, they probably do, but still…)
Write emails to your subscribers and customers just like you would write to your best friend. The tone should be comfortable, welcoming and easy to read. Every email should feel like a conversation between you and another person.
Write in the second person, meaning use “you,” “your” and “you’re” as well as other words that indicate you’re speaking directly to your reader. (See what I did there? Do that.)
For more information on conversational writing, check out this blog post.
Make Your Emails Easy to Read
Don’t use a lot of flowery or complicated words. Or, to quote Mark Twain, “Don’t use a five-dollar word when a fifty-cent one will do.
The easier it is to read your email; the more people will be likely to take 30 seconds to 3 minutes of their precious time and engage with what you’re saying.
Most marketing messages are written somewhere between the 5th and 8th grade reading level. This is not because people are stupid, but because they’re busy and overwhelmed. They’re not going to take 10 minutes to fight their way through any text that makes them feel confused or uneducated.
You can determine the reading level of your writing by using the Readability Statistics in the Spelling and Grammar section of Microsoft Word. Instructions on how to set this up are in the blog post I linked to above. You can also use websites like the Hemingway Editor to determine how simple or complicated your emails are.
Use short sentences to decrease the reading level of your emails. Make your paragraphs no more than 3 lines long. Leave white space between paragraphs. All of this makes your email feel less “intimidating,” so people are more likely to read what you have to say.
Talk About the Benefits of Your Product or Service
As with any other piece of marketing copy, you want to show your readers why your product or service is the best option for them.
Most companies ramble on about the features of their products or services. The good ones talk about the benefits as well.
What’s the difference?
Features are what a product or service is or does, how it functions.
Benefits are how a product or service will transform the lives of the people who use that product or service, for the better.
Get to the Point Quickly in Your Email
Sales letters and landing pages give you the luxury of taking a while to work into your sales pitch. In an email, you’ve got a lot less space, so you want to get to your point quickly.
Use the first few sentences to make it clear why you’re writing and what you’re writing about. As mentioned in the first two posts in this series, always tie your subject line and email preview text into the lead of your email. That way people aren’t confused when they start reading.
Don’t make your call to action the first thing people see (unless you’re telling your subscribers about an imminent deadline they need to act on right away).
Do be upfront about why you’re sending people this email and asking them to spend their precious few minutes reading it. If you launch into some long story about your brother’s dog and don’t tie that back into your reason for writing within a few sentences, you’ll lose your reader’s attention.
Keep Your Emails Short
The goal of most emails is to get your subscriber to take a specific action. Don’t give everything away before you get them to take that action.
Typically, the action you want someone to take is to visit a sales page, blog post or something similar. If you tell them everything they’ll learn on the page you’re driving them to, why should they click on your link?
Give your subscribers enough information to intrigue them and convince them to take the action you’re driving them toward. Let your blog post, landing page, sales page or other asset do the rest of the work.
On average, an email should be 400 words or less.
I’ve seen emails as short as 10 words. (Those are usually very targeted emails and are delivered after a lot of other information has been consumed.)
My normal blog post announcement emails range between 150 and 200 words.
All that being said, my Thursday emails are usually between 400 and 500 words. These emails are exclusive to my list and offer marketing advice I don’t usually include in blog posts. Because of this, I give myself more space to deliver the information my subscribers want.
(Confession time, I will occasionally write even longer emails. A recent Thursday email was 651 words long. But it was really good information.)
If you find you’re writing emails that are 700 words or longer, consider making that into a blog post or adding more information to sales page instead of expecting your subscribers to read a long email.
Make Your Email Topics Relevant to Your Audience
People subscribe to your email list because they want information about what you have to offer. Don’t confuse them by writing emails that don’t relate to your products and services or your industry or niche.
If your audience is 60-year old conservative women who love to knit, and subscribe to your list for tips on knitting and to get your latest patterns, it would confuse the heck out of them if you sent an email about how to get tickets to an upcoming male strip show. (Unless you could tie that back into knitting. If you do, I totally want to see that email!)
Yes, this is a drastic example. But I’ve seen stranger things come through my inbox.
This is also true of affiliate and joint venture offers. If you’re emailing on someone else’s behalf, you have to show your audience why this stranger’s offer is worth their time and money, as it relates to them, their interests and why you’re introducing them to this new company.
Depending on your audience and your offerings, you may want to consider segmenting your audience, so you send relevant messages to your subscribers. This will cut down on your unsubscribe rate and result in more conversions, because your messages will find the right people at the right time.
Tell Stories in Your Emails
Yes, I just told you not to tell a long story about your brother’s dog.
Do tell that story about your brother’s dog if you can tie it into whatever it is you’re promoting.
We are geared to listen to and tell stories. It’s part of every culture on this planet. It’s also a good marketing practice.
A great email formula would be to use a story to introduce your product or service, then show the benefit of the product or service.
I wrote a blog post all about using storytelling in your email marketing. You can find that post here.
Be Your Authentic, Genuine Self
This may be the most important rule of email copywriting.
Write in your own voice. Or, if you’ve established a “company voice” write in that voice. But stay consistent.
Be personable. People don’t want to hear, or buy from a dry, boring company. They want to know who they’re dealing with. They want to trust the people they give their money to.
Talk about the things that matter to you, as well as to your business. Talk about the issues that are relevant to your business in your emails. Share your story with your subscribers.
If you’re not genuine that will come across in your emails and your unsubscribe rate will go through the roof.
Remember, this is a conversation between you and your subscribers. You’re getting to know each other. You tell your subscribers about yourself in your emails. They tell you about themselves by their purchases and testimonials. It may be a weird relationship, but it’s a relationship you want to build and keep alive, for both your sakes.
Go Forth and Use Your Email Copywriting for Good!
Now you know how to write a solid email that will get your subscribers to take action! Use this superpower to benefit your subscribers and yourself.
To help you with this, I’ve put together the Email Copywriting Power Pack. It’s a collection of content upgrades from other blog posts I’ve offered in the past. They’re all geared toward helping you write better emails.
Click on the button below to get your Email Copywriting Power Pack now.
Next week, I’ll show you how to write high-converting bullet points in your emails.