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 showed you why email copywriting is so important when it comes to conversion. This week, I’ll demonstrate how writing bullet points can captivate your reader and motivate them to take action.
I’m sure you’ve seen them on landing pages, in sales letters, and in emails. They’re easy to skim and usually catch your eye, just because they’re short and easy to read.
I’m talking about bullet points.
They’re one of the most useful tools in copywriting to get people to pay attention. Shame they’re poorly written about half the time.
Here’s how you can make sure your bullet points fall into that better half.
What is the Point of Bullet Points?
Bullet points make your copy:
- Easier to read
- Easier to digest and process
- More engaging for the reader
- More enticing when it comes to delivering your message
See?
Writing bullet points is just like writing headlines and subject lines. They need to grab and keep your reader’s attention. They also need to draw your reader back into the rest of your copy.
Typically, bullet points attract the attention of skimmers because they’re so easy to read. If you write them correctly, they’ll convince your reader that they’ve missed something good in the rest of your email and they should go back and read the whole thing again.
Bullet points are more common on landing pages and in sales letters. I find them to be very effective in emails, especially sales emails, to get your point across quickly, while arousing curiosity and interest from your subscribers.
They’re also useful in content and nurturing emails to:
- Deliver clear instructions.
- Break up the text in a long email.
- Create lists
- Deliver concise ideas that may not need a full paragraph.
Like in this email from natural health company Vibrant Blue Oils:
Bullet Point Basics
To give you the perfect wording on writing bullet points, I’m just going to quote Brian Clark of Copyblogger.
- Express a clear benefit and promise. That’s right; they’re mini-headlines. They encourage the scanning reader to go into the real meat of your content or go forward with your call to action.
- Keep your bullet points symmetrical, if possible, meaning: one line each, two lines each, etc. It’s easier on the eyes and therefore easier on the reader.
- Avoid bullet clutter at all costs. Do not get into a detailed outline jumble of subtitles, bullets, and sub-bullets. Bullets are designed for clarity, not confusion.
- Practice parallelism. Keep your bullet groups thematically related, begin each bullet with the same part of speech and maintain the same grammatical form.
- Remember that bullets (like headlines) are not necessarily sentences. If you want to write complete sentences, stick with a paragraph or a numbered list.
That covers most of it.
I would also add the suggestion of alternating between bold and regular text if you have a long list of bullet points to make them easier to read. Or, if each of your bullet points are longer than 2 sentences, bold the beginning of the bullet point and leave the rest of the text in a regular font.
Your goal when writing bullet points is for them to be easy to read and to drive people to respond to your call to action.
6 Types of Bullet Points
Yes, copywriters are weird. We write different types of bullet points. No, I’m not talking about the actual “bullet,” meaning the image or icon used to mark the beginning of a bullet point. I’m talking about what the bullet point does within your copy.
There are far more than 6 types of bullet points, but these will get you started.
Curiosity or “Fascination” Bullet Points
We humans are driven by curiosity. We want to know what happens next. Using curiosity in your bullet points lets you play on the natural human need to find out the answer.
“Fascination” is a term for writing bullet points that are so compelling, and benefit driven that the reader desperately wants to know what you’re talking about. They pretty much force the reader to click on a link or buy a product, just to get the answer.
Here are a few examples of curiosity or “fascination” bullet points:
- “Seventeen lies all intelligent women always tell men” – Gary Halbert
- “Bills it’s okay to pay late” – Mel Martin
- A clever and sneaky way to make more sales in your business by telling people NOT to buy from you – Ben Settle
All of these arouse the reader’s curiosity. Especially if the bullet point is relevant to the reader. (I mean, who wouldn’t want to know which bills it’s okay to pay late, right?)
Here are more curiosity-based bullet points from The Women’s Financial Alliance.
Proof and Credibility Bullet Points
These are exactly what they sound like, bullet points that give proof and credibility to whatever it is you’re writing about.
The idea when writing bullet points is to take that proof and credibility and make it more interesting and eye catching.
You can do this in a few ways:
- Adding statistics, like “75% of doctors recommend…”
- Citing a well-known authority in your industry, niche or field.
- Take information that is both true and well known, and give it a bit of a twist to make it more interesting.
Here’s an example of using statistics from risk management company, IDology in a recent email promoting a webinar.
Straight Benefit Bullet Points
Sometimes, it’s easier to just state what you’re offering and deliver the benefit that goes along with it.
When writing bullet points like this, you don’t have to be fancy. You do have to be honest. If you make outrageous claims, you’ll raise your reader’s hackles and they’ll be less inclined to believe what you say. (This is true in copywriting all around, by the way.)
Check out Amy Porterfield’s list of bullet points for a free guide she’s offering.
Hands down, my favorite copywriter when it comes to writing bullet points is the aforementioned Ben Settle. The man is a master. I read his sales letters, just to read and study his bullet points! The next few ideas are from him. He admits he learned these techniques from other copywriters, but he has brought them to a new level, in my opinion.
Use Physical or Psychological Pain in Your Bullet Points
We’re all drawn in by the proverbial “train wreck.” It’s hard to tear our eyes away from someone in pain or situations that you know cause pain. Using descriptions of physical or psychological pain when writing bullet points will make them both memorable and cringeworthy. It will also drive people to distraction wondering what you’re talking about, and they’ll click on your link or button to find out more.
Contrast
Contrasting two drastically opposing ideas automatically grabs a reader’s attention and leaves them wondering. A big part of copywriting is interrupting people’s thought patterns. Contrast will definitely do that. An example from one of Ben’s own promotions is, “The incredible copywriting secret used by both PT Barnum and Mother Teresa.” (Confession time: I bought the product.)
Tell Them What Not to Do
This overlaps with the curiosity bullet point, in that it arouses curiosity in your reader. But by telling someone what not to do, you’re also sowing doubt and concern that they may be making the very mistake you’re telling them not to. They’ll want to know if they’re making this mistake, how to correct it.
Just to give you an idea of how good Ben is at writing bullet points, here is a tiny portion from one of his product sales letters. (The list goes on for more than 2 pages.)
How Will You Use Bullet Points When Writing Your Emails?
As you can see, bullet points are an incredibly useful and versatile tool to have in your email writing kit.
If you’re excited to write bullet points, but have no idea what to write about, I recommend downloading my free guide, 30 Subject Lines to Keep Your Subscribers Opening and Reading Every Email. The subject lines will help you get started, the writing prompts will fuel your imagination and make writing bullet points so much easier.
Click on the button below to get your copy now.
Next week, I’ll show you how to write the perfect Call to Action to get your subscribers to… well… take action.