Email marketing is alive and kicking stronger than ever before. But do you know how to engage with your subscribers? These simple and practical tips should help improve your email copywriting skills.
Email marketing remains to be one of the most efficient and cost-effective ways to communicate with your target audience. But do your emails deliver the right message? You can’t just send your audience a discount coupon and ask them to buy your product. You have to craft messages in a way that wins their trust, builds a connection, and gently leads them to take action.
Here’s how to improve your email copywriting efforts.
Create a highly converting subject line
A great subject line is a key factor in deciding the fate of your email message, whether it goes to the trash (or worse, gets marked as spam), or gets read and drives sales. Studies show that 35% of email recipients open the email based on the subject line alone. Here are some tips to create click-provoking subject lines:■ Keep your subject lines short and sweet, ideally 8-10 words long.
■ Add a teaser (pre-header) of what they’ll get inside your email.
■ Use action words such as “Learn how…” “Discover a…” “Find out…”
No matter how much you want to draw attention to your message, your subject line should relate to the message. If your killer subject line and your message have nothing in common, the recipient would feel scammed.
Use bullet points and short paragraphs
When writing an email body, make it easy for the reader to scan it even on a small screen. Don’t worry that your reader may miss important details. In today’s fast-paced world people don’t have the patience to read long sentences and paragraphs several lines long.
According to a study by Microsoft, people today generally lose concentration after 8 seconds. That’s how much time you’ve got to convert a reader! Scannable email draws their attention for a little longer. Here are some tips on how to write in a scannable way:
■ Keep paragraphs short and use plenty of white space.
■ Use bullet points but not more than 4 per email.
■ Highlight important words in bold.
Don’t confuse scannable with thin. Your email still has to provide useful and engaging information. Overloading your copy with pictures and GIFs will not encourage the reader to take action.
It’s all about the reader
Your email should address the pain of your customer and not your own. Talk about the benefits of your offer, product, or service, instead of describing its features.
For example, instead of writing “We provide the best auto repair. Our services include…,” write, “You’ll get the best car service. Not only will you enjoy a smooth ride, but you’ll enjoy peace of mind knowing your car has been checked by a professional.”
■ Use “you” instead of “we” and “I”.
■ Avoid using professional jargon unless you address your email to niche professionals and the word you are using is a common phrasing in this particular industry.
■ Personalize the email. If you are using an email platform such as Mailchimp, you can insert a simple piece of code at the beginning of the email, for example, “Hello <firstname>”.
When writing for your audience, make sure your emails are conversational, but not too casual.
Keep your emails structured
Using the simple logical structure of your marketing email is a great way to get your readers to take action. Here’s a four-step email structure that works for any business:
- Outline the problem.
- Offer the solution (this would be your product or service.)
- Show that this solution is going to work for the reader (list the benefits.)
- Tell the reader what to do next.
This way, the mind of your email recipient will flow naturally to the next important element of your email: the call to action (CTA).
Tell the reader what to do
It’s surprising to see how many emails miss this critical point. The Call to Action (CTA) should be loud and clear. Tell the reader what next step she should take. Here are some tips to make your CTA simply irresistible:
■ Create a sense of urgency, scarcity, and FOMO (fear of missing out) to get readers to act quickly.
■ Offer a limited-time discount or even offer a free gift for the first 25 people who make a purchase.
■ Use action words such as “Start learning!”, “Learn more”, “Find our more!” etc to encourage the reader to click on your link and engage with you.
It’s surprisingly easy to start writing more effective emails. These tips will allow your emails to turn your subscribers into your customers.