Writing effective email copy can be trial and error and can be frustrating
when you first start out.
It all boils down to knowing a few basic best practice copywriting tips that you can incorporate in your writing.
So how do you write great email copy?
Start out with a compelling subject line. This is the first thing your
recipient will see and is one of the most important aspectsof email
marketing. If you don't get this part right they won't even open the email. You should aim for around 50 characters or less as any more is pointless.
It won't show up in full on monbile devices and super long subject lines always come across as"spammy". Make it content related and the more interesting and
unique, the better.
Use actionable language. For example, you might get an email that says "Take your mum to Brunch" in the subject line. This is one way to use actionable language in email subject lines. Some other examples of good
actionable language are "take," "download," "reserve," "ask," "buy," etc. Use language that makes it clear what they can do with the information in the email if they open it. Keep the value for the user in the forefront of your
mind.
Personalize your emails when ever you can. And we don't mean by using the dynamic field to insert someones name. What we mean by this is try and tailor your emails to certain segments of your list. Let's say you run a pet store. Some of your list owns dogs, some own cats and some own lizards. You don't want to send a blanket email to all your list advertising a sale you're running on dog food. You need to target just the dog owners on your list. Depending on the amount of information you got from your subscribers when they subscribed you may be able to personalise even further. Keeping with the pet store example, when people signed up you asked them not only what kind of animal they have, but also what breed. So if you're having a sale on biscuits for small dogs, you wouldn't want to send this email to those who signed up and told you they had a rotweiler. You'd want to send it to those with shih tzus or poms.
Make sure your email delivers what it says on the tin. What your email subject line promises, the email content
should deliver. If readers don't get what they're actually promised in the subject line, click-through rates plummet
and in the long term, so will your email open rates.
Use calls to action. Your email call-to-action should be REALLY easy to identify. Most people scan their emails instead of reading every word, and if there's one thing you want your recipient to pick up on, it's your call-to-action. If you want people to "view deal", "download now" or "find out more" make sure you put this in your content and make it very easyto spot. Even if you write the most engaging content and get them hooked on
whatever it is you're selling, it's all for nothing if they can't find what to do next. Make it big, make it bold and make it obvious what they need to do next.
By following these simple rules you'll be well on your way to writing effective email copy and improve that all
important click through rate.