Writing Emails for Your Business Success
You get emails, I get emails, He - She gets emails we all get emails! They're not going away and in fact, still one of the leading marketing tools used in 2024. Here's an example report by Hubspot that's been keeping a lookout for the best Marketing ROIs this year.
And this is just one example out of the hundreds dedicated to the marketing game. Of course, I'm not here to talk about the sector as a whole but Email as the writing tool for your future strategies.
Overview
In order to get across the writing aspect I want to focus on what email can do for your business and how to make it happen. Here's a rundown
Compelling Copywriting
Content
Email Service Providers
Customized Templates
Call to action
If you can hit the nail with these 5 tools then I have no doubt you'll be bringing in more traffic to your website than you've ever done before! BEWARE: Make sure to always remember to be consistent! Change happens and updates are always needed so you don't lose with the times. I said the same thing here Having a website as a business owner (what to know) with much more web content added. Let's start with the first...
Compelling Copywriting
Emails have always used words before images or videos became revolutionary, but even still, it continued to dominate the space. Which is why it's so crucial to use compelling messages to thrive in email marketing. The first thing email uses to communicate with your target audience is a subject line and a bit of snippet that follows.
Here are some examples:
You and I both know if the subject isn't within our curiosity we're moving on. That's all it takes for your marketing strategy to fail.
Here's a couple of mistakes to avoid and improve on
Subject Line - Betraying the audience's trust with wordplay / You get excited about what you read only to be let down when it's not what you were promised in the subject line.
Instead: Lead with the first benefit / What are you offering and how would that product/service make the consumers' life easier?
Snippet - Not getting to the point / We scroll faster than what we can see, so if it’s not worth their attention, they won’t click.
Instead: Build curiosity / Continue to build upon the first benefit with a more descriptive lead onto the snippet.
Headline - Writing an unrelated quote or slogan to the offer / It will confuse and misguide the reader. This will only make them prone to be more skeptical going forward, you don't want that.
Instead: Add in the second Benefit / Subject is the first benefit and the headline is the second to reinforce and assure the consumer it is what we promised.
Message - Scrolling too far down for the offer promised / Everyone skims through a message so if you’re saying in any way these words, “Wait for it…” “Almost there”... Most of the time, they're checking out.
Instead: Give them what they came for / Plain and simple, just guide them to the offer and the rest will play out on its own.
Promoting too many services in a single email / There's so much a person can remember before they start derailing. Giving them more choices will only accelerate that process.
Instead: Promote a single offer and a second objective / Stick with one main offer and a second objective in case they’re not interested in buying yet, but wouldn’t mind walking around your website to window shop. This is good for exposure.
If you want to get better with the above mentioned, the first step is to create a structure that connects all of them into one working machine. After you create a structure that organizes it effectively all you have to do is feed it the above mentioned and half the work is done. The next half is where most people can get stuck really quick.
Content
Content.... The word that became more of a slaving job than an environment for creative fun and ideas. Just to clarify, you CAN be creative even if you believe you're not. Creativity doesn't come from some awe-inspiring moment or being outgoing/extroverted, it's more than that. It'll be hard to explain here so I'll dedicate this topic in another blog post at a later time.
But for now Content. Creating new ideas is one thing, but then having to structure that same idea into writing is another challenge. Writing content is a skill that is founded on structure like a movie script or story.
There's a Beginning, Middle, and End
How do they start? Someone said it best, "just write anything, IT IS ONLY THE ROUGH DRAFT". It's gonna be bad and that's ok because that's only for your eyes to see. As you start writing the beginning, take a break and come back to it the next day or so, you're eyes will have a new perspective to show you ways to make it better and even have a clearer idea on what you actually want to write about.
The things it will show you are
Is there a theme?
Are you writing what you intended to write?
Where bad writing starts and ends
How you can fix it
Refine it
Finish it
That's all to it, you just have to accept it's gonna be bad at first. It'll be smooth sailing from there. Don't overthink it, take a dive.
Email Providers
In this section, we wont be discussing much about writing, but I believe it's still note worthy to mention to your success. I truly believe a lot of owners neglect the power of using the right email provider for their business and also using the right features specifically for their industry. There are a couple of ways to go about what works best for you.
Here's a couple that, depending on the provider, can specialize more than others
Automation Delivery
Mass Emailing
Tracking Performance
Spam Testing
Email Scheduling
Template Designs
It would be amazing if just one single provider could achieve peak performance for all these crucially important features, but that's not going to happen anytime soon.
SO, here's a link to start your research 15 Email Providers. It's important to understand what email provider aligns with your goals, because if the features do not match your needs, then you're going to have a lot of headaches and wasted time on your hands.
Added bonus. An amazing book I recommend if you want to get deeper into your email game is called Email Marketing Demystified (Third Edition). This book is a great investment to your marketing strategy and business revenue, so I recommend checking it out.
On to the next point.
Customized Templates
Along with finding the right email provider also comes the need for designed templates catered to your target audience. Creating a mark by providing memorable emails will increase business exposure and give subscribers a reason to check their inbox for your maximized return.
Since template design is more of a design topic I'll leave that for another time, but let's just assume you just made your designed template (and again some email providers specialize in this along with some other features you need) and you're ready to write emails. At this point, what's important is writing compelling messages that'll bring subscribers reeling in for more.
Around this time it's about the tone of the message and what emotion you want people to feel when they read your emails. This depends a lot on the template design you're using. Pictures envelop a type of atmosphere or scenery in your email and because of this, the message tonality needs to be consistent with that style. what do I mean?
Let's look at 3 examples
Edgy Style
Sleek, cool~ and edgy. Everything about this design template screams "You're cool if you work out, the hot guys and beautiful women will start noticing you, join the team". The message must be aligned with the "edge" and stay consistent throughout the email.
If the objective is to take them to your website then of course the all-around message will revolve on that idea, but how would you relay that message while staying aligned with the style? This is where getting it right creates higher traffic of visitors and loyalists to your brand.
If you notice the example figure, it clearly states that the email is a weekly newsletter which means it's already determined that it can be a type of blog or template that's meant to connect with the audience rather than promote. So, its purpose is to build a relationship with the subscriber. But that doesn't mean you can't sell... just throwing it out there.
Vibrant Style
Free-spirited, vibing, and full of life! "Let's all hang out, go to the beach, and maybe afterward go out to eat! Making memories.
At least for me, this is the type of style this template brings out and wants to show. So again, just like the last figure, this template's objective is to drive sales by giving out 50% off products. You always have to write with the objective in mind, because obviously, that's the reason for the email.
How would you write this message in a Vibrant style that complements promoting a sale going on? Are you starting to understand the psychology that comes with copywriting?
It's important to pay attention to these small details.
Holistic Style
Hearty, wholesome, and nourishing. "it's time to give yourself another chance and love your body" You've seen many of these ads and newsletters promoting a healthy lifestyle for your benefit and Mother Earth.
This type of style has a couple of ways to go about writing. Since it's about a healthy lifestyle away from processed food and possibly meat to prevent animal cruelty, you can use these options as a means to get across your objective.
The content in this setting is going to your healthy supermarket and buying organic ingredients. As a copywriter, I understand that this message could be for either current healthy lifestyle consumers who want ingredients at an affordable price or those who are looking to change their eating habits. (Of course, in the end, it's the target audience you chose.)
So knowing all this (you should do more research though) you can construct a message to fit your consumers' needs and reach your objective as planned. It's more than just writing.
Fresh Style
Confident, Bold, and Ready. "Well-groomed? Check. Ready to take the city? Check. Meeting up with some friends? Check. Let's go out and have some fun."
Young adults are ready to hit the scene and what better way to do it than by promoting new clothes meant for them?
What's important right here is writing a compelling message directed to the target audience you're promoting it to, which is young adults.
You want to be Fresh, Bold, and Ready because that is what the example email template is presenting. So how would you talk to young adults who want to go out, want to be in style, and live life in the city?
Remember, always stay with your objective, in this case, "New Season wardrobe collection, $50". Market your objective in their language.
Ok, I gave you 4 examples to look at and I'm hoping it had enough variety to get the point across. In case I didn't then in short
Message depends on:
Audience (Age, Hobbies, Finances, Lifestyle etc..)
Content (Promo, Newsletter, New Products etc...)
Season
And sometimes Current Events.
Whatever style you choose, 25% of the content will already done. It'll also give you a better picture on how to proceed with an awesome message that will eventually be refined with time and drive more revenue for your business.
Call to action
What better way to end this post than to talk about the small piece of words that will decide the closing sale. If there is a single murderer for all the hard work you put into your marketing it would be the lack of call to action.
The hardest part of sales in any industry is.... you probably know.... Asking for the sale. After the salesman goes through the entire process, giving a great first impression in the first minute of introductions, building rapport that will eventually become an anchor to the sale, and finally negotiating (if there is any) only to mess it up on the asking (The Close). Only in this case, it would be telling them to go through with the purchase since it's E-shopping.
That is essentially what your Email Marketing is. Enticing your audience to click on the email headline, piquing their interest even more inside the email, and then directing them to your website only to have them one click away from purchasing your product to just as easily click the exit button and ruin the sale. That is the most frustrating feeling for any seller/owner.
The call to action is the final destination for a complete sale and you can't blow it.
It's a place where the potential buyer can be safe and think "Do I really want to buy it?" "The email looked legit and the product seems trustworthy to try out". "Ok let's try it".
So how do we do that?
It's all in the process. That's really it. A person who clicked on your email was already interested in what you were selling because that's what they were looking for. They wanted to give it a chance and "Hope" This is the company that will give me what I want or need..... It's the most important element of the close.
The close second would be:
The Button (Catered to the target audience)
It's as simple as that. You have to make sure the words inside the button are aligned with the context of the sale. I don't need to explain since you see it all the time.
"BUY NOW"
"ADD TO CART"
"PURCHASE"
"CONTINUE SHOPPING"
"CONSULTATION'
You get the gist. Don't slack off though, because using the right words for the Call to Action button is pretty important. The same concept from what I talked about "Style" also applies here. Remember that.
To make it easier to swallow
Process (Everything we talked about thus far) + Call to action = Closing Sale
Sometimes you can experiment with the wording and track the "BUTTON" performance to see if it works better.
Example
If we look at the secondary call to action "SHOP NOW" (This is the secondary objective, not the primary offer) we can replace it with "Wardrobe Collection" or just "Wardrobe". In this way, the consumer is anticipating a collection of clothes they can window shop and decide to buy later. It's another form of Call to action.
Conclusion
I hope this email/writing overview helped with some struggles you've been having or given you ideas to scale your business for success, but again I do recommend hiring a copywriter.
Just ask me! Let's get on a call and receive a free consultation for your messaging strategy! If you like what you hear by the end of the call then let's make it official and see your vision through!
Have a great day and better business!