Email Marketing – Winning Copy Every Time

You may think writing email copy is easy.

But if you want your recipients to open your email, read it and act upon it your email content must hit the spot instantly.

But don’t be fooled into thinking the hard work starts when you sit down and begin to write; on the contrary, the work begins as soon as you make the decision to create an email marketing strategy.

Step 1 of your email marketing campaign

So far you’ve reached the decision you’re going to create an email marketing campaign.

Don’t jump in and start writing—before you start hitting your keyboard, stop and think about a few aspects:

• What are you selling?—this isn’t just about the product/service but rather then emotional aspect of what you’re selling (what will it make your readers feel like?)
• Who are you selling to?—think carefully about the type of person who will buy your product. What’s important to them?
• Why are you selling it now?—are there any trends you can tie it into?
• What do you want your reader to do?—this is your call to action. Think about how you want them to react (make an order, call you etc.)

Step 2 – get creating your content

Whether you decide to write the content yourself or hire in a copywriter, full consideration has to be given to the aesthetics of the email as well as what it will say to your reader.

So let’s take a look at the whole email package and how to create the biggest impact possible.

• Font – it might seem insignificant but the font you use can have a huge impact on whether your email is read or not. Use a sans-serif font such as Arial or Verdana as it’s much easier to read on a screen.
• Loud and proud – the only way to hear your email as your reader will is by reading it aloud. This will help you spot areas that don’t flow or appear stilted.
• De-clutter – when you write anything it is very easy to throw in unnecessary words. If you review your work you’ll find plenty of ‘thats’, ‘tos’ and various other words that aren’t needed. Read through and take out any superfluous words to create tighter copy.
• Rhetoric – utilise the power of rhetoric and incorporate the power of the three part list. They add punch and rhythm which will really make your words standout (remember Tony Blair’s ‘education, education, education’?)
• Fast paced – make sure every word counts and your reader is carried through your copy by using words such as ‘remember’, ‘but’, ‘consider’, ‘for example’ which constantly move your copy forwards.
• Variety – to keep your readers’ interest, vary your sentence length, don’t be afraid of using sentence fragments and keep your paragraphs short to grab their interest and keep their interest. Also make sure you include your most powerful benefits in a bulleted list.
• Benefits – make sure your copy distinguished between the benefits of your product and its features.
• Second person – make your writing personal by using the second person (i.e. you and your). This will make it appear as though you have written the email solely for the person reading it making an instant connection.
• Keep it short – many people don’t like reading off screen so make sure you keep your copy short.

Creating emails that will be read is not as easy as it sounds. But by using these tips will help you generate marketing emails that will capture your readers’ attention and get them to act.