You want your email campaigns to have the maximum impact possible. These are the tips that will help you to create copy that converts.
Your goal with every email is to create copy that converts recipients into customers.
But there’s a key mistake that comes from this goal. Because you want to convert, you jump straight into the sales pitch. Your first email tries to tell the recipient about how amazing your product is and that they should buy it right now.
Then you check the metrics.
A bunch of people opened the email but very few of them clicked through to your website.
That’s because you forgot about engaging the recipient based on where they are in your sales funnel. Somebody who’s just signed up with you isn’t ready for such a heavy sales pitch. They’re never going to convert if you keep hitting them with the pitch.
You have to know who you’re targeting and engage them with your content.
That’s how you create copy that converts. These are the tips that will help you to create amazing emails.
It All Starts with the Research
Before we get into the tips, there’s something important that you need to know:
All of the copywriting techniques in the world won’t help you if you don’t have a defined strategy for your email campaign.
That means you need to understand who your target audience is and how you’re going to appeal to them.
These are the three questions you need to ask yourself before you start working on your copy.
What do I want to achieve with this email?
If you’re trying to sell a product, you’ll need to confront the audience’s pain points and show why your product offers a solution.
If the email is for a giveaway, it needs to tell the reader what they have to do to get access and why the giveaway is awesome.
The copy changes based on the intended outcome.
What are the needs and pain points of my subscribers?
Knowing what really hurts your potential customer allows you to speak to them directly.
You can show them that you know their pain and can provide the remedy.
Is the subscriber ready to buy?
This is where you’re going to rely on the data you’ve collected about the prospect. If they’re in the early stages of your funnel, you need to tailor your copy for that. Don’t jump straight into a sales pitch with a prospect that you have no relationship with.
Someone further down the funnel is much more likely to listen to an offer. Use lead scoring to demonstrate where the prospect is in the funnel. You may also be able to segment your audiences based on those scores. These are both tasks that Automation Agency can help you with.
With those questions asked and answered, you’re ready to craft the email. Here are five tips for getting the copy right.
Tip #1 – Spark Curiosity With Your Subject Line
The subject line is one of the most difficult parts of the email. It’s the first thing the recipient sees and they’re not going to click if it doesn’t pique their interest.
Let’s say you’re using your email to retarget someone who abandoned a shopping cart. A basic subject line for this might be something like:
“Complete your purchase with us today.”
It gets the point across but doesn’t have any urgency. Someone’s going to look at that and think nothing of it. They might even skip over it.
Here are a couple of subject lines that convey a similar message…
“Did you forget to complete your purchase <First Name>?”
“Isn’t there something important that you forgot to do today?”
In both cases, you’re asking a question, which piques curiosity. The first of those subject lines also includes some personalisation. This makes the recipient feel as though you’re talking directly to them.
The second adds some urgency to proceedings thanks to the word “forget”.
The key is that your subject line needs to make people want to see what’s in the email.
Keep it short and scannable while asking a question. Try to create some urgency to show the recipient that this is an email they need to open. And if you can, sprinkle some personalisation in there.
Tip #2 – Match the Copy to the Subject
You’ll likely rewrite your subject line a few times before you find something that works.
Now, you need to ensure the email’s copy builds on it.
Think back to the last time that you opened an email that didn’t deliver the content the subject line promised. Your trust in that sender dipped because they’re showing you that they’re willing to lie to get your attention.
That’s why alignment between the subject line and copy is so important.
You establish the message that you want to deliver in the subject line. With the copy, you deliver that message in more detail to fulfil the promise you made.
Tip #3 – Keep it Clean and Skimable
Your customers don’t want to get bombarded with information when they open an email.
They want to be able to scan through it so they can get to the point and decide whether to take action.
Make your content easy to skim. Keep sentences fairly short and try to avoid complex terminology. Anything that confuses the reader or makes them lose patience could see them click away.
Extend this line of thinking to the design of your email. Make it clean and easy to navigate while ensuring that it looks good on a range of devices. Automation Agency can help you to create email templates using your CRM. Send a task to our Concierge service to get started.
Tip #4 – Be Personal Throughout
The recipient is usually a subscriber, which means you have some data about them.
Use that to personalise the content in the email. Refer to them by name to show that they’re not just receiving a template email that goes to everyone. Tailor the content so that it’s relevant to the recipient’s interests and the actions they’ve already taken.
For example, a customer who’s bought something from you may want to hear about related items and services. In this case, a thank-you email relating to the original purchase works. You’re sending a direct and personal message while opening up the opportunity to make other offers that are relevant to the recipient.
The simple rule is that the more generic the email, the less likely you are to get your intended result.
Tip #5 – Use a Powerful Call to Action
Your call to action (CTA) is where you try to convince the reader to take your desired action.
Firstly, don’t overload the recipient with several CTAs. You may want to provide several options but you’re just going to confuse the reader.
That’s not to say that you can’t use secondary CTAs at all. However, you need to make it clear that there’s a single action that the client should take to receive a benefit. Other CTAs are just bonuses. Place them as links in the text or in a P.S. message underneath your closing statement.
The main CTA needs to take centre stage. Use a button or something similarly eye-catching to make sure it grabs the reader’s attention.
When it comes to copy, focus on what the reader’s getting rather than what they’re doing. Convey the benefit over the action.
For example, a CTA like…
“Boost your lead generation by 25%.”
…is much more effective than something like:
“Download our report.”
Finally, your main CTA should go at the bottom of the email. That’s where the recipient expects to see if and it’s where they’re going to go if your copy convinces them quickly.
Create More Powerful Emails Today
Following these tips enables you to create more compelling email copy. This results in more conversions, which means your campaigns deliver a better ROI.
The question now is what do you do with the email when you have your copy ready?
This is where Automation Agency can come in. We may be able to help you to create a suitable template design based on the features your CRM offers. Plus, we can help you to plug your emails into an automation that ensures they go to the right people at the right times.
Just send a ticket to our Concierge service to get started.
And if you’re not a member of the service, have a chat with our Right Fit Chatbot. Together, we’ll work out if Automation Agency is a good fit for your business.
