Things To Always Remember As You Write Compelling Emails

If you want to learn how to Write Compelling Emails, then this guideline is for you. Do you often feel like your emails just don’t get the response you want? Are you tired of hitting “send” and not hearing anything back? If so, it’s time to start writing better emails. In this article, we will discuss how to write compelling emails that get results. We’ll also provide six key tips.

More so, in order to help make sure your email marketing is effective. So, let’s get started! But first, allow me to take you through the evolution of Email Marketing to clear a few things. On that note, email marketing has come a long way in just the past few years. But, with all the fancy new functionality brands are utilizing, you know what’s kind of funny?

A well-written, plain-text email can perform just as well (if not better) than a highly designed-email with tons of bells and whistles. In fact, no matter how fancy your marketing emails look, if they’re devoid of well-written content, your subscribers will stop opening — and start deleting — your messages. So, how do you write a great marketing email?

Tips To Always Remember As You Write Compelling Emails

When it comes to email marketing, if you Write Compelling Emails, you’ll end up beating all the odds. However, the most important thing is to get your recipients to actually read your emails. Of course, this may seem like a no-brainer. But, you’d be surprised at how many businesses don’t focus on this key element. After all, what good is an email if no one even opens it?

According to the HubSpot team, in order to write a great marketing email, it comes down to a few copywriting best practices. In general, practices that you should apply to both the subject line of your message and the message body itself. check out a compiled eBook of awesome examples from real publications. Plus, learn how to build an email newsletter from scratch.

To enumerate, inside the HubSpot Email Newsletter LookBook, you’ll see examples of email newsletters with everything you’ll need in order to write compelling emails that will actually be read. And know why your email opening/feedback is so low/slow too. Flip through this eBook to see examples of brands and individuals alike that are innovating in the email space.

Related Resource: Why Emails Go Into Spam Box | The Simple Steps To Fix Such Issues

For your information, emails work just as a push notification does — a message that pops up on a mobile device. App publishers can send them at any time; users don’t have to be in the app or using their devices to receive them.

For example, with a Push Notification, they’ll show the latest sports scores, and get a user to take any action, like a coupon download. Now that you’ve crafted a stellar email subject line, you have your audience’s full attention on the body of your email message. So, how do you craft copy that will get them clicking? Below are the other important components that you’ll need.

Understand Your Audience

Herein, you’ll need to have a clear understanding of your audience. Before you write compelling emails, you need to know who your recipients are and their wants. Their pain points, the solutions they’re looking for, and the kind of language they respond to. Answering these questions will help you craft emails that are relevant and interesting to your recipients.

If you can’t answer these questions off the top of your head, don’t worry. There are a number of ways to research your audience, including surveys, social media, and customer data. Once you have a good understanding of who you’re writing to, you can start crafting emails that will actually get results.

Just because emails are meant to inform doesn’t mean they can’t also delight. In some cases, email can be a great avenue for letting your brand’s personality shine. Whilst, helping you build a meaningful relationship with the folks on your email lists. After all, providing a lovable experience for people begins and ends with how you communicate with them.

Have A Purpose Ultimatum

By the same token, in order to write compelling emails, you’ll also need to have a purpose as to why you are writing them the first up. While, keeping in mind, that this is what serves the interests of your target/potential recipients. So, whether it’s a marketing campaign to generate leads or a monthly newsletter, your email should always have a purpose.

Your recipients should be able to quickly identify what your email is about and why they should care. If you’re not sure what the purpose of your email should be, ask yourself this question: What do I want my recipients to do after reading this email? Do you want them to buy something? Sign up for your newsletter. Share your content with their network.

Once you know what action you want your recipients to take, craft your email accordingly. This way, recipients can learn more if they’re interested, but you’re not overwhelming them with information. Always remember, that having just one primary CTA in your email marketing results in better clickthrough rates than emails with competing calls-to-action in this case.

Make It Short Plus Precise

Another important note is that you should also try and make your emails as short as you possibly can — stick to the point. No one wants to read a novel in their inbox. If you can’t say what you need to say in a few sentences, chances are your email isn’t worth reading. This doesn’t mean that all of your emails should be brief, however.

You’ll still want to include some personalization and detail to make your emails stand out. But, in general, keep it short and sweet. For instance, let’s say you’re a clothing retailer sending out a promotional email. Instead of going into great detail about the products, simply include a few sentences about the sale and provide a link to your website.

Keeping your message on-point is the key to writing brief email copy. What’s the point you’re trying to make with your email? If you know the action your email is supposed to drive — the recipients can order on-demand goods freely, remember to buy tickets, get workout motivation, etc. You’ll have an easier time drafting succinct email copy that focuses on all aspects.

The Main Steps To Create Compelling Email Messages

Next time you draft a message for a lead nurturing campaign or just a one-time email send, ask yourself whether your copy meets all of these guidelines first. With that in mind, in order to write compelling emails that will actually be read, there are a few other things you need to keep in mind. There are more specific things you can do to make sure your emails are effective.

And now that we’ve gone over some general tips for writing compelling emails, let’s get into the nitty-gritty. So, to make sure that you do everything right, consider some key points below. As an example, part of writing effective email copy is nailing the subject line. The subject line is like the gatekeeper of your email: No one gets to read your stellar email copy.

In particular, that’s if they aren’t interested enough to open your email in the first place. That interest is garnered almost wholly on the subject line of the email. More so, the sender’s name plays a key role, as well. It’s important to realize, that even the things we love break sometimes. That’s why your patience while you put the email pieces together should also matter.

Step #1: Write In The Second Persona

By writing in the second persona or second person, it means that you are using the pronouns “you,” “your,” and “yours.” For example, “Before you leave in the morning, remember to bring your jacket.” It means you orient the copy towards the reader, not yourself. Now, count how many times your email says “You” instead of “we” or “I.” Okay okay, don’t count now!

But, I’m sure that you already get an idea of what I am saying, right? For instance, the words “you” and “your” in a given email message may appear 12 times. While “we,” “our,” and “we’re” may appear only 5 times, and so on… Meaning, that’s a nice balance of second-person language right there. Something that keeps the focus on the customer, and not the brand.

At all costs, this is a very subtle tactic! A tactic that helps you stay value-oriented, but this next step I’m about to cover is crucial to hitting the point home. And that’s none other than talking more about the benefits than the features. In other words, the first persona is what we as a speaker convey of ourselves – our credibility and character.

While the second persona is what we reveal about our view of the audience: what we believe or expects them to be. And what attorneys appear to think of their audience – judges and juries – can be critical. In technical writing, examples of writing in the second person require the use of the pronouns you, your, and yours. And, this point of view is used to address the audience.

Step #2: Talk About Benefits, Not Features

As you plan to write compelling emails in your next email marketing campaign strategy, so far, you already know the value of your email marketing plan, right? But, do you share the same mindset with your target/potential recipient? No, no, not yet! Therefore, it’s your job to explain it in a way that they can easily/quickly fathom head-on. It should front their keen eyes!

Unfortunately, the problem is, that many emails only explain the feature they are offering, not the benefit. For instance, take a look at the copy in two separate ecommerce emails that you’ve received recently. In that case, given A and B: Which one among them is touting the feature, and which is touting the benefit? It’s quite easy to give an answer to that one!

Consider these two email message sample cases:

Email A: A GoDaddy email throws a 30%-off discount directly in your face but doesn’t explain the value behind it. What does 30% off a GoDaddy product do for your goals? Will it let you adjust a small business’ expenditures on infrastructure costs, freeing up money for a new hire? That benefit is far more tangible than 30% off an undisclosed cost.

Email B: The Banana Republic email goal is to sell shorts. But, the copy isn’t just shoving shorts down the recipient’s throat. I mean, they’re shorts … big deal, right? They’ve identified what makes these shorts worthwhile: their versatility. They allow a man to lounge around the house, and go out in the city — minimal effort into changing his outfit.

Given the Banana Republic team, how convenient, easy, and versatile! Well, what we can borrow from the copy in order to write compelling emails as such, it’s that its team translates the target email user/audience benefit of buying those shorts. But, the copy (or lack thereof) in GoDaddy’s email doesn’t explain the benefit of redeeming a generic 30% off offer.

Step #3: Use Attention-Grabbing Subject Lines

Moving on, the other tip is to use an attention-grabbing subject line. Your subject line is your first opportunity to make a good impression, so make it count. Keep it short, clear, and interesting. Avoid using generic phrases like “newsletter” or “promotion.” Instead, be creative and come up with something that will pique your recipients’ interest.

Every web content marketer must utilize some steps to automate a welcome email sequence in order to spread awareness of the brand they are marketing. As well as to educate the target customers about the products offered, and even enlighten the general lead website visitors about the main business services.

Read How To Write Email Subject Lines That Get Opened And Read Easily to know more tips on how to craft eye-catching subject lines in detail. Similarly, another way to write compelling emails besides creating an attentive subject line is to also create a sense of urgency. One thing is for sure, creating a sense of urgency can encourage recipients to take action.

For instance, if you’re running a sale, include language like “ends tonight!” or “limited time only!” These phrases can prompt recipients to take advantage of your offer before it’s too late. Is writing succinct email copy, not a motivator enough for you to narrow down your goals? Well, having just one primary CTA in your email marketing is all too well enough method.

Step #4: Be As Brief As You Possibly Can

One of the worst mistakes email copywriters make is trying to shove the entire story into the email message. Think about when you open a marketing email in your inbox. Do you read every single word in there? Probably not. It’s more likely that you scan for important points so you can glean the overall message, and decide whether you want to take any action.

So if you’re sending an email with hundreds of words of copy, you’re making it much more difficult for recipients to decide whether they want to click through. Simply, because they can’t quickly sift through all of the information in your email. Instead, find a way to summarize what the reader will get in a compelling way — something they can digest so easily but quickly.

And then again, make sure that you let them click through to a page on your website for more information. After a brief, friendly hello, get right down to the purpose of the email: telling customers about your new “free on-demand goods” promotion. After introducing the concept, offer a few of the essential details, then get right to the call to action.

Step #5: Establish Email Message Relevancy

Just like the email subject line should strive to establish relevancy through personalization, so should the copy in the message of the email. Again, it takes more than just a dynamic name tag for your email copy to convince readers that what’s inside is relevant to them. So use the very beginning of the email to explain how you know each other.

As an example, below is an illustration image of an email sent by Warby Parker to a colleague of theirs. By the way, as you can see, the subject line was very clever: “Uh-Oh, Your Prescription Is Expiring!” with a very relevant email message touch:

From the image above, take a look at that first paragraph, called out in red. Right off the bat, the marketers at Warby Parker tell the reader why they’re being emailed. Basically, with a message that their prescription is expiring soon, right? In general, this email message is meant to help them find a new pair of glasses before that expiration date.

Imagine if this email didn’t have that first paragraph, and started instead with what is currently the second paragraph. Something like: “Getting a new prescription can be a hassle.” Luckily, it’s easy to make an appointment with an optometrist at our Newbury Street Store or through our friends at ZocDoc.”

Considerably,… you/they may ask:

Why are you emailing me about a prescription?
Why would I want your advice?
How do you know I live near Newbury Street?

On that note, they are reminding the recipient that they gave Warby Parker their prescription information in the past. Surely, there’s a greater likelihood that that person will click through and redeem the offer in this email.

Step #6: Consider Actionable Audiences Language

With email subject lines, using actionable language doesn’t necessarily mean using verbs, although it certainly helps. OpenTable, for example, sent me an email that said “Take Mom to Brunch” in the subject line. This is one way to use actionable language effectively in email subject lines. While incorporating a verb (like “take,” “download,” “reserve,” “ask,” “buy,” etc.).

By doing so, the reader will know exactly what they can do in the email. But, there are ways to use actionable language without relying on verbs, which gives you more room to play around with wording. What it comes down to is using language that makes it clear to the recipient what they can do with the information in the email, should they choose to open it.

In other words, keep the value for the user top-of-mind. For example, I once got an email from TicketMaster with the subject line “Don’t Miss Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.” They didn’t order me to purchase tickets by saying “Purchase Tickets Tomorrow for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.” Though such a subject line may have performed just as well.

As you can see, the original subject line worked quite well. Obviously, it was clear what I could do with the information in that email. And, that’s ensuring that I’m all prepared for the 10:00 AM sale time — so I could snag my tickets. Definitely, something which I obligingly did, all thanks to that top-of-mind email subject line!

Step #7: Try To Include Images Plus CTA Buttons

Adding an image to your email helps grab attention and make a message more visually appealing. Just make sure the image is relevant to your email content. Are you finding that your leads and prospects aren’t taking the next step in your sales process? Whether that’s buying or simply requesting more information, the problem could be a faulty/non-existent CTA.

Generally, a Call to Action is used at the end, or sometimes throughout a sales pitch (e.g., a sales letter). Whilst, letting potential clients/customers know what to do next if they’re interested in what you offer. So, similar to the way you implement a Call To Action (CTA) on your website for your strategic marketing plan, it should also come in handy in your emails.

So, that said, the next thing is to include a CTA button alongside your content text. That’s right: Emails have calls to action, too. Well, the good ones do. First and foremost, your email call-to-action should be extremely easy to identify. Remember: People scan their emails. If there’s one thing you want your recipient to pick up on, it’s your call to action.

Some qualities that make this CTA button effective include:

Design: Certainly, if a large, bright orange button stands out from the blue design, such CTA isn’t hard to find.
Copy: Forthwith, the button copy is just as important — its language should be succinct, clear, and action-oriented.

For example, see the HubSpot email that makes use of an anchor text link to draw recipients’ attention to the CTA below:

As you can see, the message doesn’t have many graphics or colors added compared to most HTML emails. And, as such, the hyperlinked calls to action garner even more attention. This means, that readers easily scan through the text message.

And, by doing so, they’ll, eventually, focus on a variety of things. Like bolded words, images, and hyperlinked text, reiterating the same offer over and over. In nutshell, this form of email message CTA card hammers home for them exactly what you want them to do — redeem your various business-based offers by clicking through your call-to-action.

Learn More: Call To Action (CTA) | Tips To Utilize It In A Strategic Marketing Plan

Ultimately, an email message call-to-action button is essential if you want recipients to take action. Whether you’re asking them to buy a product, sign up for a service, or simply learn more, your CTA should be clear and concise. But, it’s also crucial to spend some time optimizing your plain-text emails for clear calls to action. No matter how fancy your HTML email is.

You should also, bear in mind, as you write compelling emails in your marketing strategy, that not all email clients will render your images. And, not all email recipients will choose to display your images. In our study, while people say they prefer HTML-based and image-based emails, in reality, simpler emails perform best — and plain-text emails perform best of all.

Step #8: Align Your Subject Line And Email Copy

As you try to write compelling emails, you might already know how crucial it is for your call-to-action optimization in terms of your target audience, right? More so, for your call-to-action copy and your landing page offer to align.

Well, it’s no different when crafting your email subject line and email message. What your email subject line promises, the email message should deliver. Why? It’s not just because it’s responsible — it’s also because when 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.)

Back in 2011, together with the HubSpot team, we performed a test of our own to see the end results. Whereby, we sent the same email with two different subject lines to two different groups of people.

The two subject lines were as follows:

“54 New Data Slides for Your Marketing Decks”— with a 26% click-through rate
“Get Key Marketing Trends From the Marketing Data Box”— with a 10.4% click-through rate

The first subject line, which was straightforward and much more accurate had a better click-through rate of 15.4% than the second subject line — which was a little bit vaguer and less accurate. For this reason, the key takeaway that we can borrow from here is that: A high email open rate means nothing without any click-throughs. Hence, a need for an email CTA plan.

Step #9: Personalize/Segment Your Emails List

No one likes feeling like they’re just a number on a list. So, take the time to personalize your emails whenever possible. This could mean including the recipient’s name in the subject line or body of the email or sending them content that’s relevant to their interests. According to HubSpot, emails that are highly segmented tend to have higher performance levels.

Such as a higher open rate and great clickthrough rate performance — more than emails that aren’t personalized. Likewise, according to a study by the Direct Marketing Association, segmented and targeted emails generate 58% of all revenue for the marketers surveyed. And then again, 36% of revenues were driven by emails sent to specific target selections.

This isn’t exactly surprising. After all, the more segmented your email list, the better able you are to personalize the subject line and provide relevant content to that email recipient. So ask yourself: Is there a way to make your email subject line more personal? And I’m not talking about the dynamic field.

No, I am not! A dynamic field where you insert someone’s [FIRSTNAME]. Otherwise, email recipients stopped being impressed by that fancy functionality some time ago. Consider this scenario instead: You’re a realtor with a huge database of clients for whatever given business, right? In this case, there are a few user-based case scenarios that we can fathom.

Consider the following:

Some of them are looking to rent, while others prefer to buy.
Their ideal location ranges across several cities and zip codes.
They all have different price points with which they’re comfortable.
Some are looking for a studio, while others want a mansion.
You even know that a group of them will only accept homes that have been renovated in the past 5 years.

Perse, you certainly wouldn’t do a blanket email send across all of these different segments of your list, would you? And, your email subject line wouldn’t be the same, either. You might have one subject line that says;

Something like: “Renovated 1BR Apartment for Rent in Cambridge: Schedule a Viewing,” for instance. And another that says, “RSVP: Open House Sunday for Colonial House in Sudbury,” as well, right? Well, you should, bear in mind, that each subject line speaks to the radically different needs of two radically different list segments.

Learn More: Email Subscribers List | 10 Online Leads Newsletter Signup Tips

You’ve probably heard the expression “the money is in the list,” meaning your email subscriber list is one of the most valuable assets for your business. But is it really true? The answer is that it depends on the type of list you have and how well planned.

In the same fashion, to organize your subscribers, you should try and segment your email list. Always remember, that not all of your recipients are the same, so why send them all the same email? Segmenting your list allows you to send more targeted, relevant content to different groups of people. This, in turn, can lead to better engagement and conversions.

Step #10: Utilize All Other Best Email Strategies

It’s crazy to think that email has been around since 1993. In that time, there have been many iterations of the tools we use and the types of email marketing we do. We’ve seen creative writing, beautiful images, and animated gifs. We’ve received emails from our favorite stores, politicians, and news publications. Equally, we’ve also witnessed different formats.

Including the email newsletter. Today, according to a report from the McKinsey Global Institute, 28% of a person’s workweek is spent reading, deleting, sorting, and sending emails. And, as a result, it’s clear to say that we live in our inboxes. This is exactly why the email newsletter isn’t dead. Yes, that’s right, the email newsletter is alive and well!

Learn More: HubSpot | #1 Inbound Marketing, Sales Plus CRM Service Software

That said, just like we aforementioned, you can download the HubSpot LookBook for free as soon as you can — you’ll get inspired to create successful email newsletters. Bearing in mind, in order to write compelling emails, it doesn’t just happen by accident. They require careful planning and thought. And, they need to be well-written and relevant to your audience.

And now, by following the tips above, you can start writing emails that will actually get results. So, what are you waiting for? Get started today! But, if you’ll need more help, you can always Consult Us and let us know how we can come in handy. Furthermore, our team of Web Tech Experts Taskforce is always ready to make sure that your business stays successful.

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