12 Quick Tips for Writing Killer Email-Marketing Copy That Converts
When it comes to email marketing, copy is one of the top determinants of whether a campaign succeeds or fails. Here we share 12 quick tips to help you craft copy that converts for your next email campaign.
1. Keep it simple and strong (K.I.S.S.). Once subscribers open your email or click through to your landing page, you have mere seconds to capture their attention. So don't use difficult words, “market-speak,” or technical jargon. Instead, write as if you were talking to a friend. But at the same time, keep your content powerful and to the point to grab and keep readers' interest. 2. Make your message scannable. Don't overwhelm readers with long paragraphs and lots of copy. Breaking up your email-marketing copy with punchy subheads, numbered and bulleted lists, and small bites of information will allow subscribers to quickly read it and grasp your main message.
3. Use less “we” and more “you.” Keep the focus of your email-marketing copy on your recipients, rather than providing too much unnecessary information about yourself and your company.
4. Talk about the benefits versus the features. Let your customers and prospects know “what's in it for them” by talking about the benefits of your products and/or services, instead of simply listing the features. 5. Align the email copy with the subject line. How to write winning subject lines to effectively drive open rates is a topic for another article. But once you get people to open your email, be sure to follow through on what you promised in the subject line. If you don't, you'll likely hurt the trust between you and your subscribers. 6. Use search engine optimization (SEO) keywords judiciously. Using keywords in email-marketing copy is important for crafting copy that piques your readers' interest, as well as boosts your website success with search engines. But always make sure your content is useful and well written. Email-marketing copy can sound “spammy” when writers try to fit in too many keywords where they don't belong. 7. Know — and write — for your target market. The more you can find out about the people on your email list through market research, the better you can tailor the email-marketing message to meet their needs and solve their problems. Content relevancy is the key to email-marketing success.
8. Make your calls to action hard-hitting and plentiful. When you are writing calls to action for promotional emails, landing pages, email newsletters, and websites, use words that drive action, such as “buy now” and “sign up today.” Plus, provide several prominent calls to action throughout your copy, so when your recipients are ready to act, they can. In a previously published NewsLever article, we offer more tips on how to create effective calls to action.
9. Concentrate on a singular goal. Don't clutter your promotional emails and landing pages with multiple messages for subscribers. Although you want to include multiple calls to action, they should all lead to the same place and meet one objective.
10. Create a sense of urgency. Deadlines for a sale or bonus gifts for the first 100 subscribers who respond are good examples. Including a sense of urgency in your promotional emails will help encourage subscribers to take action right away, instead of leaving your email sit in their inboxes with the intention of eventually getting to it.
11. Punctuate prudently. Be careful not to distract subscribers — or dilute your marketing message — by overusing such punctuation as exclamation points, UPPERCASE LETTERS (that shout at the reader), and emoticons.
12. Proofread, and proofread again. Although this may seem obvious, proofreading is often overlooked. And typos and inaccuracies in your email-marketing copy can hurt your credibility with subscribers.
