In this article, we will give you a short introduction to the topic of emails that make people click, buy, and smile: how to write them. We’ll start off with a brief history of email marketing and show you how it’s evolved over the years.
Then we’ll introduce some of the more popular methods for writing effective emails today. Finally, we’ll share some tips on how to apply these methods in your own campaigns!
| Takeaways |
|---|
| Craft engaging subject lines to boost open rates. |
| Use persuasive language to encourage clicks and conversions. |
| Personalize email content for better customer engagement. |
| Incorporate storytelling to create emotional connections. |
| Include clear call-to-action (CTA) buttons for easy navigation. |
| Implement A/B testing to optimize email performance. |
| Focus on customer benefits and value proposition. |
| Maintain a friendly and relatable tone in your emails. |
| Leverage social proof and testimonials for credibility. |
| Use humor and creativity to leave a positive impression. |
Write The Subject Line First
In a study conducted by MailChimp, only 14% of email subject lines were readable. The good news is that it’s not hard to write an effective one. Your subject line has to be clear, concise and speak directly to your reader’s needs.
You should aim for a subject line that’s between 4-6 words in length. This will ensure that it doesn’t get truncated when the email is opened on mobile devices or in the preview pane of Gmail and Outlook.
Here are some examples:
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Make An Offer First.
It’s true: money talks. When you make an offer first, people are more likely to click through and buy.
The offer has to be specific, relevant, and timely. And it should be delivered with a sense of urgency—the idea being that if you don’t act now (and fast!) then there’s no telling when the opportunity will arise again.
Talk Like A Human
Your email should read like a conversation between you and your reader. That’s because emails are often written in the first person, so it makes sense to use contractions (we’re, don’t) and keep things casual. A conversational tone also helps create connections with readers.
In addition to being friendly, using active voice will make your writing stronger, more direct, and easier for readers to follow. Passive sentences have been found to be confusing, unclear, wordy and less persuasive than active ones—which means they’ll probably be skipped over by readers who want actionable advice or products right away!
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Use Images To Support Your Copy
Images can be very effective at supporting your copy. If you’re writing a long email, use images to break up the text. Just make sure they’re relevant to what you’re talking about, or else your reader will be confused.
Make sure the images are small enough so that they’ll download quickly. This is especially important if your recipient is using an older computer or one from another country (but even if not, it’s just good practice).
Include alt text for every image—this is what shows up as a placeholder when someone has disabled images on their computer or mobile device. It’s also helpful for search engines and accessibility tools that don’t support images but still want to read through your email message so they can find out more about you!
Ask Questions To Encourage Engagement
Your email should ask questions. Asking your readers a question is a great way to engage them, especially if you offer an opportunity for them to answer. If you’re writing an email newsletter, consider asking subscribers what they think of the latest story or feature.
If you have a blog post that offers tips on how businesses can market themselves online, ask readers which tactics they’ve tried and what worked best for them.
Questions like these give people — even those who aren’t familiar with tech jargon — a sense of ownership over their own experience with your brand or company; this understanding helps builds loyalty in the long run because people are invested in whatever happens next.
So how do you know which questions work best? You should select those that are relevant to the topic at hand but also provide enough room for readers’ responses without feeling overwhelming (or worse yet: boring).
Overdoing it won’t get anyone clicking through; instead try using one or two per email campaign before moving onto something else!
- Focus on one call-to-action (CTA).
- Focus on one call-to-action (CTA).
- Don’t overwhelm the reader.
- Make the CTA easy to find.
- Make sure it is easy to complete.
Use a contrasting color for your CTA button and background, so that it stands out from the rest of your email (and from other people’s CTAs). This is especially important if you have multiple CTAs in your email—your reader will always be distracted by them as they scroll through their inboxes, so make sure yours stands out!
Also make sure that once readers click on it, they can complete whatever action you want them to take with ease—this means having clear links or buttons that lead right back into Gmail or Outlook with no hassle at all!
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Be Personal
Personalize the email. The best way to do this is by incorporating information about your customer into the subject line, and then following up with details throughout the body of your message.
Use their name in a sentence (or at least, their first name). For example: “I’m writing because Jane Smith is one of our customers.”
Acknowledge their birthday. If you know it, include it here as well. Using “Happy Birthday” in your email will seem generic, but “Jane Smith’s Birthday Party” will show you’ve been paying attention!
Refer back to a previous purchase they made or problem they had with an item they bought from you recently. This shows that you’re not just trying to sell something; instead, you’re showing concern for them as an individual and want them happy with their purchases from now on which means fewer returns for both parties involved!
Let them know where they live if applicable if it’s not personally identifiable information like home address or phone number (which should never be shared), there are many ways such info could help give context about who exactly this person is as opposed to just another anonymous customer who clicked through from somewhere on Facebook ads alone.”
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Add Incentives To Your CTA
In the AdWords world, a call-to-action (CTA) is the button or link you use to ask people to take action. We’re talking about “sign up for my newsletter” and “buy my product” kinds of actions.
In email marketing, it’s important to consider how best to entice your readers with an enticing CTA at the end of each email particularly when we know that most people don’t read all the way through a long email before they click away from it.
Incentivize them! Why? Because in general, the more interesting something is, the more likely someone will be willing to click on it—and that includes CTAs.
There are limitless ways you can create incentives for someone who sees your CTA; here are just four examples:
- Free trial offer: Give away some kind of sample or taster of what your brand does so people can try it without any risk or obligation on their part
- Social proof: If lots and lots of other people have clicked on this button before now (especially super fans) then maybe I should too!
Write With Your Brand Voice
If you’re writing an email that has the same tone as your website, it’s important that you use the same voice in your emails. If your brand voice is different from how you speak or write in person, then it can be confusing for people and make them wonder if they can trust what they’re reading.
It’s not just about how you talk: also think about how exactly you present yourself visually. Are there photos of smiling employees? Is your logo bold and colorful? Are there graphics or icons used throughout? These elements all contribute to the overall impression of who you are as a company.
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Provide Social Proof To Build Trust
Providing social proof is a powerful tool that can build trust and credibility. Social proof is the idea that we are more likely to believe something if other people are saying it, too. It’s human nature—we see two or three positive reviews for an online product and our minds automatically assume that the product must be good, because if it was bad, those reviewers would tell us about it!
Social proof is especially effective when used alongside testimonials from previous customers who have been satisfied with your product or service. You could also offer statistics about how many people have signed up for your service in a period of time, how many book sales you’ve made this month (if you sell books), or how many conversions you had last week (if you run an e-commerce business).
Get more clicks, buys, and smiles with these email writing tips!
You might be thinking, “If I want people to click on my emails, then why would I show images that distract from the message?”
Well, your prospect is likely in a hurry and may only have time to skim through a few paragraphs of text before moving on. With compelling images, you can encourage them to slow down and take their time reading what you have written. In fact, tests have shown that using imagery can increase email open rates by as much as 21%.
Further Reading
Here are some additional resources to deepen your understanding of email marketing and related topics:
5 Tips for Writing Effective Email Subject Lines Learn how to craft compelling email subject lines that grab your audience’s attention and improve your open rates.
Customer Service Email Templates: Ready-to-Use Resources Access a collection of pre-designed email templates for effective customer service communication.
The Ultimate Guide to Creating Email Newsletters Discover the key elements and strategies for creating engaging and valuable email newsletters.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are The Most Effective Email Marketing Strategies?
The best way to get people to open your emails and click on links is to make them curious. That’s why you should always include a call-to-action (CTA) in every single email: “Click here for more information,” or “Use these tips!” Whatever it is, give people something that makes them want to do what you’re asking them to do.
How Do I Get People To Read My Emails?
You can’t just send out an empty email with no information or content and expect anyone who sees it in their inboxes will read all the way through it or take the time out of their busy day just so they can figure out what it is you’re trying to say.
If someone has already opened up an email from you once (like when they signed up), then they’re probably going try again; if they haven’t opened anything yet though, then there’s no reason why they should trust any correspondence from an unknown source such as yourself! It might seem like common sense but making sure your first contact makes sense goes a long way towards establishing goodwill between sender/recipient(s).
How Can I Improve Email Open Rates?
Email open rates can be improved by including a compelling subject line that is relevant to your audience. The subject line should also be long enough to capture the attention of your reader and make them want to read the rest of the email.
What Is A Good Email Open Rate?
An average open rate for an industry-standard newsletter is around 20%, but this varies depending on industry type, quality of content and brand recognition. A good rule of thumb is that if your newsletter opens at over 40% then it’s performing well, whereas anything below 15% should be considered low and something needs to be done about it!
What Is A Good Email Click-Through Rate?
A click-through rate (CTR) measures how many users actually click on links within an email compared with how many people view them in total. This varies depending on which links are included within each message – some may prove more popular than others so experiment with what works best for you!
The average CTR across industries from MailChimp’s benchmarking tool was 19% last year but this could vary depending on what kind of service/product offering you’re promoting or even where geographically located (eastern countries tend not use as much).
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.