Email copywriting tips
Emails can be a remarkably effective communication technique, can’t they?
We all write and send emails every working day.
Undoubtedly, you receive a considerable number of them.
Do you bother to read the torrent of newsletters and sales emails that are aimed at your in-box?
Are your customers reading the emails that you send to them?
Organisations from the UK, Germany, the USA, the Caribbean and the Philippines have asked me to show them how to improve their email copywriting expertise.
Here are some of the things that I teach them during my email copywriting training courses.
Email Subject line tips
- The objective of the Subject line is to get the subscriber to open the email
- Spend more time on your email Subject lines, as they are the gateway to your emails
- Don’t just write one email Subject line: write a few, take a break and then select one of them
- Use A/B split testing more often: the software (i.e. Mailchimp) will show you which Subject lines are best
- Look at your stats: what percentage of subscribers are opening your emails on smartphones?
- If the smartphones figure is significant, choose a Subject line length that can be seen on a smartphone
Email bodycopy writing tips
- Spend more time thinking about your email headline or the first sentence (see email Subject line tips, above)
- Write short words, short sentences and short paragraphs
- My top tip is to write shorter sentences 🙂
- In newsletters, use subheads to break up the copy
- Read your draft copy out loud: how does it sound?
- When you read it out loud, where do you stumble?
- Tell stories in your emails, as everyone likes a good story
Email design tips
- Use a large font in order to make your copy easy to read on a smartphone
- Decide whether your email is meant to look like a 1:1 email or a newsletter / advertisement
- Create single column newsletters, as smartphones get confused by multi-column layouts
- 1:1 emails need to be personal; they should show that you have thought about the recipient and their situation
Long or short email bodycopy?
- If someone is in the market to buy, they’ll read long body copy i.e. a detailed description of your product or service
- However, in the vast majority of cases, when the recipient receives your email, they’re probably not ready to buy
- On this basis, introductory emails should be brief and to the point
- Once you have established interest, i.e. through an opt-in subscription process, it is OK to send long emails
Business owner?
If you are a business owner and would like to learn about marketing, I share some of my best ideas here. My marketing strategy and copywriting ideas newsletter can be found towards the foot of this page.
In-house email copywriting training
Nigel has delivered email copywriting training for over 20 years. He is a Mailchimp trainer who has written over three million words of copy. Nigel can show you / your team how to improve your email marketing results. To find out more or to request a quote, by all means get in touch.
