Need content writers for email campaigns?
Julia McCoy

Do I Need a Writer for My Email Campaign? The 5 Ultimate Secrets for Powerful Email Copy (From an Email Writer)

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Email marketing is a quintessential element for a successful marketing plan – yes, even in 2020.

Email is convenient, a direct line of contact, and not super intrusive in our lives. That’s why some prefer email communications from businesses. (What!)

It’s true. 91% of shoppers actually want to hear from companies they do business with via email.

Actually, we’re a touch addicted. According to Campaign Monitor, at least 50% of Americans (in the survey) checked their email 10 times yesterday.

Those stats are pretty crazy, and they drive home one very important point: Content matters in email marketing.

It’s not enough just to send a pretty email to your readers. Literally everyone is doing that.

You’ve got to entice, enthrall, and leave them eagerly waiting for more.

A good email marketing content writer can help you do just that.

Ever wonder what our writers’ secret sauce is for dropping bombshell email copy? Here are all the beans spilled – all you need to provide is the elbow grease. Enjoy.

Do you need need email campaign content writers?

Do I Need a Writer for My Email Campaign? The 5 Ultimate Secrets for Powerful Email Copy (From an Email Writer) – Table of Contents

The Nitty Gritty of Email Types

  • Value-Focused Emails
  • Sales/Offer Emails

The 5 Ultimate Secrets for Writing Strong Value-Focused and Sales Emails

1. Nail That First Impression

2. Get Real, Get Personal

3. Keep It Simple, Snappy

4. Get Smart About Spam

5. Give the Reader Just One Thing to Do

If you're asking yourself, 'Do I need a writer for my email campaign?' 🤔 The answer might be already in the question. If you're not sure, check out these 5 qualities powerful email copy should have. 📨 Click To Tweet

But First… The Nitty Gritty of Email Types

In many ways, emails are simple… but they’re oh, so deceptively simple.

If you’ve spent time studying some of the email marketing content samples out there, you might get the impression that it’s all about snappy, hip language.

Not quite.

Don’t make the mistake of hammering out some clever sass and firing it off to your readers. You’ll look a little clueless, if not juvenile.

Before you put those fingers to the keyboard to unleash your creative genius, take a moment to figure out exactly what type of email you’re writing.

There are two main types. Each serves a different purpose, and each will have an impact on how you craft your copy.

First, Build Positive Associations with Value-Focused Emails

Value-focused emails are interesting, informative, useful emails that alert your readers to something that’s worthwhile for them to know. That may be a new case study, educational content, or a roundup of your blog’s best content of the month.

Whatever it is, these emails focus solely on giving your readers something they’ll genuinely enjoy reading.

They’re what you should be mostly sending out to people.

Think of value-focused emails like a form of social capital. Just like you wouldn’t constantly ask your friends and colleagues for favors, you don’t want to constantly ask your readers for their money.

Remember, your readers get a lot of emails every day, from all sorts of sources. (Campaign Monitor estimates that the number of consumer emails sent and received per day is around 117.7 billion.) To win your way into your readers’ inboxes and good graces, you’ve got to show them that you’re not in there just to hassle them into buying something. Otherwise, they’ll hit unsubscribe.

Or worse, just mark you as spam and drive up that dreaded spam rate.

Emails like this one from Publix get readers excited through the use of delectable visuals and well-written, useful information. Source: Really Good Emails

Then, Spark Joy with Sales and Offer Emails

Sales and offer emails are where that selling magic happens – when they’re properly timed and worded.

These are the emails that will alert your readers to new sales, product offerings or anything else you’re selling.

Remember your Psych 101 class? The value-focused emails will prime your audience to expect good things when they see your name pop into their inbox. So, when that offer email appears, your readers will see your name and the subject line before they see the email content.

That’s called classical conditioning, and its effects are well-known in advertising. If you’ve been nailing your value-focused emails, you’ll already have an audience eagerly waiting on the edge of their seat for your next communiqué.

You won’t need to be pushy, or salesy, because your audience is already primed.

Voilà! Conversions.

What types of email should you be sending? 📧 Start building positive associations by creating value-focused emails and then, spark joy with sales and offer emails. 🤝 Learn more about these two types in this post by @JuliaEMcCoy! Click To Tweet

 

Pro Tip: Use the 3:1 Rule of Thumb

People don’t enjoy feeling like they’re being advertised to and sending too many sales emails is an excellent way to make them feel like that. Therefore, follow the Three to One Rule of Thumb: for every sale email, send three value-focused emails first.

You’ll avoid that dreaded high bounce or spam rate, getting you pushed deeper into the advertising slush pile that is the Promo Tab.

This sales-focused email funnels readers to Freshly. Note the price anchoring, the placement of a lower price next to a higher price to lowkey make the actual price look better. Source: Really Good Emails

⚠️ Remember the 3:1 rule of thumb for sending emails: For every sale/offer email, send 3 value-focused emails first. ⚠️ Click To Tweet

email writing services CTA

Email Marketing Content Bootcamp: The 5 Ultimate Secrets for Strong Value-Focused and Sales Emails

Now that you’ve got an idea of what type of email you’re actually writing, it’s time to roll up those sleeves.

Wondering how marketing gurus craft those irresistible emails that are a treat to read?

There’s actually a science to them. (Sort of.) Here are the six most powerful tricks you can deploy in your email content writing to amplify conversions in both types of emails. With pictures!

(Need a refresher on how to do email marketing? Check this out.)

5 secrets for content writers creating email campaigns

1. Nail That First Impression

First impressions are everything – especially when you’ve got exactly 2.7 seconds to make one.

When that email hits your readers’ inbox, they’ll see three things first: your subject line, your name, and the preview text – the first 85 to 100 characters of your email.

Exploit these features to their fullest potential.

First, your name. Want people to take you seriously? Put a professional name in the “from” tab. Don’t list something that sounds like a spam or a scammer.

Then, your subject line. Your subject line will decide whether or not your email even gets opened. There are a lot of different guides out there – including one that I wrote specifically for this purpose.

For value-focused emails, emphasize what the reader is getting. Make it short, sweet, and eye-catching. Use emojis – they’ll make a difference! 😲

For sales emails, evoke a sense of urgency. Words or phrases like “exclusive,” “still time,” and “today only” increase opens by inciting your reader to act.

Our writers use CoSchedule’s Subject Line Analyzer. It helps.

Finally, your preview text. If your subject line catches an eye, that eye will move to the preview text. Use this to hook your audience’s curiosity.

You want them to wonder how the sentence ends.

In value-focused emails, try playing with interesting facts where the kicker is obscured just past the break off. For sales emails, consider emphasizing a pain point that you know your readers experience. In both cases, they’ll want the answer, and they’ll open your email to find out.

Which email headline in this inbox attracts the eye first, and why?

2. Get Real, Get Personal

Authenticity matters. Some 86% of all consumers say they want to do business with a brand that is authentic.

Conveying authenticity is one of the most powerful things you can do to inspire rapport in your email marketing.

In a value-focused email, creating that authenticity should be among your prime objectives. You’ll accomplish that by:

  • Using reader-focused language: Use “you” and “your” when writing. Right now, you’re focusing on your readers and you should reflect that consistently.
  • Sharing reader commentary or stories: Are people interacting with your emails, blog, or social media? Fantastic! Get permission to share those things in your next email to reflect your awareness of your readers.
  • Inviting interaction. Warmly invite your readers to respond to your emails – and make a point of following up with them! You are interested in what they have to say.

In a sales email, you’ll want to stay real. And while you can get personal, do so with care. You may risk coming off sappy or inauthentic, especially if readers think you’re only doing so to sell something. Some tactics that might work include:

  • Testimonials or reader success stories: These can help solidify credibility.
  • Solution-oriented language: You’re solving a problem that readers have, which is why they need your product or service. Stress benefits, not features.
  • Make only provable claims: Beware of reader expectations. While text that offers to solve a problem once and for all may sound good, it also sets up a scenario where someone might feel let down if you fail to deliver. Don’t violate your reader’s trust by making exaggerated claims.

Personal touches like testimonials improve authenticity and credibility. Source: Really Good Emails

3. Keep It Simple, Snappy

Keep your copy smart – ain’t nobody got time to read Gone With the Wind in an email.

Our writers keep emails at 400 words or less. Any more than that and you’re risking eye-glazing, disengagement, and exile to the spam folder. In both emails:

  • Put your most important info first: Got something you’re dying to get seen? Position it prominently so readers see it.
  • Speak your readers’ language: Unless you’re writing for a segment already in the know, don’t use overly technical jargon or big words that will confuse people. Explain it in plain English.
  • Break things up: Don’t send along a wall of text. Use paragraphs, bullet points, and headings where appropriate, then support eye movement with good design.

In value-focused emails:

  • Write TL;DR versions of articles and provide a link to the full thing. Don’t rehash the entire post. The phrase “Read More” is your friend.

In sales emails:

  • Focus on the flow: Make sure your words flow well together. Don’t drop a bunch of one-liners and a link to your e-commerce site. That will float like lead.

Struggling to keep it short, sweet, and punchy? Pictures are still worth 1,000 words. Source: Really Good Emails

4. Get Smart About Spam Triggers

Even if you’ve nailed your subject line, have a professional name in the From box, and aren’t sending out an excessive number of emails, there are still plenty of ways for your emails to wind up in the spam folder.

Putting all that hard work into an email copy only to say the wrong thing and get flagged as spam would really blow, yeah?

Before you hit send, double-check that your copy doesn’t contain a smattering of spam trigger words. They’re a big no-no in subject lines, but some marketers like OptinMonster are starting to report that spam triggers activate if they’re in the body, too.

Then, double-check your copy for these spammy traits:

  • All caps: All caps on the internet is SHOUTING. Definitely don’t do it in your email subject line and use extreme caution in your copy.
  • Misleading headings or subject lines. It’s actually illegal to intentionally mislead readers with your subject line. Doing so in your copy headings will also inspire confusion and distrust.
  • A lack of transparency features. Make sure you’ve got a physical address (a PO box is fine), unsubscribe link, and valid contact information. If that’s not included in your email’s design, it will need to be in the body.

These emails came from the spam folder of the same account above. Notice that some of the senders are the same as above. What are they doing wrong in these emails?

5. Give the Reader Just One Thing to Do

Many emails have CTAs – you’ve gotta have one if you want your readers to convert. However, the CTA in email copy is a little different from a CTA in content.

In content writing, your CTA comes after the content, and often functions like a thoughtful addendum – but the real focus is the content itself.

In email writing, your entire copy should revolve around your CTA.

Your CTA is the reason you’re writing your email. It’s the focusing element.

Whether you’re writing a value-focused or sales email, make your CTA clear, place it centrally, and emphasize one action.

Use simple words that evoke the fear of missing out.

What are some good CTAs? That depends. For value-focused emails, you might consider a CTA that:

  • Encourages the reader to download a free resource, such as an ebook or a case study.
  • Links the reader to your blog or social media to learn more about a topic.
  • Invites the reader to take a survey or share his or her thoughts.
  • Prompts the reader to visit the site with a coupon or discount code. (Be careful.)

In contrast, a sales or offer email CTA is much more straightforward. It may:

  • Link to an e-commerce site, specific product or service.
  • Invite the reader to sign up for a service, email segment, or other offerings.
  • Prompt the reader to do any other number of actions to keep them engaged or drive sales.

This email has one CTA, placed centrally after all the enticing and whimsical copy. It also uses design to draw the eyes down so you can’t miss it. Source: Really Good Emails

In creating strong emails, do the following: be sure that your email's subject line, your name, and preview text are catchy (and working), be real, keep it simple, avoid spam trigger words, and give the reader only one CTA. 📭 Click To Tweet

So, Do I Need a Writer for My Email Marketing Campaign?

That’s up to you. We’ve provided a comprehensive overview of the tips and tricks our writers deploy to craft emails that your readers will look forward to reading. We’ve also provided plenty of email content writing examples to help jump-start your creativity.

A professional writer has the advantage of frequent experimentation with all of these techniques, plus those innate wordsmithing abilities that dazzle us all. Writing email marketing content may seem simple, but it’s truly an art.

You are now fully armed with our best tips. Go forth, deliver value, drive conversions, and prosper.

Running a business takes a lot of energy. You’ve got a million things to worry about – let us worry about the email content. Hire a copywriter to craft conversion-friendly emails for your campaign!

Hire a content writer for an email campaign

Julia McCoy

How to Write Email Copy That Resonates With Your Readers

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Your email is only as good as the words inside it.

It doesn’t matter how many fancy graphics or photos you have, whether your words are carefully branded with colors that match your logo, or how many emojis you used in the subject line.

Well-written email copy speaks for itself – it doesn’t need bells and whistles (although they ARE nice to have – they’re just not essential).

Email marketing, in general, has the potential to be 40x more effective than social media, according to a McKinsey & Company study.

But.

That’s only if the words in your email do their job.

I’m here with your back-to-basics guide on how to write email copy that is not only engaging and relevant to your readers, but actually gets results.

Sometimes, solid words and great flow is all you need. ✍

Ready to roll up your sleeves?

how to write email copy guide

9 Steps on How How to Write Engaging Email Copy That Resonates with Your Audience: Table of Contents

1. Learn How to Write a Compelling Email Subject Line

2. Keep the Voice, Tone, and Style in Your Emails Consistent with Your Content (Be Uniquely You)

3. Don’t Worry Too Much About Length…

4. …But Don’t Blather – Get to the Point

5. Be Direct and Encourage Action Whenever Possible

6. Imagine Writing to One Person

7. Step into Their Shoes – Learn How to Write Relatable Email Copy

8. Always Write with a Goal in Mind for Your Email Copy

9. Include at Least ONE Call-to-Action

How do you write #email copy that doesn’t need a crutch? (Read: Slick graphics, smooth design, flashy colors, or so many emojis it looks like hieroglyphics. 😱😬🤷‍♀️💃😅) Find out in @JuliaEMcCoy's guide. Click To Tweet

How to Write Email Copy That Works Without Any Gimmicks: 9 Steps

How do you write email copy that doesn’t need a crutch? (Read: Slick graphics, smooth design, flashy colors, or so many emojis it looks like hieroglyphics. 😱😬🤷‍♀️💃😅)

Answer:

Like this! Read on.

1. Learn How to Write a Compelling Email Subject Line

Your subject line is the key that unlocks your reader’s curiosity, interest, or excitement to read what you have to say. If you can evoke one of these emotions from your reader at this crucial point (and deliver within the actual email message itself), that’s a recipe for a winner.

Granted, that’s not saying it’s easy to write this kind of email subject line. It’s really hard.

But not impossible.

Use Commands or Questions

Since the aim of the subject line is both to inform your reader what the email is about and entice them to open it, why not just tell them what to do?

Commands use the power of suggestion to make your reader want to click.

For example, the subject line “Take the night off from cooking” in an email from a restaurant is more effective than “New seasonal menu!”

The first is a command. If you say that to most people, they’ll respond with “Okay, how?” Meanwhile, the second subject line will earn a “So what?” more often than not.

A question posed to your reader as your subject line works similarly, because it ignites curiosity, like in this subject line from Digital Marketer:

“Is this the hottest career in marketing?”

A question posed to your reader as your subject line works well, because it ignites curiosity. #emailmarketingtips Click To Tweet

Plumb Your Vocabulary

A few strong, solid verbs and adjectives (and a couple of intriguing nouns) may mean the difference between your reader hitting “delete” or opening your message.

The right words encourage an emotional response and make your subject line stand out among the dozens of others crowding the average inbox.

For instance, in this to-the-point subject line, Sips by (a tea subscription box) uses two positively-associated words and the power of alliteration to make you want to click:

“Hacks for Happy Camping”

Simple, yet sweet. All it took were two strong words: “hacks” and “happy.”

Use an Email Subject Line Scoring Tool

If this all sounds like mumbo-jumbo to you, good news: Tools exist to help you create effective email subject lines.

I particularly love CoSchedule’s Email Subject Line Tester. It not only scores your subject line, but also explains exactly why it works and the components that make it strong. The more you use this tool, the more you’ll improve your subject line writing skills!

2. Keep the Voice, Tone, and Style in Your Emails Consistent with Your Content (Be Uniquely You)

Brand consistency across platforms is important for building trust and a good reputation with readers. That applies to your email copy, too.

Ideally, your email copy should reflect the brand voice you have established elsewhere. Any differences will jar your readers, not to mention make you seem less authentic and real.

Real-world example: Way back in 2016, when I ventured into building my first courses, I hired a “marketing expert” team (read: ad funnel experts — oops).

One of their services was writing all my emails for the sequences to test for better conversion rates. I bit my lip reading phrases like, “I’m a leading influential expert, and I know what I’m doing.” A few of their copy segments ran in an A/B test, and my readers immediately saw a difference and pointed it out (one reader even said, “This is WAY too salesy, and not like you!”).

Yeah, chalk that up as just one of my many marketing lessons learned.

I strayed from my style, differentiation factor, and tone of voice in my content, which is usually zero B.S., zero fluff, direct, and practical. The new stuff wasn’t me, and the readers just knew.

Lesson learned. If you outsource some of your content and copy, don’t hire too many writers. Your style will get watered down. Instead, stick to one or two writers who know your voice inside-out, or ask the agency you hire to dedicate one writer to your content/copy, no matter where or how it appears online. This is a big factor for consistency.

A clear, distinct brand voice everywhere matters.

This example from email-writing master Ramit Sethi proves my point. His voice pops right away, and you feel connected to it because it’s consistent with the style of his written content everywhere else:

3. Don’t Worry Too Much About Length…

Unlike a clear and consistent brand voice across your emails, the length of your messages doesn’t matter that much when you’re learning how to write email copy.

I have seen bite-sized email copy and novel-length copy both perform well. It’s not the number of words you use – it’s the quality and content of those words that matter.

Take, for instance, one of my most successful emails that did amazingly well with my list. I wrote this after getting inspired listening to someone in my industry share how “DIY” content marketing didn’t work for them:

If you think that looks like a lot of text for one email, you’re not entirely wrong. This email is almost 800 words, and there are no bells or whistles.

BUT. There is a TON of value packed in there:

  • I tell a personal story relevant to my audience’s interests.
  • I include facts, stats, and data.
  • I use bullet points, bold text, and short paragraphs so it’s easy to read.
  • I provide both “how” and “why” this topic matters to the reader.

That leads us to my next point. Length doesn’t necessarily matter…

4. …But Don’t Blather – Get to the Point

Again, there is no fluff in that successful email. No useless details, no beating around the bush, no B.S.-ing.

If this email went off-topic or into irrelevant details (like unrelated stats or repetitive wording), it wouldn’t have worked.

Need a clear example of fluffy writing? Look at this introduction. The two paragraphs below say the exact same thing, just worded in different ways.

Notice how your eyes start to glaze over when you hit that second sentence?

We get it: Americans eat a lot of junk. You could easily combine these two paragraphs and keep that main idea intact. This is the epitome of fluffy, useless writing.

Bottom line: Get to the point, and don’t repeat yourself uselessly in your email copy. Make every word count. (If you need a little help with that, check out our guide to writing clear sentences.)

5. Be Direct and Encourage Action Whenever Possible

Getting to the point isn’t just about zero fluff. It’s also about being direct with your readers and encouraging them to act on what you’re saying at every chance.

For a great example, let’s return to that Sips by email. I’ve underlined all the places where they used actionable, direct language to inspire you to check out their blog:

Have you noticed a trend? Most of these sentences begin with a command: “Remind yourself,” “try out this recipe,” “you’ll be wanting s’more” – the language is both punny and direct for maximum impact.

Here’s the end of the email, where we see more of the same:

They’re directly talking to you, the reader. They address you, use commands, and include plenty of opportunities for you to complete the desired action (clicking the links to check out their blog).

6. Imagine Writing to One Person

Here’s a trick for how to write email copy that’s more direct:

Imagine writing your message to a single person. Imagine them sitting in the room with you and what you would say – then write it.

This works particularly well if you already have an audience persona nailed down. Pull it out, examine the traits that define your ideal target reader, and write directly to that person, empathizing with their pain points, fears, goals, and triumphs.

7. Step into Their Shoes – Learn How to Write Relatable Email Copy

Writing relatable, relevant emails isn’t that hard if you know how to step into your persona’s shoes.

Take it one step further – don’t just imagine writing to that person, pretend you ARE that person.

As that consumer, what do you need to hear from a brand to pique your interest, pull you in, and make you care?

Let’s look at an example. Take this rather “blah” email subject line from The Container Store:

“25% OFF All Elfa, Shelving & More!”

The discount is front and center, but other than that, there’s nothing here to entice me as the consumer. I don’t know what “Elfa” is, and as far as shelving – what kind of shelving? Closets? Kitchen? Bathroom?

Why should I care?

This email fails because it doesn’t relate the subject of the message to me and my interests or problems. I don’t care about a discount unless it helps me save on something I need or want.

What if the subject, instead, read:

25% off closet shelving to organize your life

Nixing just a few words and substituting others completely changes this subject. It relates the point of the email (alerting me to a discount in-store) to a real problem I want to solve.

That’s a HUGE difference.

8. Always Write with a Goal in Mind for Your Email Copy

What do you hope to gain with the email marketing you’re about to send?

What is the goal, the purpose?

Are you:

  • Trying to get more eyes on your latest blog?
  • Building brand awareness?
  • Sharing brand updates or important info?
  • Encouraging a lead to buy?

Whatever your goal, have it firmly in mind before you compose your email copy. This gives your writing purpose and can even help you avoid fluff and filler.

Plus, outlining a goal helps you track and measure the success of your email copy. For instance, did that email promoting your new blog lead to lots of clicks and traffic? Have lots of leads converted on that sales email?

Once you see how you’re doing, you can change tactics, improve, and test new email techniques to find your sweet spot.

9. Include at Least ONE Call-to-Action

Once you’ve nailed tricks and techniques for how to write email copy that performs, you need to capitalize on it all.

Your readers are ready to act on the information you provided in your email. Do they have the means to do that?

The call-to-action (CTA) gives them the chance. If you don’t include at least one in your email copy, you’re wasting your time.

The CTA is the command that tells the reader what to do next after they have ingested the information in your email. E.g., If you want them to check out your blog, use that as your CTA and include a blog link. If you want them to buy something, link the product and tell them to “buy now!”

Let’s return to Ramit Sethi for a fantastic example of this in action. In this email selling his Zero to Launch course, he includes not one, not two, not three, but FOUR CTAs sprinkled throughout the text.

Each is a clickable link that takes you straight to what you need to act on the information in the email.

The CTA is essential to seeing results from your email marketing. Don’t leave home without at least one somewhere noticeable in the copy.

Don’t leave home without at least one solid CTA noticeable in your email copy. #emailcopywriting Click To Tweet

You’ve Got This “How to Write Email Copy” Thing

Email marketing is a powerful tool just about anyone can use to build their brand. Don’t be fooled, though – the most compelling aspect of your emails needs to be the copy, not the flashy images or design.

The words you use WILL make or break your success. Learn how to write email copy, wield those words wisely, and the ROI will flow in. Promise. 🤞

CTA email copy

email marketing tips
Danielle N.

The Future Is (Still) Email: 12 Experts Share Their Email Marketing Tips to Increase Conversion in 2019

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It’s the beginning of a new year — the best time to ditch outdated practices and hop into future marketing trends.

While it’s obvious that social media marketing will continue to evolve as algorithms and user habits change, what about email marketing?

In 2012, a Pew Study revealed that text messaging is the most preferred form of daily communication among teenagers — 63% of them say so. For email? Only 6%, taking the bottom spot under landline calls and instant messaging.

The future of email in 2018 didn’t even seem to be brighter for some professionals because of Gen-Z workers who prefer to communicate through messaging apps or collaboration software like Slack. Email was “one-dimensional and simply outdated.”

So, are the days of email marketing almost over for this year? It doesn’t seem like it.

We’re actually seeing the opposite.

Here are some of the recent email marketing data that may surprise you:

The good news about the continuous rise of email use goes on and on. Email marketing is certainly evolving as well — a sign that marketers should keep track of the best email marketing practices for this year and beyond.

The future is still email! There will be 4.3 billion GLOBAL email users by 2022. Read #emailmarketing tips from 12 experts by @DaniNofuente on @ExpWriters Click To Tweet

email marketing tips

The Future Is (Still) Email: 12 Experts Share Their Email Marketing Tips to Increase Conversion in 2019

Clueless about the changes you need to do in your usual email marketing practices? Let’s ask the experts for some help. Check out these email marketing tips from the marketing pros that you should do right away.

1. Jordie van Rijn

“Review where you make ‘the split.’ The split is the point between the email and what is beyond the email.

That exact point is marked by a click. Which information do you put in the email and which do you sort out on the landing page.

Is your email effective with juuuuust enough to grab attention & foster curiosity, or does more info or repeated persuasion points work better? You need to frame the experience on the landing page in order for them to convert.

With all the possible email marketing A/B test you can do, you’d be surprised how often ‘the split’ is totally overlooked in optimizing conversion. Find the point which gives enough to take the next step, not more, not less. And then make sure that the next step is super clear.”

'Review where you make 'the split.' The split is the point between the email and what is beyond the email.' @jvanrijn on #emailmarketingtips Click To Tweet

Jordie van Rijn is the email marketing consultant behind emailmonday where he helps clients improve their email marketing strategy and select the right email marketing software. He has worked with top brands like AEGON, Unilever, Roche, KLM, and Heineken. He is also the founder of the platform for email marketing software selection.

2. Shane Phair

“Personalization goes beyond adding someone’s first name in the subject line. Marketers should be using the information they know about their customers to provide them with emails filled with relevant content.

By increasing the use of personalization — such as a publisher offering curated content in their newsletter based on a subscriber’s interests — businesses will see an increase in open and click-through rates, as well as a direct impact on ROI.”

'Marketers should be using the information they know about their customers to provide them with emails filled with relevant content.' @shanephair on #emailmarketingtips Click To Tweet

Shane Phair is the Chief Marketing Officer of Campaign Monitor, a company providing an easy-to-use email marketing and automation platform. Before Campaign Monitor, he led marketing and demand generation teams as VP of Demand Generation at Cleo and held senior sales positions with Brainshark, Ipswitch, and Motorola.

3. Sujan Patel

“Maintain a clean and healthy email list. Ensure your emails actually reach your intended target by using an email verifying tool. Voila Norbert’s verifying tool improves your deliverability and ensures your emails aren’t trapped by spam filters and eventually blacklisted.”

'Ensure your emails actually reach your intended target by using an email verifying tool.' @sujanpatel on #emailmarketingtips Click To Tweet

Sujan Patel is the co-founder of WebProfits, a growth marketing agency, and Mailshake, a cold email outreach tool for sales and marketing. He writes for top publications such as Forbes, Inc., and Entrepreneur and talks at different growth marketing conferences around the world. Listen to his content marketing productivity tips in this The Write Podcast episode.

4. Michal Leszczynski

“Email marketing has changed over the years, but the developments in the technology aren’t as dynamic as it’s the case with other digital marketing channels.

We still have some time before more advanced things like interactive emails, or proper video embedding becomes a standard. The future looks very promising, though. Just check out AMP for email – this thing can completely change how we interact with email messages.

So, before that happens – what tactics should marketers focus on to generate the highest engagement rates?

As the data from the GetResponse study suggests, what subscribers are looking for in their email communication is personalization.

They value emails that are sent at the right time and contain information that’s both interesting and relevant to them.

Privacy’s also becoming more critical. Countries, where the regulations are more strict (e.g., require double opt-in), continue to observe the highest open and click-through rates.

And finally, videos – even though their support is still limited. They generate very high engagement too.

The lesson here: subscribers don’t want to waste time on emails that are just generic or uninteresting. Instead, try offering them valuable content, one that’s tailored to their preferences. Your results will soar.”

'... subscribers don't want to waste time on emails that are just generic or uninteresting. Instead, try offering them valuable content, one that's tailored to their preferences.' @mrleszczynski on #emailmarketingtips Click To Tweet

Michal Leszczynski is the Content Marketing Manager of GetResponse, an all-in-one online marketing platform with products for email marketing, automation, and more. He also regularly writes for GetResponse’s blog. 

5. Joel Klettke

“A smart email marketing tip?

Torch your list.

No, I’m serious: periodically send out emails asking people to unsubscribe if they’re not getting any value.

Proactively eliminate people who will never, ever get value from you. You’ll not only keep your software costs down, you’ll also keep your list healthy, active, and interested.”

'Proactively eliminate people who will never, ever get value from you.' @JoelKlettke on #emailmarketingtips Click To Tweet

Joel Klettke is the Saas and B2B copywriter behind Business Casual Copywriter. He has created conversion-focused copies for top digital agencies like HubSpot and WP Engine. He’s also the founder of Case Study Buddy, providing written and video case studies for businesses.

6. Adam Q. Holden-Bache

“The biggest email marketing trend I’m seeing right now is increased use of dynamic content, especially for personalization. With the amount of data that is being collected (through multiple channels, not just email), brands can now leverage that data for their email messages to create more meaningful and effective communications.

My biggest secret is… resend your emails. For any campaign where there is the potential for conversions, resend your email to anyone who didn’t open the email the first time.

When you resend the message, change the subject line so that it appears as a new message in the inbox, and because a different subject line may resonate better with anyone that didn’t open the first email.

I typically resend emails between 24-48 hours after the initial delivery. I’ve seen up to 40% of overall conversions come off a resend (but typically 20-30%), which can provide a significant life to your overall campaign results with little to no extra work.”

'My biggest secret is... resend your emails. For any campaign where there is the potential for conversions, resend your email to anyone who didn't open the email the first time.' @adamholdenbache on #emailmarketingtips Click To Tweet

Adam Q. Holden-Bache is the Director of Email Marketing at Enventys Partners, an integrated product development, crowdfunding and marketing agency based in Charlotte, NC. He was also the CEO/Managing Director of Mass Transmit, a B2B email marketing agency later acquired by Striata where he worked as Director of Email Marketing. He’s the author of “How To Win at B2B Email Marketing: A Guide to Achieving Success.”

7. Max Modl

“Relevance is perhaps the most important factor in successful email marketing. Sometimes, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that you’re writing to real people.

We like to remind each other to ‘Check yourself!’ Here’s what we mean: Before sending out every single campaign, put yourself in the shoes of the target audience. (And, maybe you don’t have to imagine all that hard because you already are!)

Picture yourself going about your day, and now envision spotting this mailing in your inbox.

Do you want to open it?

Do you want to read it?

And if you do open it, do you enjoy reading it?

If not, then, what the heck are you doing sending it to other people?”

'Before sending out every single campaign, put yourself in the shoes of the target audience. (And, maybe you don't have to imagine all that hard because you already are!)' @maximilianmodl on #emailmarketingtips Click To Tweet

Max Modl is the chief marketing officer of Newsletter2Go, one of the leading email marketing providers and fastest growing digital companies in Germany. His role is more than just the company’s CMO as he built the startup’s brand from the ground up since 2013. Now, the company has been gaining international reach across the USA, UK, France, Spain, Italy and The Netherlands.

8. Tim Watson

“Don’t feel compelled to make a fancy looking graphical template, just because it’s email marketing and you think that’s what people expect. In many cases, the graphics get in the way. A plain formatted email can outperform a fancy creative. The crux is the email copy.

Email is conversational, copy should be natural. Many marketing emails sound false, using a style that nobody would ever use in a 1 to 1 email. I recently saw an email that began ‘Hello Tim, Brand name is proud to inform you that we have …’ and carries on with this pompous and clumsily style. It doesn’t impress anyone.

Firstly, try writing the email as if you are writing to a friend. Or even literally write it to a friend. Secondly, make sure the copy is about them not you. A good way to check is to count the number of ‘we’ vs ‘you’. It should be a least twice as many you as we.

Rather than ‘We’ve worked hard and made our website much faster’, write ‘Our updated website means you’ll now find what you need faster.’

Finally, get rid of all the words you don’t need. Keep to short elegant sentences.”

'Firstly, try writing the email as if you are writing to a friend... Secondly, make sure the copy is about them not you.' @tawatson on #emailmarketingtips Click To Tweet

Tim Watson is an email marketing consultant with 14 years in email. Providing strategic support to brands, improving results through an analytical process. From small to large – working with complex broadcast and automation programs delivering up to 90 million emails/month. A public speaker across half a dozen countries and twice-elected member of the Direct Marketing Association email council.

9. Kath Pay

“Old is new… again. The best new secret is something that we’ve known and have gone to lengths over thousands of years to master the art of it offline, and that is, ‘Customer Experience matters’. It is key to acquisition, conversion, and loyalty, however, online marketers are really only just getting their heads around it.

Everything we do as an email marketer affects our customer’s experience with our brand, whether it be our strategy, creative, tone of voice, copy, segmentation, personalization and much more.

Being a push channel, we often kick-start the customer’s journey as we drive them through to the website, and so we must recognize that email is an essential part of the customer’s experience. Therefore, it’s imperative that we always start with what matters most – the customer and what they value.”

'Old is new… again. The best new secret is something that we’ve known and have gone to lengths over thousands of years to master the art of it offline, and that is, 'Customer Experience matters.'' @kathpay on #emailmarketingtips Click To Tweet

Kath Pay is the CEO of Holistic Email Marketing, an email marketing consultancy company that has worked with big brands like Facebook, Barclays, Arsenal, and Kate Spade — and also with the government office, Transport of London. An industry veteran of 19 years, Kath is also an author, blogger, expert contributor, international conference speaker, and trainer.

10. Skip Fidura

“’The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.’ – Lady Dorothy Neville (1826-1913)

I stumbled across this quote recently and was struck by how even though it was first uttered more than 100 years ago, it perfectly sums up the essence of being an email marketer.

Don’t get me wrong — there are some very interesting emerging technologies in the email space but too often I see brands not getting the basics right and then compounding the problem by throwing new technology at it.

For over 20 years, we have talked about relevance, and it is very easy to rationalize that a message is relevant even if deep down we know it isn’t.

We are all under commercial pressure so it is almost easier to send the email to everybody than to justify to our bosses why we did not send it to some.

The real art of email is to send the right message to the right person at the right time but not send the wrong message because of content or time no matter how tempting.”

The real art of email is to send the right message to the right person at the right time but not send the wrong message because of content or time no matter how tempting.' @skipfidura on #emailmarketingtips Click To Tweet

Skip Fidura is a customer-centric digital marketing expert with 20 years of experience, helping clients have engaging human conversations with their customers. He has worked with BT, Fred Perry, Paul Smith, DHL, and Copa Airlines, and now he’s the Non-Executive Director of Direct Marketing Association (DMA UK), UK’s largest trade body for the marketing industry. He is also a keynote speaker and writer.

11. Val Geisler

“The most effective emails come when they’re written from human to human.

Of course you’re human so what do I mean?!

Too many marketers write emails to their list forgetting that there’s a person on the other side of that computer screen reading what you write. So write your emails as you might talk to a friend. In fact, put a friend’s name at the top of your draft copy and think about how you might tell them what you’re writing about.

Would you be more personal? Add a joke? Say something heartfelt? If so, do that. Then make sure you delete your friend’s name and add your own personalization before sending.

When you use email to talk to people (not to just “blast” at people), you have a leg up in the inbox.”

So write your emails as you might talk to a friend... Would you be more personal? Add a joke? Say something heartfelt? If so, do that.' @lovevalgeisler on #emailmarketingtips Click To Tweet

Val Geisler is an email conversion strategist and copywriter with knowledge in customer experience and research. She has worked for SaaS and online businesses like email marketing service providers AWeber and ConvertKit, the digital design platform InVision, and the online payment platform Stripe. Check out our #ContentWritingChat recap where she shared tips on how to create amazing email content.

12. Julia McCoy

“There are many ‘best practices’ out there — but there’s only one YOU as a marketer and a unique brand, and your audience is and should be different than everyone else’s.

So, that’s why this is my only and #1 tip for my contribution:

Don’t be afraid to break the norms, stop following what everyone else says, and experiment with your emails, yourself.

I followed best practices for years in my email marketing, then I decided to break the mold and kill the formulas, techniques, and even schedules I was using that came recommended by many different experts.

Breaking the mold ended up garnering me one of my most successful email campaigns ever.

I wrote a personal story about a ‘lightbulb moment’ I had that I thought would be perfect for our ideal buyers, who I’ve had many real-time conversations with. It was informal, inspirational, and quite personal, going against my typical emails. Finally, I had it proofread and edited by one of our conversion copywriters at Express Writers and scheduled it from ConvertKit to go out late on a Saturday night.

Every standard was broken, from the style of the headline I used to the time and day (Really? People want to read your marketing lessons on Saturday night, Julia?).

Well, we saw a 400% ROI increase from that email campaign, in both reads and sales, as opposed to nearly all campaigns I’d sent prior.

That email took time, care, and thought. The entire idea for it was born during a moment away from the desk when I was inspired. I don’t create those kinds of emails weekly (and brands shouldn’t send sales emails too frequently, either — I follow the 3:1 rule, send three valuable, pitch-free emails for every sales email).

I’m not giving you an example of the email I’ve mentioned because you shouldn’t take inspiration from me. You should look at your audience — what do they care about?

Also, look at who YOU are — what makes you different than every other brand and marketer out there?

With millions of content pieces going out now every day, it’s the only way to stand out. And don’t forget to get a conversion-minded copywriter to help. That’s critical to refining your final piece for that conversion-friendly voice.”

Breaking the mold ended up garnering me one of my most successful email campaigns ever. Read more about @JuliaEMcCoy's email success story in our list of 12 expert #emailmarketingtips Click To Tweet

Julia McCoy is the CEO of Express Writers (that’s us!), 2x author, podcast host, YouTuber, guest contributor and writer for top industry publications like Content Marketing Institute. She also teaches content marketing strategy and SEO writing online.

The Common Denominator Among All These Email Marketing Tips? Being Personal

Email stays with us in the future. And reaching out becomes easier thanks to the available email marketing tools ready to help in organizing our email subscriber lists, automatically sending emails at the right time, and making emails visually engaging.

But, despite all these continuously improving tools, it’s interesting to know that at the end of the day, creating an email that converts requires this one unique element: being personal.

And personalization goes beyond saying “Hi [FIRST NAME HERE]!” to start your email copy — people already know that a robot can simply do that. Readers want to feel connected and feel special for receiving a message that speaks to them.

In other words, being personal requires being human.

You, as a marketer (and hopefully, a human too), should get to know who you’re talking to on the other line because behind all of these email addresses are people with interests, problems, and feelings that no automation tool can understand.

Sounds like a lot of work, isn’t it? Not really when you know how to properly segment and clean up your email list — two other email marketing tips worth doing ASAP.

It will surely be an interesting year for email marketing, and we hope these email marketing tips from the experts have given you new ideas to start getting ahead in making high-converting emails.

However, despite understanding who your subscribers are and the message that can resonate with them, finding the right words to say in your email can be a time-consuming problem. If that’s the case, let Express Writers create your own personalized email copy!

email marketing tips

How to Write Email Copy
Julia McCoy

How to Write Email Copy That Resonates, Wins Clicks & Loyal Followers

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It’s a technology even older than dial-up internet.

Despite its age (it was invented almost half a century ago), email is still going strong.

It’s like that aunt of yours who has seemingly been old for decades, but she keeps on rolling, as energetic as ever. She’s a standby at family gatherings and never seems to wear out.

In much the same way, email marketing has been a cornerstone for all kinds of businesses for years.

The proof is probably within your inbox right now. Most likely, you get inundated with an avalanche of promotional emails daily from various companies.

However, there’s a problem, especially if you want to take advantage of email for your own business.

how to write email copy

What’s the Problem with Email Marketing?

Think about what you do with the emails you receive. Do you open every single one? Do you read all the messages you do open? Narrowing down the pool further, which ones make you want to click-through?

If the answers are “no,” “absolutely not,” and “not many,” in that order, you’re like most people.

With that, we’ve come to the problem.

Via Business.com, this survey shows that the most common complaint of mobile email subscribers is that they get way too many messages.

There’s so much inbox competition, standing out is hard.

So, as a marketer, how do you not only make people want to open your emails, but also read them and click your CTAs?

In short, how do you write email copy that wins the day?

[clickToTweet tweet=”There are 12 things you need to know to create great email copy! Find out what they are via @ExpWriters!” quote=”There are 12 things you need to know to create great email copy! Find out what they are via @ExpWriters!”]

The Solution: Learn How to Write Email Copy That’s Outstanding

You have to write exceptional email copy to get results.

What does this copy look like?

To figure it out, think about the emails you love to read. Think about the messages you look forward to opening.

What do they have in common? Probably one or more of these 12 factors, features, and qualities.

First off…

1. Start with a Surprising, Inspiring, Emotion-Tugging, or Eye-Catching Subject Line

In an email message, the subject line is your headline.

It’s how you initially grab a reader and hang on tight. Before any other component, the subject line has to snag their attention if you expect them to actually open it.

This means you need to cultivate intrigue or curiosity. You have to appeal to some emotion that makes your reader want to learn more.

It’s a tall order. To do it, you need to give your subject line the same care and attention you give your email body copy. To accomplish this feat, try these tips:

  • Only promise what you’re going to actually deliver – Don’t lure readers into opening your email with an enticing subject line, then completely fail to deliver. If you promise something or inspire action in your subject, make sure you follow up.
  • Be specific – Don’t be vague in the subject line if you want results. Want proof? Copyblogger tested out two subject lines for the same email. Guess which one was more successful and led to a higher click-through rate? That’s right – the specific one.
  • Use language that encourages action – Don’t hedge, and don’t be shy about your subject lines. Use actionable language that’s urgent and motivating. For instance, instead of saying “Tickets for X Events Are on Sale Now!” say “Grab Your Tickets for X Event Before They Sell Out!”

Here are a few great examples of effective subject lines that do it right. It’s not surprising that all of them use direct, active language that speaks straight to the reader:

Greetabl grabs the eye in a crowded email inbox because they make a bold proclamation: You’re in the squad.

World Market wrote an urgent subject line that cleverly makes you want to act.

Madewell crafted a subject line too tempting and curiosity-inducing to pass up.

2. Draw Them in with a Warm, Friendly, Engaging Tone

Some businesses think that making their emails personal means inserting the recipient’s name in the copy a few times. Nope.

In fact, if you use the above strategy, it’s overkill. You’ll sound like a robot.

Instead, make your tone personal. Talk to the reader as if they’re a friend. Unsurprisingly, this inspires friendliness reciprocated back toward your brand. This could inspire them to click your CTA, in turn.

This leads us to our next point…

3. Talk to Your Readers, Don’t Address Them

Sure, your email is going out to a faceless group of people. That doesn’t mean you should address them as such, though.

In fact, you shouldn’t address them at all.

Instead, talk to them. Don’t write as if you’re preparing a speech for an audience; write like you’re penning a missive to a good friend.

To this end, make sure you use second person voice. This means you talk to the reader directly through your writing, using the term “you.” Need an example? You’re reading it right now!

For a good example, check out this “thanks for signing up” email from Papa Murphy’s. They talk to the customer directly with brief but effective copy:

4. Err on the Short Side

Nobody has time to read a novel in your marketing emails. Respect the reader and keep it short, yet informative and useful. Edit your email copy rigorously and ruthlessly if you need to whittle it down.

More specifically:

  • Stick to the point – Don’t meander in your marketing emails. This is not the place to share deep thoughts, discussion, or something similar. Stay on topic.
  • Get to the point – For that matter, don’t take forever to get to the point of the email. Get there and give the reader satisfaction.
  • Stay relevant – Keep your email relevant to the reader. It’s about them, not you. Copywriting guru Ann Handley of Marketing Profs goes a step further with this – she says to make it “relentlessly” about the reader. Be empathetic and place yourself in their shoes.
  • Keep the email to one topic – You don’t have time to address multiple topics with multiple calls-to-action. You’ll lose your reader. One topic, max, is all you can reasonably address without boring anybody.

5. Be Yourself (Hint: This Is How to Write Unique Email Copy)

How do you add that human element to your email marketing?

Be you. You’re the human element.

Don’t sanitize your writing. Try to write the way you speak, with your idiosyncrasies, unique turns-of-phrase, and vocabulary.

Are you a sarcastic person? Do you make lame jokes? Are you a punster? Or, do you tell it like it is?

Don’t be afraid to insert your unique personality in your writing. Don’t keep yourself out your email copy. People will respond more positively if they can find you, a human voice, present in the message.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Wondering how to write email copy that wins? BE YOURSELF! (via @ExpWriters)” quote=”Wondering how to write email copy that wins? BE YOURSELF! (via @ExpWriters)”]

6. Focus on Value (Benefits vs. Features)

Along with your human voice, you also need to focus on the value factor in your email marketing.

This goes along with staying reader-focused. What are the benefits you’re offering that help them in their daily lives?

Don’t just list features – instead, think about what positive outcomes the features bring to the table.

For a good example, look at this promotional email from Sephora. They’re promoting “Flash,” their two-day shipping service, but they stay benefits-focused:

They tell you what you get with this service, but it also says exactly how you’ll benefit. Staying value-focused like this is how you appeal to your readers.

Once you’ve outlined the benefits, it’s time for your CTA.

7. Include a Call-to-Action, But…

Keep it crystal-clear. Your call-to-action at the end of your promotional email should give the reader an exact idea of what they need to do next.

The key word, here, is “need.” Your reader should feel a sense of need or urgency from your call-to-action: They’ve got to do X because they’ll get X as a result.

Make sure they understand the benefit of taking action – the “why” along with the “what.”

8. Get a Second (or Third) Opinion

After you self-edit your copy, but before you hit “send,” you need to pass it along to another set of eyes.

This person should have sharp attention to detail and a sense of what good email copy looks like. They’ll catch silly mistakes you might have missed, including tiny punctuation errors and the like. They’ll also see where you’re too wordy, where your tone is off, or where you’re not clear enough.

9. Test Your Copy’s Effectiveness

It’s often hard to know what will work for your particular audience unless you test it out. The same goes for your promotional emails.

For instance, write two versions of the same email and send them out to different, distinct groups. Then measure the response to each. A slightly different tone of voice or a reworded call-to-action might be the key to more email conversions. You’ll never know unless you test it out.

10. Don’t Keep Using a Formula That Doesn’t Work

If one road map for how to write your email copy isn’t working, you can’t expect to see any difference in results if you keep going in that direction.

To use a cliché, don’t beat a dead horse.

To find success with email campaigns, you can’t be afraid to reinvent, revise, and experiment with your approach. That has to include the way you’re writing to your audience.

11. Focus on Copy First, Design Second

The writing is the foundation of your email marketing. It’s your message. The other stuff, including the layout and design, is just the vehicle.

If your emails don’t work without the fancy graphics and pretty visuals, you need to take a step back.

Your email copy, the content and structure of your message, comes first. If you can’t send it as plain-text and get good results, you’re focusing on the fluff, not the substance. It needs to be the other way around.

Take a look at this promotional email from Boden, a British clothing retailer:

It showcases a sleek, styled image of fashionable people. However, take away that image, and the copy still works by itself. These are classic, beautiful, durable clothes for everyone in your family. The brand got that across, without sounding salesy, in one sentence.

12. Find Ways to Delight Your Readers

One of the purposes of your email marketing is to continue to cultivate trust with your audience.

You managed to give them enough reason to hand over their email addresses – now you need to build on that.

A great way to do it? Delight them.

The great part of this is, if you genuinely want to delight your audience, it will come through in your email copy naturally.

“Delight” can mean a lot of different things, too. It can mean positive surprise, joy, humor, glee, and pleasure. It can come from a simple moment of genuine warmth, a surprise special offer to say “thanks,” or some heart-to-heart talk.

In general, it means getting personal for a moment, stepping off your soapbox, and being real. The best part? It won’t just increase trust – it will also humanize your brand, making you seem more relatable.

For an example, look at this email from Poncho. HubSpot loves this company’s email marketing precisely because it’s so delightful:

From their happy, poncho-wearing cat logo to their humor in the copy, it’s an exercise in all-around delight. In a world of bad news, how refreshing! Now that’s good email.

Learn How to Write Email Copy and Start Resonating with Readers

If your email marketing isn’t resonating with your readers, maybe you need to get your copy in gear.

The words, after all, are the foundation of the whole shebang. Without exceptional email copy, you’re left with nothing but a bunch of fluff. And, let’s face it – fluff never convinced anyone to do anything.

When your emails are just one more needle in the haystack, you need more than fluff to stand out. You need more to convince people to open your messages, actually read them, and click on your CTAs.

Follow our tips for exceptional email copy, and see if they don’t make a difference. You might be pleasantly surprised at the results.

 

Need more “oomph” for your email copy? We can handle that. Express Writers has the chops to give your emails all the “write” stuff. See for yourself!cta great copy

email content marketing
Julia McCoy

An Up-to-Date, Nutshell Guide to Your Best Email Content Marketing

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Have you ever wondered how effective your emails are?

Do they leave an impression, or just end up in the trash folder?

It may be that you measure email success by the amount of people who open it and then click through. Which means that the email first has to be opened, then read, then clicked.

Not to mention it also has to be the appropriate length and interesting enough to engage readers and move them to action.

How much does email length matter? Can your tone shine through, and does anyone really read the subject line, anyway?

We’re here to break the answers to these questions down, and give you an updated guide (with a recent Boomerang exclusive!) all about email content marketing. Boost your email results when you put these into practice. Keep reading!

guide to email content marketing

Email Marketing 101

Email is still critical to our content marketing efforts today.

Take a look at these email marketing stats for a better understanding of the impact email has in the industry:

  • Marketers have seen a 760% increase in revenue from segmented email campaigns.
  • Automated email messages average over 70% higher open rates and over 150% higher click-through rates than “business as usual” messages.
  • Email is 40x more effective at acquiring new customers than Twitter or Facebook.

Email is the connection between us and our prospects.

When content marketers invest their time and resources into powerful emails, the reach potential is limitless.

While technology has changed and social media has emerged over the past decade, email has stayed as a constant. Sure, we may not be using the same domain we did ten years ago, but the truth remains that when we need to send information, we email it.

When we want to be connected to our favorite brand, we join their email list.

Need a receipt for your store purchase, but don’t want a paper copy? Have it emailed.

For these reasons and more, content marketing efforts can be enhanced when we learn to take the best email marketing practices and use them effectively.

3 Best Email Content Marketing Practices

Back in the early 90’s, email hit the scene. Remember those AOL disks that were available through the mail and at the grocery store checkout stand?

And how we communicate has not been the same since. (Letters? What are those?)

Fast-forward to 2017, when 93% of marketers now say they use email for content distribution and consider it an important channel for their marketing success. And while it does remain an effective tool, it doesn’t mean we always use it in the best way.

Emails have a wide range of possibilities in reaching an audience, including:

  • Newsletters
  • Product updates
  • Transactional emails (after one has taken action on your website)
  • Deals and promotions

There are some qualities that make email an effective tool for your content marketing efforts. We have to learn the best way to increase the open rate, how to craft a subject line, how to create quality content, and how to choose the best time to write.

1. Learn How to Write a Great Email

You may be thinking, “Wait a minute. I’m a content writer. I know how to write.”

Isn’t it true that if we all knew how to write effective emails, there would be a higher response rate and we would be inundated with conversions?

Especially since over 200 billion email messages are sent every day.

So, yes, we can all use reminders from time to time about how to write effectively, and specifically, how to craft an email that engages the audience and encourages action.

A. Craft a compelling subject line

This seems like an obvious one, but if the subject isn’t engaging, few readers will want to click through to the actual content. Start by incorporating language that tells the reader what he or she can look forward to in the email.

Words like “take,” “don’t miss,” and “reserve” are goods one to start with.

B. Use personalization, if you can

Shaping email content to fit a reader’s needs by using customer segmentation has the potential to increase revenue.

In a study conducted by Direct Marketing Association, emails which were segmented and targeted generated 58 percent of the total revenue for marketers surveyed while 36 percent of revenue came from emails sent to specific target selections.

direct marketing association

C. Create relevant and honest content

No one wants their time wasted, so coming up with a catchy email subject line that has nothing to do with the content inside is unfair and irresponsible. While you are crafting an engaging and personalized subject line, keep in mind that it should align with the content in the actual email. This not only keeps everything relevant, but sets you apart as an honest authority who isn’t out to trick anyone into clicking.

D. Continue to offer relevancy by expressing to the reader right away why you are writing

What is your connection? How are you providing a solution to the need? Our reach will go much farther when we highlight the benefits rather than the feature.

E. Get to the point

Practice writing concisely so the end result is powerful, tight sentences.

Too wordy, and you’ll lose your readers. Too short, and they could miss the point.

Content marketers must find a way to summarize a catch for the reader and encourage a click-through.

Everywhere we go, we see content – in just one minute, there are millions of Facebook and Instagram likes, hundreds of thousands of Tweets, and hours upon hours of YouTube videos uploaded.

We are consumed by content.

The last thing we need is more unusable information, interruptions, or sales pitches coming through our inbox. A long, drawn-out copy won’t cut it here; readers must be able to sift through quickly in order to make a decision about whether or not they’ll click through.

Try keeping emails between 50 and 125 words, which can increase the response rate for your efforts.

Suggested tool: SmartBlogger’s list of 317 Power Words

2. Learn How to Close Out

After we learn how to craft email content that engages the readers, it comes time to find the most effective closing methods.

Email closings matter. How we wrap up that fantastic content determines the response rate for our readers, and a few words can make the difference between clicking through and sending an email to the trash.

Boomerang conducted a study on more than 350,000 email threads and found that certain email closings were more effective at delivering higher response rates.

boomerang findings
Graphic from Boomerang

The best way to close an email?

With gratitude.

Those closings that included a variation of “thank you” saw a higher response rate than those that included words like “best” and “regards.”

Some of the most popular closings included a simple “thanks,” “cheers,” and “kind regards.”

Thanks in advance received the highest increase based on the average response rate.

In addition to the closing greeting, a CTA will tell your audience what to do. Simply adding a button that says “click here” may not be as effective as a call-to-action that clearly spells out what will happen when they click.

Here are some examples:

  • “Take the Survey”
  • “Learn the Secret”
  • “Get the Free Report”

Each email should be backed by something you want them to do, one central focus. The call-to-action always revolves around that one goal, even if there are multiple CTAs in one email.

Tools: 380 High Emotion Words, 80+ Marketing Words to Improve Email Campaigns

3. Learn When to Send

When is the best time to send an email out? Is every day too often, and is once a month not often enough?

Opinions on the best day and time to send emails will vary across the industry, but there are some general guidelines we can follow that will contribute to maximum impact. In fact, analysts looked at billions of emails in order to gain insight into the best times to send emails, and the results are a bit different across the board.

Best days: Tuesday came in first place, according to data collected. In a close second was Thursday, followed by Wednesday.

As a side note, there were high click-through rates on Saturdays and Sundays, but since those are also the days when the fewest emails are sent, it kind of balanced out.

coschedule email tips

Graphic from CoSchedule

Best times: That same research had some interesting findings when it came to the best time to send email content. In first place was 10 a.m., followed by 8 p.m. – midnight, and then 2 p.m.

Email 4

Some of these times might be surprising, but they also make sense; for example, many of us check our emails before bed, so the 8 p.m. timeframe fits that habit.

While this collection of data is not a one-size-fits-all for every brand, it is a good place to start.

Begin by sending out email content on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday at one of the times suggested. You may be surprised at what you find.

Grammar, Typos, & other Things We’ve Forgotten Since High School

Did you know Mondays are the worst days for email subject line errors?

And the more errors in an email’s subject line, the less likely it is to receive a response.

Grammar misuse and typos don’t scream “authority.” Instead, mistakes convey the message that the sender didn’t quite care enough to check and double-check the content.

It reduces our credibility as content marketers, interferes with the user experience, and pushes down the response we could get if only we had been more careful. If emails with an error have a response rate of only 29%, it’s worth our time and effort to read over everything carefully before hitting the “send” button.

If you need some help in this area, there are some effective tools you can use to boost your grammar and spelling.

  • After the Deadline: Paste in your content and get feedback that includes spelling errors as well as grammar and style suggestions.
  • Grammar Checker: This tool catches spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes, and misuse of words.
  • StackEdit: Create professional-looking content and use the inbuilt spell checker to fix errors.
  • Write like a third grader: Emails written in this way saw a 36 percent life over those crafted at a college-reading level as well as a 17% higher response rate.
  • Read, then read again: Do a thorough read of your email content, take a short break, and then read it again. Check for sentence flow, clarity of thought, and grammar mistakes. Click any links you’ve included to make sure they work and go to the right place.
  • Send it to yourself: Remember writing speeches for high school and practicing them out loud? The same idea can be used here; send your email to yourself or one colleague to make sure all is good to go. This step can help to minimize typos and gives you or someone you know one more chance to proofread.

Get Awesome in Your Email Content

None of us want to spend time on emails that ultimately don’t get opened (boring headline) or get opened but lead to no action (boring content).

For truly awesome email content, your focus must be first on an engaging subject line, then on relevant and attention-grabbing content which is followed by an effective CTA. See more great email practices.

When we combine these practices with a focus on sending at the right time and on the best day, we can be on our way to crafting high-quality email content that everyone will want to share and be a part of.

Need help writing fantastic email content? Check out our email copywriting services!

Julia McCoy

The Marketer’s Nutshell Guide to Effective Email Copywriting

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It’s time. You’ve spent hours crafting the perfect email.

You’ve agonized over the words you’ve included, written and re-written every sentence, and considered your reader at every fork of the road.

You give the work of art you’ve just crafted one last read-through, then you take a deep breath and click “send.”

You close your laptop. Your work there is done.

A few days later, though, you check out the stats for that work of art you were so proud of and they’re, well, disappointing.

How could this possibly be?

If you’ve ever found yourself in these shoes, don’t fret. This is a very common problem, and many marketers struggle to figure out why the content they work so hard on isn’t as effective as they thought it would be.

Luckily, you’re not doomed to live in this place of email marketing limbo forever. By learning the keys to stellar direct email copywriting, you can craft outstanding marketing emails that rake in the clicks, opens, and conversions.

Read on to learn more.

email copywriting guide

Great Direct Email Copywriting: The Basics

While many people brush off direct email copywriting as a skill that died along with the early 2000s, the fact is that it’s still very, very relevant in today’s marketing environment.

While email marketing might not have the universal appeal of social media or podcasting, it’s still far too important to overlook, and marketers that do find themselves missing out on a large segment of traffic and engagement.

If you’re one of the many people who wonder what’s so great about email marketing, here are a few of its most winning qualities:

#1. Direct email marketing is effective and cost-efficient

While every company wants a cheap, efficient marketing strategy they can count on, this is especially important for, small business owners, who are always looking for efficient marketing solutions that will provide results on time and under budget. Luckily, email marketing fits the bill.

According to one 2013 report conducted by Direct Marketing Association, marketers who use direct email marketing earn a 4,3000% ROI.

How’s that for incentive?

#2. Email marketing provides real value

Every day, customers around the world take time out of their busy schedules to read through the emails that land in their inbox. Unfortunately, many of these emails are junk. Luckily, marketers who master direct email copywriting can set themselves apart from the crowd by providing real value to readers.

According to CopyBlogger, brands that are truly successful at direct email marketing are those who position themselves as companies truly concerned about the happiness and well-being of their readers.

This, in turn, helps readers feel as if they can trust your brand, which makes them more willing to share personal information and convert on your offers.

#3. Email marketing opens up a reliable line of communication with customers

Where else do you get unparalleled access to your customer’s pocket or inbox? Nowhere but email marketing, that’s the answer. When you provide valuable, unique, and interesting direct email copywriting, you succeed in opening up a valuable dialogue with clients, the likes of which isn’t seen anywhere else in marketing.

#4. Email marketing is a powerful tool for word-of-mouth and shares

According to DuctTape Marketing, quality content is one of the only things that will produce reliable sales results every time. With this in mind, it’s clear that people who master the art of direct email copywriting are uniquely qualified to make more sales and produce more positive word-of-mouth advertising within their customer base.

Despite all of these benefits, many people are afraid of writing marketing emails, assuming it will be challenging or unproductive. Luckily, crafting good email copy doesn’t have to be a challenge. With that in mind, check out our top tips for writing effective marketing emails your customers will love.

10 Steps to Craft Stellar Email Copy That Can’t Be Ignored

If you’re ready to incorporate great email marketing into your content strategy, follow these ten steps:

1. Remain relatable in all of your marketing copy

Let’s get one thing straight: nobody wants to read a stuffy marketing email. Would you?

Of course the answer is no.

That’s why it’s so important to keep your voice relatable and approachable in your direct email copywriting. Here are three good examples of brands I love that do just that:

Tim Ferriss’s Five Bullet Friday email always feels like grabbing a quick coffee with a friend. It’s approachable, casual, and informative. Which may be why it has a few million subscribers:

tim ferriss email

Another blogger who has always done a great job of maintaining a relatable approach is Mark Manson. Here’s one of his most recent marketing emails that decidedly does not feel like a marketing email:

Mark Manson Email

Finally, for reference, here’s a marketing email from GroupHigh, an influencer marketing startup that always kills it with the copywriting:

GroupHigh Screenshot

With those examples in mind, strive to keep your email copywriting in the same tone that you’d use to talk with a friend. It will benefit you in terms of conversions, clicks, and engagement down the road.

2. Personalize your emails as much as possible

A personalized email is a successful email, so take steps to make them as individualized as possible. This often means using your reader’s name in the subject line, using your name as the “From” address, and inputting a personal email as the “Reply to” address rather than allowing it to fill in with an auto-generated email from MailChimp or whatever service you use.

While personalization may not seem like a big deal, Aberdeen reports that personalizing an email can improve click-through rates by 10%.

3. Make clarity your main priority

Too many marketers try to be too gimmicky in their email copy, which only drives users away. Instead of focusing only on hooking your readers, think first about how you can provide clarity and value.

Once you’ve got those two things down, you can move onto being catchy.

4. Write a compelling email subject line

When it comes to email marketing, subject lines are critical. By using action words, posing a question, or personalizing the subject line (which results in a 26% spike in open rates), you can ensure that your email copy won’t be left sitting at the bottom of a trash bin.

5. Make sure you’re delivering on your promises

If you promise free tips, useful information, or shocking data in your email subject line, you need to deliver in your body content. While most people assume that being catchy in the subject line is all that matters, even users who open your emails will head for the hills if the body content doesn’t support the claims the subject line makes.

6. Write in the second person voice

Whenever you write email copy, everything you pen should be in the second person. Notice how all three of the examples listed above use “you” liberally. In addition to helping you connect with your readers, this is also a great way to drive the reader to action.

7. Stress the benefits, not the features

In email, as in all great marketing, you need to focus on stressing the benefits rather than the features of your product. In addition to the fact that features are more compelling than benefits, telling a story about how a service, good, or product will change a consumer’s life is much more emotive than simply including a bulleted list of features.

8. Keep your email brief

Few people have the attention span for a long marketing email, so it’s in your best interests to keep it short, succinct, and to the point. Offer relevant information toward the beginning of the email and resist the temptation to stuff the body full of filler language.

9. Make your call-to-action prominent

To enhance the effectiveness of your call to action, highlight it at the end of the email. Be sure to set it apart from the text, consider tinting it a different color, and install a button for added effect. While these are simple fixes, they can go a long way toward improving the effectiveness of your email across the board.

10. Automate your marketing emails with better management tools

While not technically a writing tip, automating your emails with the right management tool will save you a huge amount of time and money.

Services like MailChimp have long been the standard, but today more powerful tools like ConvertKit are beginning to rule the roost.

ConvertKit is a tool we use in our email campaigns here at Express Writers, and it has rapidly become one of the most indispensable in our belt. In fact, as soon as we switched to ConvertKit we saw a whopping 200% increase in the clicks on our emails!

While ConvertKit is a super-efficient tool for sending better emails, it’s much more than that.

What sets ConvertKit apart is its highly responsive opt-in forms, multiple incentive options, subscriber gifts, custom opt-in features, and custom landing page options.

Plus, they’re known for the awesome reporting tools you get. Check out the homescreen dashboard, with a report detailing everywhere our subscribers came from, what days they came in, etc:

convertkit

ConvertKit is based on simplicity. They believe that less HTML, links, imagery and “stuff” makes sure your email gets read and out of the spam folder – and they’re onto something, based on our email results! However, that does mean you don’t have a lot of options in designing an email. But, the simple template we’ve been using works well.

Here’s a quick peek at some of our broadcasts.

convertkit broadcast

We upgraded our style to omit nearly every footer link in early 2018, and have been using a super-simple, plain-text style very light on images and design. One campaign I write every week is the Content Shop Spotlight. We’ve had a great return on this, with prospects emailing us weekly after reading these newsletters. Read a full Content Shop Spotlight example.

convertkit email example julia mccoy

convertkit email example

You can customize text colors with a handy visual editor, add custom CSS codes for social media icons and more, or create and host a landing page and forms. You can even grab their WordPress plugin for more accessibility with subscribers to and from your website.

Ideal for brands of all sizes who want to boost the conversion rate of their email marketing, ConvertKit is by far one of the best tools on the market right now. Get ConvertKit here: starting at $29/1000 subscribers per month.

Better Direct Email Copywriting Starts Now

By the end of this year, experts are projecting there to be 4.3 billion active email accounts around the globe.

This is a huge number, and it’s just one of the many things that demonstrates the importance and timeliness of email marketing.

On average, 57% of email subscribers interact with marketing emails for 10-60 minutes each week, and if you can master direct email copywriting well enough, you’ll soon find that your brand is one of the few they choose to spend their time with.

While direct email copywriting is a difficult thing to learn, the tips in our post can help you develop, target, produce, and dispense marketing emails that truly drive results–rather than just sitting in someone’s inbox.

And while connecting with customers in a meaningful and lasting way has always been a difficult pursuit, email marketing is one of the most efficient ways to make it happen in today’s world. Today, 83% of B2B marketers use emails for marketing, and that number will only grow in the coming years.

By developing a copywriting style that brands you as personable, polite, and engaging, you can easily connect on a deeper level with your customers and improve your brand across the board.

Stumped on how to create powerful email headlines and copy? Our email copywriting services might be just what you need! We’ve written successful email content for brands of all types.

Email Marketing Tips for 2016
Julia McCoy

15 Hot Email Marketing Tips For 2016

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Right now, more than 144 billion emails are sent each day.

In light of that, it may seem unlikely that anyone who does email marketing is ever going to get noticed. Fortunately, this isn’t true.

Get your free PDF, 25 Proven Email Subject Lines for Your Email Marketing.

There are several fundamental tried-and-true ways to win at email marketing you can apply this New Year to start boosting your email marketing ROI. Keep reading.

Email Marketing Tips for 2016

15 Key Ways to Win At Your Email Marketing This 2016

Here are a few sure ways to help you get started sending out great emails this year.

1) Think about prime send times

Depending upon your unique subscriber list, content, and company, you’ll have a prime send time that varies from everyone else’s. According to an email report by Experian Marketing Services, most emails performed best when sent between 8:00 p.m. and midnight. This block of emails boasted a 22% open rate and a higher-than-normal clickthrough and sales rate.

These results may be on account of inbox crowding: if you send your email While this is a great baseline to start from, it’s important to remember that each company’s prime send time will vary, so it’s important to look into your analytics to find your best sending time.

2) Give something away

People love free stuff and it’s just as true in email marketing as it is anywhere else. Recently, Bluewire Media ran a test on their 6,300 email subscribers. They were wondering which types of content earned the highest click and conversion rates. What they found was, overwhelmingly, that emails giving away templates and tools were opened at a much higher rate.

For example:

Download your free copy of 25 Proven Email Subject Lines for Your Email Marketing

To get more engagement from your customers and produce higher levels of conversions for your company, offer to give something away every now and again. Whether it’s a template or an eBook, freebies keep your users interested and help you produce great email marketing results throughout the new year.

3) Optimize for mobile

We can’t say enough about this. Mobile is a huge deal right now and if your email marketing content isn’t optimized for mobile platforms, you’re missing out. Mobile traffic makes up 47% of the average email open rate. That said, it’s hugely important to make sure that everything you send out via email looks and performs great on a mobile phone.

This means converting your content to one column templates, increasing font size to make it more readable on a small screen, ensuring that buttons are at least 44 pixels x 44 pixels, and making CTA buttons obvious (above the fold) and easy to click (by placing them in the middle of the screen).

4) Make use of weekends

Earlier we talked a bit about your prime send times but what about your prime send days? According to the aforementioned Experian study, emails sent on Saturday and Sunday outperformed emails sent on weekdays. That said, consider whether sending your marketing emails on the weekends is something that will work for your clients and company.

5) Keep your whole list active

Say you have a list of 1,500 email subscribers. Great! The problem is that only a portion of that list is likely to be active. In fact, some studies have found that most lists have an inactivity rate of 63%. That said, in order to make the most of your email list, you’ll have to figure out a way to engage the entire list rather than just a portion. One of the most effective ways to do this is through what marketers call a “Re-engagement campaign.”

Re-engagement campaigns look a little different for every marketer, but essentially they involve testing different subject lines to find out which ones earn the highest open and click rates from the highest portion of your list. Keep in mind, though, that any re-engagement campaign you run should offer value, as well. Once that inactive 63% of your list clicks an email, they’re going to want to see something good.

6) Write to one person

Nobody wants to be just one person in a crowd of subscribers, so help your readers feel unique by writing every email as if you were writing to them and them alone. This approach makes your emails more personal and provides a higher level of value for every reader.

7) Be respectful

Remember how we said earlier that 144 billion emails are sent every day? Most consumers feel like all of them wind up in their personal inboxes. For this reason, it’s hugely important to be respectful of your readers’ time. To put this another way: don’t spam anyone. Spam is one of the quickest ways to get yourself booted from the inbox and companies that don’t send spam are generally more well-regarded by their customers.

That said, only write an email when you have something valuable to say and be careful to get to the point as quickly as possible. This will keep you in your customers’ good graces and allow you to maintain your inbox privileges.

8) Remind your readers that they’re not alone

Why do people sign up for email lists? To get great content, information, and offers. But what’s one of the easiest things marketers can do to ensure that their readers are anxiously awaiting the next email?

The answer is simple: remind readers that you’re on their side. This takes a variety of different forms, including polling readers for content ideas, offering surveys, letting readers know you sympathize with their struggles, and then offering them actionable solutions to deal with them. This tip should pervade your content and, when done correctly, can take your emails from “blah” to “wow!”

9) Reward readers

So you’ve got a faithful list of readers. How do you keep them that way? You give them a reward! By rewarding your readers for faithfully opening your emails, you inspire them to continue doing so in the future. Rewards can be anything from access to a super-secret sale to insider info, industry tips, or inspirational content that’s not shared anywhere else.

10) Make use of power words

When you get 20 emails an hour, nothing much stands out. Until, that is, you see a subject line that includes emotive, exciting power words. Incorporating sensory phrases into your email marketing can go a long way toward improving your open rate and ensuring that your emails are well-received by readers.

11) Keep headlines simple

If your readers have to puzzle over the meaning of your email headline, they’re going to hit “Delete” in no time. Trust us on this one – when it comes to email marketing, the simple path is almost always the right one. Emails shouldn’t be brain twisters – they should simply provide valuable information in a quickly digestible package. Enough said.

12) Automate it

One of the easiest ways to make email marketing easier for you is to automate it. Services like MailChimp and Constant Contact both offer automated email marketing with simple drag-and-drop template layouts. Utilizing an automated service like this can help ensure that your emails get out when they need to as well as giving you a place to monitor your analytics.

13) Make the most of your CTAs

If you’re going to include CTAs in your email, they need to be clear, concise, and compelling. You should be telling your readers exactly what you want them to do and reminding them what they’ll get if they do. CTAs aren’t platforms for guesswork and when you lay it out clearly for your subscribers, you’re likely to produce better results.

14) Keep body copy short

You’re writing an email, not a novel. Long, bulky, text-dense emails are going to lose your readers’ interest in a hurry, so you’re best off keeping your body copy short and concise. The next time you edit your email, challenge yourself to cut your body copy in half before you send the email out. This will distil your points to the most important ones and ensure that your readers are getting only the information they need.

15) Be natural

Now more than ever, consumers want to interact with authentic marketers and companies. To help this come through in your email marketing, avoid using strict formulas, be conversational in your tone, and ensure that you’re interacting with your readers like you would interact with real people. This will help make your emails something readers look forward to.

Download your free PDF, 25 Proven Email Subject Lines for Your Email Marketing.

Conclusion

When done right, email marketing can be more effective than other types of marketing, including social media marketing. To get it right, though, you’ll need to keep these 15 tips in mind. Doing these things ensures that you’re sending valuable, exciting, actionable emails that your readers will love to engage with.

Josh McCoy

15 of the Hottest Email Newsletters & Why They Are So Successful

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Alecs is our Client Accounts Manager and a ten-year-veteran copywriter.

Email newsletters have been around for a long time, as a successful means of helping businesses communicate with their customers.

When email introduced a new dimension to the traditional newsletter, it instantly became more marketable in the twenty-first century.

Not all newsletters are great, entertaining reads, however. As someone who enjoys reading and learning from what I read, a newsletter gives me a valuable resource. Sadly not many companies that create newsletters do that with information in mind.

Be inspired from the greats.

Developing a Great Email Newsletter: 15 Keys to the Castle

One of the key things about creating a great newsletter is that the information contained therein should be mostly informative. The content in your newsletter is an extension of the content that you create for your blog or website. This content has to be entertaining and engaging. Newsletters that don’t perform as well as they should forget this one overarching idea: that content is value and value is what sells.

Let’s take a look at some of the more impressive email newsletters that have managed to make their way (and keep making their way) into my inbox.

the skimm1. The Skimm: Having information given to you in easily readable, bite-sized chunks is the aim of most content marketing. Less is more, since content seems to be downsizing. The Skimm builds a newsletter that embraces this trend by giving you all the news you need to know about in short, concise bursts. You don’t even need to click out of the email to be fully informed about what’s going on. As a newsletter, it brings immense value to the table in a nice, simple, clean layout that doesn’t distract from the story elements of the news. The stories make for viable inspiration for your own blog posts as well.

2. Community.is: This newsletter tries to fit into a number of molds at the same and time and manages to do so pretty well surprisingly. As a newsletter that is designed to “put people at the center of their work”, they have a wide and varied audience. Their unique combination of short, medium and long form content appeals to their different demographics really efficiently. This allows their newsletter to be properly organized without seeming confusing at all. When you’re trying to hit such a wide audience, that in itself is a task, but this newsletter accomplishes it easily.

3. Food Safety Update: A B2B email newsletter doesn’t need a flashy title and Food Safety Update’s title is relatively bland. When you take a look at their layout and content, however, you realize that the title is misleading. The content is organized into easily digestible chunks that are well-labeled, ensuring that you can find what you’re looking to read up on. Interspersed throughout the journal are thumbnails that help to break up the text and add flavor to the layout itself. Handy social sharing options allow for easy dissemination of articles you like and unsubscribing is pretty simple as well, although after you’ve read it you’d wonder why anyone would want to.

kleon-200pxx14. Austin Kleon: Minimalistic design has always been something that appeals to a lot of modern users. Austin Kleon’s newsletter goes into the minimalist design with great intentions and manages to be successful with its mix of simple design and informative writing. The thing that is most impressive about it is the tone. Reading this newsletter has a quaint, almost homey feel. It’s almost like getting a letter from a friend you haven’t seen in a while. This is probably the most impressive accomplishment of this newsletter, making the publication seem more human.

5. Litmus: Named after the chemical testing paper, this email marketing testing company has a newsletter that is unique in its design. Swathes of color are used to break up the sections into easily readable bits. You never feel as though you’re staring at a field of monotony with the color scheme. The colors are muted and give the sense of a background without being too outstanding to distract you from what you’re reading. The content is interesting as you would expect from a marketing testing company, and it’s definitely one you should look into if marketing and analytics are your thing.

6. NoshOn.It: If you’ve ever tried making something from a recipe book and the book doesn’t have a helpful, full-color picture of what it’s supposed to turn out as, you’ll realize the struggles of many aspiring foodies out there. NoshOn.It is a newsletter that is designed for foodies and gives them helpful hints along with recipes and included pictures to help their readers visualize what they’re creating. Combining them with simple red text-boxes that stand out over the images and announce what it is you’re looking at helps readers to go directly to the section they’re looking for. Innovative design, to say the least, and quite useful for someone who cooks.

7. InterDrone News: Since drones became commercially available, there’s no shortage of people willing to throw a few bucks at them. InterDrone news is a pretty informative newsletter that encapsulates information about commercial and industrial uses of drones. As is to be expected from a B2B newsletter, its design is simple but effective. The entries are easy to read and give you all the important information about drones and their usage. If you’re a drone owner or are just curious about how this new technology benefits us overall, this is a pretty good addition to your reading list.

8. Very Short List (VSL): The idea behind VSL is simple in its premise, but powerful in its delivery. What Very Short List does is give you a selection of three “cultural gems” every day into your inbox. These gems differ from day to day as does the style and variety of the pieces. This is because VSL tasks a different contributor each day with doing the editing and compilation of their newsletter daily. This ensures that their content is always fresh, and that it might differ vastly from one day to another. VSL’s design is fun and playful as is to be expected from a blog that is fluid in its content style and delivery.

9. NextDraft: Another minimalist production, NextDraft gives you insight into a variety of topics without being too overbearing on presentation. The content delivery is simple, concise and effective. Social sharing opportunities abound throughout each of the pieces that make up the newsletter making it easy to get it out to your friends. NextDraft utilizes social media to grow its readership and with good reason. It’s one of the most effective ways of attracting people who like to read these types of articles to sign up to his mailing list. Simple design and informative news make a killer combination when it comes to a newsletter.

 

hacker

10. Hacker Newsletter: No, it’s not a newsletter for hackers. They don’t utilize this type of medium.
Hacker newsletter is a curation of the most interesting social media stories that is delivered daily to your inbox. The simple design can be misleading because the information it contains is informative. It’s a no-fluff newsletter, but uses sections to its benefit by breaking up potentially confusing stories and arranging them in a way that makes sense. It’s quite a lot more entertaining than trying to find out what’s going on over at Twitter by simply searching hashtags and far more efficient at delivering that information in a readable way to you too.

11. Chemical Processing Weekly: You tend to notice after a while that B2B newsletters are not very imaginative when it comes to titles. But in a professional publication, you have less creative freedom with your title. Chemical Processing Weekly makes up for the bland title with writing that’s definitely not what you’d think you’d find in a newsletter like this. The tone is friendly and cordial and makes you want to read more, even if you’re not into chemical process plants. Polls and reader questions help to build engagement with the audience and the writing is very well done, building your interest in the topic but staying true to its scientific roots. It’s not often you find a scientific writing enterprise that appeals to the layman.

12. Muck Rack Daily: In journalism, a “muckraker” is someone who digs up dirt on public figures in muckrackorder to raise circulation of a newspaper or magazine. Muck Rack is certainly not that. The writing is fun and witty, and the tone is casual. It invites you to read more and the design is well put together, making reading easy. Bold headers separate sections so that you don’t have to worry about facing a wall of text. It’s simple yet effective at engaging the audience, and the information it presents is delivered with just the right amount of humor to make it readable.

13. General Assembly: Professionals that want to expand their skill sets should look into General Assembly as a newsletter to subscribe to. The header is entertaining with a simple GIF at the top to attract attention. Normally, when you see a GIF in a newsletter you usually prepare yourself for an onslaught of them throughout the publication. Gladly, you don’t encounter those in General Assembly. Rather the design is minimalist and gives you a content in a format that is easily scannable. Since this is a newsletter designed for professionals, being scannable is one of the major things that it must cater to since the core audience doesn’t have that much time to spend on sifting through newsletters. It’s an impressive publication nonetheless.

14. SD Times Featured Resources: If you’re a software developer, you must know how hard it is to get relevant information about what’s going on in the industry. SD Times caters to a niche by developing informative articles that address a lot of the issues within the industry. Strangely for a B2B newsletter the design is both and artistic. The calls to action are easily located at the bottom of the snippet for easy following. The layout of the whole newsletter is well done and the content is both appealing and relevant to the industry.

medium15. Medium: Medium is a blogging platform that came out in 2012. From the initial launch it has steadily grown momentum, providing informative articles and opinion posts on news, views and issues that affect a number of different industries. The newsletter they send is a compilation of some of the best posts on the Medium network and more often than not you’ll find yourself reading at least a few Medium posts per day. The minimalistic design is highlighted by the different colors and section division to give a feeling that you’re reading a more substantial publication. It’s simple, scannable and doesn’t hit you with information overload. What else could you ask for from a newsletter?

Your Email Newsletters and Outreach

Why should a company invest in a newsletter? The answer is simple. A newsletter gives you marketability. It helps you to be more prominent to people who want to read your content. Most of all, it allows you to develop a rapport with your core audience. Email marketing is alive and well in the twenty first century, but the face of how it interacts with the user has changed. Newsletters that are professionally designed take center stage with layout elements being as important to the email newsletter as it is to the blog or website.

Ideally, the email newsletter is a medium through which you can bring more readers in to your blog or site. More than one of those I’ve mentioned have easy sharing options for their articles and posts. The aim here is to reach out to the people that exist on social media and that find these kinds of posts interesting. By opening up your content to a wider audience you might even get more subscribers which turns into more views for you and a higher level of authority when it comes to Google.

At the end of the day, email newsletters can do wonders for spreading awareness about your site, but only if done the right way.

See our email product in our Content Shop.

blog email subscription guide header
Julia McCoy

How to Set Up a Blog Email Subscription to Prevent Your Readers from Vanishing Without a Trace

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This post was updated in December 2019.

Let’s face it.

There are people who visit your blog — and then vanish without a trace.

It’s not that they don’t love your content — they sure do. ❤️

Why wouldn’t they? Your posts are unique and relevant. Spectacular, even.

But there are over 1.7 billion websites out there right now. What’s more, there’s social media, instant messaging, push notifications hitting if they’re reading your blog on mobile, and a ton of other online distractions all competing for your reader’s attention.

When they leave your site, how do you make sure they bump into you again in the (hopefully near) future?

The answer is through an email subscription.

Want to know how to set up a blog email subscription to prevent your readers from vanishing without a trace?

Read on to learn how.

How to Set Up a Blog Email Subscription to Prevent Your Readers from Vanishing Without a Trace – Table of Contents

Why You Can’t Survive Without a Blog Email Subscription

Blog Email Subscription Is Important: The Case for Email Marketing

How to Set Up a Blog Email Subscription – Your Comprehensive Guide

1. Find the Right Subscription Service

  • ConvertKit
  • Mailchimp
  • AWeber

2. Create Your Landing Page or Form

  • How to Set Up a Landing Page
  • How to Set Up a Form

3. Get Your Email Sequence Ready

4. Add Your Landing Page or Form to Your Blog

  • How to Add a Form to WordPress
  • How to Add a Form to Blogger
  • How to Add a Landing Page to WordPress or Blogger

Set Up a Blog Email Subscription and Create Lasting Relationships with Readers

Don't let your content drown in the sea of over 1.7 billion websites 🌊. Your readers have been always waiting for your next killer post! Keep in touch with your readers by setting up a blog email subscription. 📧 Click To Tweet

blog email subscription guide inset

Why You Can’t Survive Without a Blog Email Subscription

Your blog reader is like that girl you meet in a café in one romantic, rainy afternoon.

You gather up the courage to introduce yourself to her. She smiles and gives you her name. She seems genuinely interested in you, and you strike up a conversation. You buy her coffee. Maybe you even start picturing her walking down the aisle towards you in the future.

But what happens if you don’t ask her for her number?

You go home and completely lose track of her.

You can’t set up another date. Ask her how she is. Give her value and make her feel special. In short, she’s gone forever.

This is what happens when you don’t set up an email subscription on your blog. Your readers may feel interested in your blog content, but if you don’t ask them for a way to stay in touch with them, they’re going to disappear without a trace.

Blog Subscription IS Important: The Case for Email Marketing

But is it really worth it to set up a blog email subscription? Does email marketing even work?

The short answer is yes.

Let’s look at some facts.

So if you’re worried that marketing through email is so 2005, there’s no need to be.

Is it worth it to set up a blog email subscription? YES! 💯 Email marketing converts 40x more prospects than social media, and there are 9 billion active email users today. ⚡ Click To Tweet

How to Set Up a Blog Email Subscription – Your Comprehensive Guide

Setting up a blog email subscription is as easy as following these four steps.

1. Find the Right Subscription Service

Before you can set up a blog email subscription, you need a service that allows you to create forms, landing pages, and customized emails. Here are three of the most popular subscription services today.

1. ConvertKit

ConvertKit is a user-friendly platform that allows you to automate emails, track conversion rates, and create personalized forms, landing pages, and emails. Check out this blog to see how ConvertKit increased our clicks by 200%!

2. Mailchimp

Mailchimp lets you put your best foot forward with emails that are professional, personalized, and concise. It also offers real-time analysis, connections to your online stores, and a content studio where you can store all your images.

3. AWeber

AWeber’s unique selling point is that it allows you to create beautiful templates without hassle. You don’t need expertise in email marketing to join the over 1,000,000 entrepreneurs and business owners who use this service.

To set up a blog email subscription, start by finding the right subscription service. There's a lot out there to choose from like ConvertKit (it's what we use 🧡), Mailchimp, and AWeber. 📬 Click To Tweet

2. Create Your Landing Page or Form

Your form or landing page is where you’ll ask your reader to exchange her email address for something of value. Let’s say you’ve chosen ConvertKit as your subscription service. Here’s how to set things up.

1. How to Set Up a Landing Page

Log into your ConvertKit account. On the top left toolbar, click Landing Pages and Forms.

Click Landing Page. You’ll then be asked to select from a number of templates. Pick the one that resonates with you the most.

If you aren’t sure which template to pick, take a look at the toolbar at the top of the template options. There are templates for e-books, events, newsletters, podcasts, and so on.

Once you’ve selected your template, it’s time to start customizing it! Here’s an example of what it’ll look like.

It’s super easy to edit each part of the landing page. Simply click on the area you want to change, type in your text, and you’re done! If you’re offering a freebie for download, click Choose a File on the top right of the page and upload it.

Remember, your ultimate goal is to make your readers want to give you their email addresses. To do that, offer them something in return. Here are some attention-grabbing freebies that work every time.

  • A free e-book. This can be 10 to 20 pages long. Pack it with tips, tools, and hacks that’ll improve your readers’ lives. Showing them your expertise will strengthen their faith in you (and push them towards wanting the product you’re selling).
  • A downloadable template. Templates make people’s lives easier. Using one is as simple as plugging your own information into a ready-made outline. So if you offer resume writing services, for instance, give those who opt in a free resume template that’s proven to work with employers.
  • A time-saving cheat sheet. Give readers the chance to improve their skills quickly with a cheat sheet. Cheat sheets work wonders because they contain a ton of information in a compact, easily digestible form.

When you’re finished creating your landing page, click Save.

A note about downloads: One great thing ConvertKit offers is email confirmation once a subscriber downloads your free offer. It helps you get rid of pesky double opt-in emails. So if your reader gives you her email address and downloads your freebie, her email address is automatically confirmed.

2. How to Set Up a Form

Click Landing Pages and Forms at the top left of your account and select Forms.

Next, select where on your blog you want the form to appear. Do you want it as a slide-in that catches viewers’ attention as they read? A sticky bar at the top of your content? A pop-up?

Once you’ve decided on the right format, click it, and customize it. When you’re done, click Save.

 

3. Get Your Email Sequence Ready

The next step is to create an email sequence. This is a set of emails that’ll be your voice to convert, inspire, and give real value to readers who give you their email addresses. On ConvertKit, it’s pretty easy.

First, click Sequences on the top left toolbar of the platform. Click New Sequence and give your sequence a name.

Click Create Sequence. You’ll then be able to edit your email to capture your unique message. Here’s what it looks like.

On the left side, click Add Email for as many emails as you plan to send in the sequence. For each email, choose when you want it to arrive in your recipient’s inbox.

Remember, make sure your email copy is as strong as possible. No amount of fancy gimmicks will interest readers to keep on clicking your emails if your content doesn’t give them anything of value. Here are some tips to keep in mind.

  • Get to the point as soon as you can. People won’t stick with you if you digress and add a lot of zero-value details to your email.
  • Imagine you’re writing to one person. Picture the person in the room with you. Know her desires, beliefs, and needs. Help her solve her problems. When you do, she’ll click the next email you send her. And the next.
  • Know your email’s goal. Do you want your reader to click back to your blog? Become a member of your special club? Buy something? Start with knowing your email’s main goal, and your copy will flow smoothly towards that goal.

Want more tips on writing emails that convert? Read How to Write an Email that Resonates with Your Reader.

Or read this powerful post and learn the email marketing secrets of 12 top experts in the industry.

When you’re done crafting your emails, click Save All.

4. Add Your Landing Page or Form to Your Blog

Now that you have your emails ready to send, it’s time to gather those email addresses. First, you have to add your landing form or page to your blog. Here’s how.

1. How to Add a Form to WordPress

To add a form to your blog, download the WordPress ConvertKit plugin. Here’s what it looks like.

After you’ve downloaded the plugin, upload it to your admin panel on WordPress. Upload the .zip file directly to your site and click Activate Panel.

Return to ConvertKit and find your API key. This can be located on your account page.

Copy your API key and return to WordPress. Paste the API key into the blank field.

Click Save Changes.

Now, return to ConvertKit and click Embed on the top right toolbar.

Select WordPress from the options displayed. You will be given a shortcode you can paste to any page or post on WordPress.

If you want a default form to show up in all of your posts, you can manage that on your Plugin Options.

2. How to Add a Form to Blogger

You don’t have to download anything to add your form to Blogger. Simply click Embed when you’ve finished editing your form and select HTML. Copy the given code.

On your Blogger platform, click Pages on the left toolbar. Select HTML and paste the code you copied from ConvertKit.

 

Click Update to complete the task.

3. How to Add a Landing Page to WordPress or Blogger

On the top right toolbar, click Share.

Copy the link and paste it anywhere you want it to appear on your blog. The landing page is hosted by ConvertKit.

If you want to host the page on your own site, you can do so if you’ve downloaded the ConvertKit WordPress plugin.

Steps to set up a blog email subscription: 💻 find a subscription service, 🚧 create a landing page/form, 📧 set up your email sequence, and 🔗 add the landing page/form to your blog. Check this guide by @JuliaEMcCoy to learn the steps. Click To Tweet

Set Up a Blog Email Subscription and Create Lasting Relationships with Readers

Let’s go back to the café.

You spend meaningful moments with the girl you met. You ask for her number and she gives it to you. Over the next months, you keep in touch with her. You enrich her life with value and gain her trust. In the end, you’re able to forge a strong, meaningful relationship with her.

That’s what it’s like when you set up a blog email subscription. Your aim is to build long, lasting relationships with readers. And it all starts with asking for their email addresses.

Want to get engaging, professionally written emails for your campaign? Visit our content shop for pricing.

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