Email Marketing Tips – Part 2
(If you missed “How To Write A Marketing Email In 12 Steps – Part 1” click here!)
Lesson Transcription:
Let’s continue on with the 12-Step Formula for Writing a Killer Email Promotion…
Step #7: Avoid Mention of Price/Cost
Of course, before you ever introduce price on a website, you take your reader through a detailed sales process in which you build credibility, build value and then introduce the price. You can’t do all of that in ¾ of a page, so if you introduce price in your email, your reader will make a premature buying decision based on the price. (Hint: It WON’T be the decision you want!)
If they don’t have all of the facts, they can’t make a proper buying decision.
Step #8: Focus on “You” – the Reader
This is similar to transferring ownership in sales copy. You write as if they already have the product.
“You’ll see these results…”
“You’ll discover…”
Step #9: “Merge” Personal Details Where Possible
Use details beyond first name such as city, state or recent purchases made.
Step #10: Keep Paragraphs Short (4 lines max.)
This is part of making your email scan-able. A paragraph longer than 4 lines looks tougher to read and your email will get closed.
Step #11: Mix Up Line and Sentence Length
The more your email looks personal and “off the cuff” as if someone sat down and typed a quick message just to you, the more effective it will be.
Perfect, formal and consistent formatting will make your email look like an ad. After all, when email your friends, you don’t usually pay much attention to formatting!
Of course, you want the spelling and grammar to be correct.
The less it looks like an advertisement, the better!
Step #12: Restate Benefits & Call to Action in P.S.
Studies have shown that when someone reads an email, it goes like this…
- They read the headline.
- They read the first paragraph.
- They scan the rest of the email.
- They read the last couple of lines.
- If they like what they see, they go back and read the whole thing through.
So make sure your call to action is before your signature line, but also make sure there is another call to action in the P.S. just to make sure it isn’t missed.
So end every email with a compelling P.S. that restates the key benefits and motivates your reader to go back and read the entire email word for word!
Other Tips & Tricks…
Something I always do is subscribe to the lists of people I know are good email marketers.
When I see a promotion I like, I save it to a special folder. Then, when I’m writing an email promotion, I browse through that folder for ideas. If an email grabbed my attention, then I copy the style and use it.
Do the same thing yourself. If something grabs your attention, then save if for the future and model an email promotion after it.
If it worked on you, it may very well work on your customers!
HTML vs. Text
I’m often asked if email promotions should use HTML or text. What works better?
With HTML, you can use RTF (rich text formatting), bolding, highlighting, pictures, graphics, etc.
That said, the only RTF I use in email promotions is bolding and italics. Anything else looks too much like spam.
Text is very limited as far as formatting. All you can really do is use upper case letters to make a point stand out. You have to be careful with that, as you can really only use 3 words in a row in upper case before it gets to be “too much.”
I’ve seen people write entire paragraphs in upper case. The problem with this is that we are not used to reading in upper case, so it slows down reading speed and when that happens, it slows down comprehension and the reader gets bored and stops reading.
So limit the upper case words if you are using text.
Here are the pros and cons of HTML vs. Text:
Text:
Gets past the spam filters more often
Looks more informal and personal
HTML:
Looks more professional
Often more “readable” and “scannable”
You need to TEST! Results can vary from promotion to promotion.
I test every single time I do a promotion and you will need to do the same.
Hope you learned something!