Getting your emails to captivate your audience’s imagination can be a task and a half. While the recipe of the ideal email marketing campaign comprises several ingredients, one of the most primary ones is the email copy. How you word your emails goes a long way towards shaping your audience’s impression of your brand. Good email copy can build long-lasting customer relationships, amplify conversions, set you apart from your competitors, and usher in countless merits for your business.
However, getting it right is no walk in the park. Writing an engaging email copy needs you to be mindful of your audience’s needs and desires, their decision-making process, your brand’s tonality, and a host of various other factors. Of course, “good copy” has a subjective definition and can’t necessarily be summarised by a set of rigid rules or guidelines. That said, there are some best email copywriting best practices in place, observed by the best in the business out there, that will definitely help you gain the upper hand over your rivals. Today, we are diving deep into those. Read on to find out!
Hit It Out Of The Park With Your Subject Lines
Email copywriting starts with subject lines. Subject lines are your customers’ first point of contact with your emails. And we all know how crucial it is to cast that perfect first impression. The quality of your subject line determines whether your email gets opened or sidetracked by your readers. To put it in numbers, as many as 64% of email recipients make a decision to open emails based solely on subject lines. Hence, don’t be shy of investing time into crafting them. We assure you, the results will be totally worth it.
Here are a few tips you should keep in mind while writing your subject lines:
- Your subject line should be able to spark your subscribers’ curiosity. What trailers are to movies, subject lines are to emails. The more intriguing they are, the greater are your chances of registering improved open rates. At the same time, care must be taken to ensure that they don’t give away too much regarding the email content.
- Create a sense of urgency in your subject lines. Instill “FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)” in your readers. This can improve your open rates by 22%.
- If it fits your brand language and identity, try to add emojis to your subject lines. Businesses using emojis in their subject lines have a 56% higher open rate than those who don’t.
- Personalize your subject lines. That will increase the probability of your emails being opened by 26%. Besides, personalization paves the path for greater customer loyalty, subsequently leading to higher conversions.
- Pay close attention to the length of your subject line. Remember, your emails will be opened across both mobile and desktop devices. Hence, they should be as concise as possible. The ideal subject line length is considered to be 41 characters (which is about 7 words on average).
Nailing your subject lines can be fairly tricky. To understand what works best for your target audience, you must put your subject lines through rigorous rounds of A/B testing before implementing them in your campaigns.
If you’re looking for inspiration, these examples should help.
Moment
Subject: Something special is waiting for you
Turo
Subject: Need more time? Extend your trip
Italic
Subject: The Skin Reviving Trio Leaves Today
Pineapple Collaborative
Subject: “I’m speaking.” – us, rn, in your inbox ⚡
Build On Your Subject Lines With The Perfect Preview Text
Preview text offers a glimpse of your email’s content; it allows you to capitalize on the impact of your subject line and nudge your readers towards positively opening your emails. Preview text is more prominent on mobile devices than desktops, so it becomes all the more important for you to ace your preview text if your subscribers are predominantly mobile users.
Keep these things in mind while penning your preview texts:
- Ensure your preview text is not vague. For your preview texts to motivate your recipients into taking action, they must convey a definitive idea about your emails.
- Preview text follows the subject line not just in terms of email structure but also in hierarchy. Therefore, your preview copy must read as a continuation of your subject line and must not convey a new idea in and of itself.
- While the ideal preview copy length is 40-130 characters for desktop, it is 30-55 characters for mobile. Keep in mind that should your preview text happen to be too short, email clients might utilize the first few lines from your email body to compensate.
Make It About The Customer
As much as possible, try writing your email copy in the second person. It will make the tone of your emails conversational and personal, drawing the readers closer to your narrative and driving your point across way more effectively. Apart from that, you also need to ensure that your copy is relevant and provides value to your audience.
Numerous marketing emails, in the quest of highlighting their features, end up seeming a touch too braggy. This can really put off your customers. So, instead of talking about your product’s features, discuss its benefits. Tell your readers how it can address their pain points and add value to their lives. Simply put, the spotlight, at all times, should be on the consumer, not the company or the offering.
This email from Peloton is one of the finest email copywriting examples out there.
Kiss Jargon Goodbye
Nothing quite disrupts the rhythm and flow of an email copy like the usage of industry jargon. When we say this, we’re looking to primarily address players operating in the SaaS and B2B space. Even if your product is super complicated, avoid using jargon and excessively technical language to explain them. Unless you communicate your offerings using language that is accessible and easily understood by a broad spectrum of people, you’ll never manage to invite engagement from your readers. Tell your customers only what they need to know. For instance, while purchasing a car, the buyer needn’t be told about the fuel consumption model implemented in the car; they simply need to be informed about the mileage. Essentially, rather than delving deep into the technicalities of your complex feature, explain how it can improve the user’s quality of life.
Take a look at this example from Slack to get a clearer idea.
Keep The Copy Concise
Brevity is not just the soul of wit but also of email marketing copywriting. People receive thousands and thousands of emails on a daily basis. It is safe to assume, then, that most emails are just skimmed through. Thus, if your copy comprises long and elaborate paragraphs, the chances are that it will get completely overlooked by your readers. The golden rule? Keep your copy brief, informative, and to the point.
Further, steer clear of placing your copy as monolithic text blocks; instead, present it using subheadings and bullet points. This will make your content far easier to consume. Additionally, don’t use long sentences, having a complex structure. They are hard to follow and will spoil your email’s readability.
Here’s an email from Uncommon Goods that brilliantly illustrates the merit of writing crisp copies.
Different Copies For Different Segments
The hallmark of high-quality email copywriting is the relevance it holds for its reader. Several kinds of people from all walks of life interact with your brand. You can’t expect one generic email to resonate with them all. Different buyer personas need to be dealt with differently. This is why segmentation is crucial. Divide your customers into different categories based on various parameters such as age, gender, interests, browsing history, past purchases, location, position in the sales funnel, and the like. Subsequently, this will let you write relevant copies for each concerned segment.
Take a look at this customized Airbnb email containing recommendations based on the user’s destination.
Craft Compelling CTAs
An email’s most important part is arguably its CTA (Call-to-action) button. All the remaining email elements are tailored to guide the reader to the CTA. After all, it is where the magic takes place. However, readers won’t take action unless your CTA copy is engaging and impactful. Look beyond the generic, done-to-death phrases of “Click Here,” “Join Now,” “Free Demo,” and the like. That’s not to say you must go completely ballistic either. Keep things simple, but write something that will instantly capture your subscriber’s attention.
Running short of ideas? This email from Framebridge should help.
Wrapping It Up
Now that the recipe is at your disposal, cooking the perfect email copy shouldn’t be a hassle anymore! Since time immemorial, words have helped humanity peddle stories, resolve differences, and transcend boundaries. So, what’s keeping you back from using them to skyrocket the success of your email campaigns? Put the above mentioned email copywriting tips into practice and see the results for yourself!
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