email marketing strategy

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The Complete Beginners Guide To List Building

How To Write Emails That People Will Read

You’re one step closer to having your subscribers open and read your emails if you’ve written a strong subject line. Now you must actually write an email that grabs your followers and keeps them on the edge of their seats.

How do you go about doing that? By following these suggestions, techniques, and ideas, of course…

Begin With The End In Mind

Before you even write your first word in any email marketing campaign, think about what your readers should do when they reach the end, such as maybe clicking a link to buy something. You can then create an email that is centered on this ultimate goal.

Having a strong call to action is critical in your emails. This may not just be to buy something; it can be to direct them to a blog post etc.

Also, don’t be too pushy; it’s ok to do that occasionally, but you’re much better doing a soft sell, and just recommending something that will help them to accomplish their goals.

Write A Gripping Opener

If the opening few lines of an email don’t grab the reader’s attention, they’ll move on to the next one. As a result, your introduction is crucial in capturing and maintaining the reader’s interest. Here are a few good ways to check your email…

Use Stories

People are more likely to be emotionally engaged by stories, which keeps them reading and makes your material more memorable.

E.g. Let’s say you’re sending an email outlining how to prevent frequent job interview blunders. Instead of diving right into the errors, tell a tale about one of the worst interviews you ever did. This type of story doesn’t just make your content more interesting to read, but it also helps to develop rapport with your readers.

Ask Probing Questions

Asking a question is another method to start your email. The idea is to pose a question that isn’t either a yes or no answer, or one which you already know the answer to.

E.G. If you’re writing to an audience that needs to lose weight, you may ask, “Do you hate shopping for swimsuits?” But only ask that question IF you’re confident your audience will reply with “yes”.

Another form of question is one that prompts individuals to consider something. This works especially well if the question elicits an emotional response, such as the one below. “How would you react if your dog went missing when being looked after by a dog walker?”

Describe A Common Problem

Another technique to begin your email is to demonstrate to your readers that you are aware of their issue. Consider the following scenario:

Imagine something like this…

You put a lot of effort into this product. You believed you had done everything correctly. To develop the sales copy, you even recruited a leading copywriter.

Despite this, you didn’t notice a single sale when you first opened your payment processing account. Not a single sale .

What happened and why?

Next…

Create A Sense Of Anticipation

If you’re sending a “how to” or other informative email, you may tell readers what they’ll learn if they keep on reading. The goal is to create a sense of anticipation in order to keep people intrigued.

E.G. “You’re about to learn a simple, yet really effective, approach to enhance your metabolism”. And it doesn’t require depriving yourself of food, exercising for hours every day, undergoing some strange “cleanse,” or taking medications…”

Maintain Reader Interest Throughout The Email

If you have a compelling introduction, your readers will be interested — at least for the time being. Now it’s up to you to keep them interested; any email marketing strategy will only be successful if people actually open and then read your emails!

Follow these pointers…

Incorporate A Conversational Tone Into Your Writing

As if you’re writing to a dear friend, keep the same friendly, conversational tone throughout.

Marketing emails shouldn’t look like marketing emails, so simply write to your friend or family member.

Also, think about the types of emails you open regularly; why do you open those and not the others?

Make Sure Your Content Is Simple To Read

Use short sentences and paragraphs and make sure there is plenty of white space. Remember that a lot of your readers will probably be reading all of their emails on a mobile phone or similar small device.

Introduce Cliffhangers

This is where you develop excitement and intrigue about what’s to come.

E.G., “In a moment, I’ll reveal my approach for acquiring 1000 new email subscribers each month.” However, first…”

Write With Entertainment In Mind As Well As Education

Your purpose is to teach your readers while also entertaining them so they will continue to read. To that purpose, add a little light comedy and tell a story to hold people’s attention.

Don’t be too dry and formal unless your audience expects that. People want to see your personality come through in your emails, so don’t just be a boring cookie cutter email writer.

Proofreading, Polishing, And Formatting

The last step is to review your email to ensure that it is free of spelling, grammatical, and factual problems. You should have someone else proof your email for the best results, as they will be able to identify any flaws that you may have overlooked.

Then you’ll want to polish the material so that it reads easily, that everyone can understand it, and that it’s detailed enough for your readers to act upon. You can also cut out anything that isn’t absolutely necessary here; be ruthless with your editing. Your readers are busy people, therefore if your email is packed with fluff and filler, they will unsubscribe.

One final note: While we would like every subscriber to read every word of our emails, we understand that this isn’t always the case. This is why you should write for skimmers.

The goal is to make the most crucial elements of your email stand out so that any skimmers will still be able to grasp the gist.

You can use the following to draw attention to key points:

Bolding, especially using headings and/or sub-headings
Using italics
Highlighting
Underlining
Using different fonts, sizes and colours
Images that can include important text.
Captions to point out important text.
Bulleted lists (like this one 😊).

Bear in mind that the opening and last paragraphs of an email are commonly read by skimmers, so make sure to include essential information in those parts.

Second, utilise the highlighting methods mentioned above sparingly. You don’t want to over-bold, italicise, underline, highlight, or otherwise emphasise everything, otherwise it will appear that nothing is essential.

NOTE: Take a look at the lesson you’re reading right now for an example of how to do it correctly. I’ve used tools like bulleted lists and headings to highlight key sections of text, which aids skimmers without making the information look cartoonish or overdone.

Conclusion

Take a few seconds to think about how you’ll engage readers with your next email now that you know how to create compelling content. Make a plan for how you’ll apply the advice you’ve just received.

E.G. If you’re going to tell a narrative, WHAT kind of story can you tell? WHAT kind of questions can you ask?

If you’ve already written an email, use this article as a simple checklist to ensure that the content is interesting. Is the information convenient to read on a small device like a mobile phone, for example? Did you manage to elicit an emotional response from your audience? Did you create excitement for what’s to come later in the email?

If you want to know more email marketing tips about building and nurturing your email list, check out the featured resource below where you can get a free report about simple list building to expand your knowledge further. If you do download it, please read it and take action and good luck 😊

How To Write Compelling Email Subject Lines That Get Opened

The most important part of any email that you are going to send is your subject line.

That’s because if your subject line fails to pique your subscribers’ interest, the body of your email is unlikely to be opened, let alone read or clicked on, and this is not the mark of a successful email marketing campaign, is it?!?

That’s why you’ll want to spend some time developing interesting subject lines that will entice your audience to open your email.

Here’s how to go about it…

Identify The Advantages Of Your Particular Email

In your subject line, you need to pique the readers curiosity. To put it another way, what is the single most important benefit that the recipient will receive if he receives your email? That is what should be in the subject line.

For example, is the reader going to be learning a simpler and quicker way to do something? Will they be given a free tool? Will customers receive a special bonus or perhaps a discount if they purchase a paid offer?

Use a subject line that isn’t clickbait in any way. The topic must be both incredibly appealing and completely related to the email’s content.

Make A List Of Enticing Subject Lines

Now that you know what your major benefit is, come up with as many possible subject lines as you can that include this benefit.

You might want to include some sort of social proof within your subject lines in addition to highlighting any advantages.

Finally, just like with landing-page headers, you can leverage your email headline to pique people’s interest and increase open rates.

For example, you can reveal an unexpected benefit in the subject line, or simply use phrases like “hidden” “secret” or “discover” to pique interest.

In some circumstances, a simple question may pique people’s interest enough to prompt them to click, for example: “Can you housetrain a mature rescue dog in only 48 hours?”.

The question is compelling because many people believe housetraining a more mature rescue dog would be extremely difficult, yet this email subject line claims it could be accomplished in as short as 48 hours. People will be intrigued enough that they will be inclined to click.

To get started, you can use the following templates:

The quickest and most convenient way to [get a benefit]. For example, The Fast and Easy Method to Lose 10 Pounds.
Do you make these [kind of] errors? Are you committing these pricey home-buying blunders, for example?
Is there anyone else interested in [a benefit]? Who else would like a free cat trick-training video, for example?
The most effective approach to [achieve a benefit]. E.G., The most effective method for getting into medical school (it’s not what you may be thinking).
[Obtain a benefit] [without having a specific item or doing a difficult task]? E.G., Is it possible to get a $100,000 job without having a college diploma?
Take advantage of this [limited] time flash sale to save [amount or percent]! For example, during this 24-hour flash sale, you can save 50%!

Create A Compelling Subject Headline

Now that you’ve devised a rough draught of your subject headline, you should perform the following so that you can refine and improve it:

Keep It Brief

Long email subject headlines are usually truncated by the majority of email clients. While the number of characters varies, it is usually between 60 – 65. As a result, create brief subject lines that attract attention in a few words.

Consider Making It Your Own

Most email applications allow you to personalise your emails by inserting the recipient’s first name in the subject line. While you don’t want to overdo it, mentioning the recipient’s forename every now and then might have a major influence.

For example:

John, do you think you’re at risk of having a severe heart attack?
Suzy, here is a dog-training suggestion for you.
With this unique deal, Jane, you may save 25%…

Write A Congruent Preview

Most email programmes allow receivers to preview the first few lines of an email without having to open it. As a result, make sure the first couple of lines of your paragraph work hard to grab the reader’s attention, and keep it!

For example, you may start your email with a tale, making sure to select language that will pique the interest of any recipient who is still reading the sample.

E.G., “When I first looked inside my PayPal account, I couldn’t believe what I saw…”

Make Use Of A Swipe File

Having a swipe file of effective subject lines that have piqued your curiosity from other people is a good idea. Then you will be able to search through your files for ideas.

For example, in your email, you might see a topic like this: Who else wants to get abs that are tighter in just a few minutes per day?

This is the basic concept for that topic line: Who else [wishes for a specific result] in a [relatively short timespan]?

You can use it as a starting point for your own topic:

Who else wants to quadruple their conversions in 10 minutes?

Start by subscribing to a few good newsletters both within and beyond your niche to build your swipe file. You could even create a separate email address to receive these messages. Then you can create a folder in which you can save the strongest subject lines that grabbed your interest.
Sales letter headlines can be examined as well, as they follow the same general formula as your email subject lines. The biggest distinction is that sales letter headlines are usually longer, so you’ll have to concentrate on shorter ones.
Finally, you can check out swipe files that other individuals have amassed (whether free or paid). For example, you can look up “email subject line swipe files” on Google.

And finally…

Test Everything

To increase your open rates, you should always be testing your subject lines. You can test personalisation (with or without), open rates (with or without icons), punctuation (e.g., with question mark, without question mark, no punctuation at all), and, of course, different subject lines.

Conclusion

You’ve just learned how to write great email subject headlines that grab people’s attention and get them to read your messages. Make a commitment to test and track all of your subject lines in order to figure out which ones get the best reaction.

As you can see, having good subject lines are in integral part of your overall email marketing strategy, so use them wisely.

If you want to know more about building and nurturing your email list, check out the featured resource below where you can get a free report about simple list building to expand your knowledge further. If you do download it, please read it and take action and good luck 😊