Email marketing is a cornerstone of marketing initiatives for organizations and businesses worldwide. With an extendable reach and very high ROI, email marketing offers marketers a quick and easy way to engage readers. That is, only if their marketing emails are converting.
Are your marketing emails not getting the conversions you want?
Crafting the perfect email marketing strategy is equal parts art and science — both of which are concerned with how to write a marketing email. Being able to create an effective email is the most efficient want to increase conversions and we have the tips to help you do it!
How to Write a Marketing Email: The Subject Line
We all know what subject lines are: a brief line that gives you 60 or so characters to convince the reader to open the email. With a marketing email, subject lines are even more critical because the information within the email is likely you asking the recipient to do something. So, use the subject line as the reason why they should open and follow through.
So, before we even get into the actual email creation, you need to know how to write an effective subject line.
Use actionable language
Email subject lines should be related to the content within the email. And, as we’ve said, your marketing email likely wants the reader to do something. That “something” is a verb and that verb needs to be in your subject line. Words like “Download," “Reserve," or “Ensure” let readers know what is expected of them when opening the email and offer a taste of the tone the email is going to have.
Avoid spam trigger words
Certain words in subject lines are associated with spam emails. This means that a lot of mail servers will automatically put your email into the spam folder if it contains one or more of these words. Luckily, we compiled a list of the spam trigger words you should not use in your subject lines, which you can see here.
Create curiosity
Nothing entices readers to open an email more than curiosity. With your subject line, you don’t want to give away everything…you just want to include enough information to tempt them to open the email. Then, in the email, you can satisfy the reader’s curiosity and end on a strong CTA that complements the subject line.
A few more tips…
On the topic of subject lines specifically, SimplyCast has written a few blog posts. You can find them here:
- What You Need to Know Before Writing Your Next Subject Line
- The Basics of Email Marketing: How to Write Subject Lines
- Pro-Tips: Write Better Subject Lines
How to Write a Marketing Email: The Content
Now that your subject line is perfected, it’s time to look at the content of the marketing emails. When you’re looking at how to write a marketing email, you want to be sure the content is engaging and to the point.
Make it about them
In a marketing email, you want to do all you can to make sure the email is about the reader. This includes writing in the second person. Using words like “you” and “yours” instead of “we” and “ours” shows the reader that you’re focused on them and their needs instead of what you’re offering.
Benefits > features
Readers don’t want to hear about all the flashy new features you’ve been adding, they want to know how these features will benefit them. With this in mind, always focus your marketing emails on the benefits to the readers instead of using the space to brag about new features.
Follow content writing rules
When you’re writing marketing emails, you want to use the same rules you would use for other content writing tasks, such as web copy.
This means:
- Organizing the content in a logical format
- Keeping paragraphs short (and only focused on one topic at a time)
- Using formatting tools as needed (bullet points, headers, etc)
A few more tips…
With content writing in mind, here are a few blog posts we’ve written on the topic:
- 12 Commonly Misspelled Words in Content Writing
- How to Become a Better Content Writer in 7 Easy Steps
- What Is Content Marketing? Everything You Need to Know
How to Write a Marketing Email: The List
After the subject line and the email content, we next turn our attention to the list of recipients you’re sending the message to, often referred to as your “list.” Knowing the audience you’re sending to will greatly help you understand the content that should be in each marketing email.
Segment your list
Essentially what we mean when we say “segment your list” is don’t just send out a blast email to all the contacts you have. You want to be able to take your contacts and segment them into different groups based on their specific interests. In this way, you’re only sending them information relevant to these specific interests.
Ask readers what they want to receive
This ties in closely with segmenting your lists. When you’re trying to group contacts based on interests, don’t forget you can simply ask them what they want to receive. With a simple form, readers can check off what topics they’re interested in and be automatically added to the relevant list.
Don’t forget personalization
Now that you’re personalizing messages based on list segmentation, take it one step further by personalizing each marketing email. This can be as simple as adding the recipient’s first name or as extravagant as sending transactional messages based on actions or inactions taken by said recipient. Whatever level of personalization your organization can handle is a definite move in the right direction.
A few more tips…
In case you’d like some supplementary reading on the topic of segmentation and personalization, here are a few posts on these topics:
- What is Email List Segmentation and Do I Need to Do it?
- How Marketing Automation Can Improve Personalization
- What the Future of Marketing Looks Like
How to Write a Marketing Email: Next Steps
Now that you’re on track to start writing engaging marketing emails, let SimplyCast help! With a suite of communication tools, including an email application, SimplyCast can help with all aspects of creating a comprehensive email marketing campaign.
To get started, click the button below and sign up for a free one-on-one demo. A member of our team would be more than happy to show you the application and how it can help you specifically.
