As you're mapping out the strategy behind your workflows, you get to a point where it's time to write your emails. The content within your emails is where you connect with your audience and build your brand. Considering how to write email with an enticing and authentic voice is tricky and can easily be overthought.
In this course, we have Kayla Hollatz, a professional copywriter, to guide you in writing the perfect email to your subscribers. She'll share seven tips to keep in mind while writing your email to deliver an effective and inviting copy.
Here's Kayla on how to write email:
I'm going to be teaching you how to write email with compelling copy. Often, people think about the design, style, and aesthetics behind what they're creating before thinking about the content of what they're making. As a copywriter, you can imagine this drives me a bit crazy. So today, we're going to think more about the words we're using. I'm going to share some of my best practices for writing better emails.
TIP #1: NAIL THE SUBJECT LINE
The small bit of text that somebody can see before they decide whether or not they're going to open up your email. Keep it short and sweet. More people are opening up email on mobile devices than computers, so the text is cut off even shorter than you think. You want a few words telling your audience what you're sending while also keeping it a mystery.
I like to look at the email's content, the overall theme, and if there's a way I can give a teaser without saying too much. Let's say I'm writing an email about case studies, and I'm excited to share some of the transformations that my clients have experienced. I'm not going to make a subject line say a case study of the name of the person I worked with - that's boring and doesn't say enough about what's in the email. It doesn't make you feel excited, or like you want to click on that email. Instead, I may say, "They Did WHAT?" Use emojis if they fit your brand voice. I think they can help with your open rates.
Have fun with the creation of your subject lines. I like to create a few different variations. As a copywriter, I know my first draft usually isn't my best. Consider which one will perform the best for your audience. Look at your open rates after. Your open rates will be a good indicator of how well your subject line connects with your audience. You need to grab people's attention right away with that subject line when it comes to copy.
Also, related to your subject line, you want to make sure to create some fantastic and enticing preview text. The preview text is the words that come after the subject line, and you can create your own through Flodesk. If you don't customize that preview text, most email providers will pull the first sentence of your email. More often not, your first sentence may not fit or may not be the most captivating line to use for your preview text.
As you take some time to brainstorm subject lines and preview texts that are together, you're going to be able to create a little more surprise and delight factor. When people open their email, they'll see the content is still relevant to what the subject line and preview text say. Still, it's not necessarily so apparent in the subject line and preview text what is precisely in it. You want to leave a little intrigue and mystery.
Remember, if there's ever a time you're nervous about your subject line or preview text being too long, you can send a test email to yourself to make sure that it looks great.
TIP #2: WRITE IN 2ND PERSON
Writing in 2nd person means using you, and you're so then your emails will sound a little more like an invitation into a conversation. You're bringing them into the folds of the content that you're writing and the stores you're telling. This doesn't mean that you can't use 'I' or 'we' as your voice. The more you're able to address your audience, the more they feel like you're able to understand them and help them become a part of the content.
If you want to share a personal story, you can start with I, but I would recommend you end the email with a little more you. Say you're talking about a specific experience you've had, you can transition to, and maybe you've had a similar experience. Then you can start to introduce some of the experiences that your clients have had in the past. It's a way for you to remember that yes, you're creating that personal connection by sharing a little bit more about yourself, your brand, your heart, and your mission, but in the end, it all comes back to your audience. Write in the second person whenever possible.
TIP #3: WRITE LIKE YOU SPEAK
Writing as you speak may take more practice, but it is the best way to form a genuine connection with your audience. Think about if you were going to a networking event. If you talked about your business in a way that you've never talked about on your website, emails, or social media, it might create a little bit of disconnect. We want to create a brand personality for you that is going to be carried through your voice and tone and the words inside your email. This will be the best way to make sure that people are getting to know you, the person behind the brand, rather than trying to create this persona that may or may not be carried out in the way that you speak to people.
USE A DICTATION TOOL
Either on your computer or even on your phone. It will record yourself talking, and it's going to write all the words you speak. You can go back and do light copy editing, but you can see how you talk about something. How you talk about it probably how you want to write about it.
PRACTICE WITH A FRIEND
Take an email you have written, and show it to a friend. Then they can read through it and figure out if it sounds like you or if it feels a little bit different. They're able to give you that outsider's opinion rather than you feeling that you've been so in the zone in your writing that sometimes it can be hard to decipher how much of yourself is in it. Having other people involved in the editing process can help you refine your message and make sure the best of your voice is coming forward.
TIP#4: MIND YOUR WORDS
Feel free to use your favorite words that come with your personality. This adds to the character of your brand. Think of how much jargon you're using in your emails—jargon as in industry-specific words that may be a general audience is unfamiliar with the meaning. For example, marketing jargon may be KPIs or CTA's.
The smartest people are the ones who can use the most straightforward language. They're able to take these vast and complex ideas and boil them down into simple language that anyone can understand. The next time you write an email, consider if some friends who aren't in your field would be able to read your email and understand everything within them.
TIP #5: USE YOUR OWN VOICE
You are you, and no one else is your than you. It was something Dr. Suess said, and it is so important. You may have competitors or influences in the field you look up to, but that doesn't mean you should sound like them. You want to show and demonstrate your voice and personality, so it feels like an accurate representation of you. Add in your quirks and flair to make it your own.
TIP #6: BE TRANSPARENT
This is especially important for the first few emails you send to your audience because they are brand new to your email list. They may not know what to expect or know if you can really help them. You're going to be able to share all of those things and clarify any worry, problem, or hesitation that they may have in their mind.
Set your audience's expectations. Tell them how many emails you're going to send, what you're going to be emailing them about, and who it is you love to serve. All of those details are important so that they can know they're in the right place. Besides, we only want qualified people on our email list that we are able to help.
Another significant aspect of being transparent is that it shows your audience your human side. As a company, you're not just a logo. You want to help your email subscribers create a real connection with the humans behind your brand. By highlighting them and sharing their stories, and being transparent, you're going to create more of that connection.
TIP #7: ONE GOAL PER EMAIL
Think about setting up a workflow and all the different emails inside that series. Think about the goal you are trying to accomplish in each email. Maybe one goal is to have them join your Facebook community. Perhaps another one is to sign up for a discovery call to learn more about your services.
Sometimes we think that by giving lots of different options, we can increase our conversion, but actually, it does the opposite. We lower our conversion rates because people get analysis paralysis – it's a huge deal. We're making our audience feel paralyzed because we're giving them too many options, and the result is they don't choose any.
We might want to relate it to a call to action (CTA). The CTA is the intended action we want somebody to take. For instance, if you want somebody to book a free discovery call with you, you can link to that contact form or a schedule at the bottom of the email. It's essential to keep it to one CTA per email.
That's all I have for you in this course on how to write email. Thanks for tuning in!
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