Diary of a Copywriter — Promotional Emails
A Quiet Period as a Freelance is not so Quiet
It’s actually been a quiet enough week where a lot of projects have come to an end and others haven’t started yet.
I love working so when I don’t have a list of projects, I sometimes don’t know what to do with myself.
This time I appreciated the quiet time while I’ve got it. With freelancing it won’t last for long. So, I’m using this time to read books on the psychology of buying and The New Oxford Style Manual (yes, I am a big grammar geek, and I am proud of it).
I’ve also been doing some courses on SEO, writing my own blogs for LinkedIn and listening to podcasts on SaaS, copywriting, and SEO.
I had thought I wasn’t that busy until I started making a list of all the extra stuff I could be doing!
So, now I’m busy again.
Writing Marketing Emails
I was right. It didn’t stay quiet for long. I got a new job writing some marketing emails from a marketing agency. They approached me on PeoplePerHour about writing for their clients.
I enjoy writing emails. Although the response rate isn’t very good, (if you get 10%, you’re doing well), they have a high ROI and it’s rewarding when your email gets someone’s attention through the heaps of other messages in their inbox.
How I Write a High Conversion Email
First, I gather all the information that I need. This particular email is for a software company that want to increase sales for their social media marketing software.
As I have worked regularly with this company I know a lot of the information already, like who their target market is, what the product is, and how it helps their customers.
Then I set out the outline for my email like this:
Subject
Preview Text
Copy
Call to Action
Then I start filling in these sections. Sometimes I start with the subject or if I’m not feeling particularly inspired then I will write the body copy first which should give me ideas for the subject.
In this particular email, I started with the subject. It is better to write several headlines to get those ideas flowing. Some copywriters will write 5 versions, some will write 25 or more. I tend to write up to 10.
How to Write an Attention-grabbing Headline
47% of people open an email based solely on the subject line.
Your headline can make or break you.
Headlines should be six to ten words is the ideal amount you want your subject line to be. I land on six.
For the subject, I want to get the main point across which in a nutshell is, this is a social media management tool that will make your life better.
I need to create curiosity or an open loop. An open loop is when you leave something open, so the reader has to read on to find out what happens.
In this instance I used:
‘The Answer to Social Media Management’.
I know as a marketer that if I saw this headline then I would want to know what the answer is and would open the email to find out.
I used an emoji in my headline because this can increase engagement rates. You have to be careful though as they tend to suit younger audiences. But if you know your audience will be happy with emojis then use them.
I actually hate emojis but even though I do, I know that in my inbox they are always first to catch my eye.
Then I run it through a headline analyser to find out how engaging it is.
Preview Text
The preview text is expanding on your headline. This will be the line of text beside the subject that the reader will see before opening your email. You have a second chance here to grab their attention. It needs to be a short sentence of about 10 words or so.
I went with:
‘Find out the stress-free way to manage your social media’.
This again created curiosity by letting the reader know that if they open the email, they will find out the best way to manage their social media. I also included the words ‘stress-free to empathise with the audience.
I know having been a social media manager that it can be stressful managing lots of different social media channels and constantly trying to create engaging content. And then having to look at the analytics and always improve what you’re doing.
Emphasising with your audience is a big part of copywriting. Your audience will warm to you if you show them, you know what their problem is, and you can help them. It will make you more trustworthy and believable.
Now, it’s time for the body copy.
Body Copy
First, I used the greeting,
‘Hi, Amanda’.
I used ‘hi’ because these are warm leads, I’m speaking to so I can be more casual. You have to be careful with being so casual as a lot of people might not like it. They might not also like using their first name if they are older. In this case, I knew this was fine for my audience.
My first sentence was a question,
‘Do you have too many social media accounts to keep track of?’
Questions get people thinking. Joseph Sugarman says you want to get your audience nodding along with you. This makes them more agreeable and more likely to say yes to the sale.
‘It can be frustrating having to manage so many different platforms. What if you miss a message? Or don’t have time to engage with your audience?’
Then I empathised again with my audience and used powerful emotional words to grab their attention. I address the problem they are facing.
‘A social media management tool can take away your stress. Manage all your social media accounts in one dashboard. It will free up your time to talk to your audience, create quality content, and you won’t miss out on opportunities to sell.
‘This will increase your reach and your sales.’
Here I offer a solution for their problem. If they’re finding managing their social media stressful then they need a social media management tool. I state why they need it and the benefit they will get from using a social media management tool.
‘Social media management tools don’t include all platforms, so you still have to use more than one tool.’
My next line tells them why other solutions and other social media management tools haven’t worked before.
‘(Company name) is the easiest social media management tool that supports all social media channels with everything you need in one place.’
I then offer my clients product as the ultimate solution for their problem. I state what it is and why it’s not like other social media management tools.
‘What’s in it for you?
(icon) Integrated inbox so you don’t have to log into lots of different platforms
(icon) Publish on all your social media channels at the same time, so you only need to type a post once for all platforms
(icon) Live stream to engage with your audience, making it more likely they will convert
(icon) eCommerce promoter to automatically promote your stores to increase your sales
(icon) Total automation to schedule your posts for the best time, ensuring more people see your content.’
I then anticipated questions from the audience and answered them. I let the audience know why this tool is the best. I include the features of it but also the benefit this gives them. In SaaS copywriting, people often include only features. This might be fine if your audience understands why that feature could help them, but you will always have people who aren’t familiar with the language you are using.
Plus, making it clear what benefit the features are to the audience is always a good way of showing not just telling your audience why they need to buy your product.
Call to Action
I told the reader exactly how they could purchase the product and a contrasting colour for the button to make it stand out.
I included a p.s. because readers will skim the email, and this is one of the first places they will look to decide if they’re interested or not.
There are two ways of looking at the p.s. Either you can restate a benefit again or you can include something new that you haven’t mentioned before.
I generally like to restate the best benefit and why they should purchase the product to get them to push that ‘buy now’ button.
Include visuals
Include any visuals that will help get your point across without the person having to read the email. At the bottom of this email, I included all the coloured logos that the social media management tool can manage. That way the reader can see quickly if it manages all its social media channels.
Of course, copywriters don’t have to generally give visuals but it’s good to know how this works with your writing.
You can also write down any objections your audience may have and answer them just before your footer. For example, anything about shipping or returns.
Legal Stuff
You must include the company’s full address and an unsubscribe button. This is a legal requirement. The unsubscribe button is also helpful for you. If people unsubscribe then you are getting rid of people who are not interested in your company or product and therefore aren’t likely to buy from you anyway.
If lots of people mark you as spam then this will affect getting into people’s inboxes, even ones who are interested in receiving your emails.
Regularly go through your email list and get rid of any that are never opening your emails. You should do this every six months to a year.
This way you aren’t wasting time on people who won’t be converted and again you’re less likely to be marked as spam and actually get into potential customers inboxes.
Again, copywriters aren’t often responsible for this but again it is good to know.
Format
Throughout my email, I included in brackets advice on design. As a copywriter you don’t have to do this, all you have to supply is the copy. I also included text in bold so for anyone skimming the email, they could get the important points.
I have knowledge of design and I know what the best way of formatting will generally be.
If you can give your client something for nothing, then you will get repeat custom.
Template for an email
SUBJECT
The Answer to Social Media Management 🎆
PREVIEW TEXT
Find out the stress-free way to manage your social media
COPY
(logo)
Hi Amanda,
Do you have too many social media accounts to keep track of?
It can be frustrating having to manage so many different platforms. What if you miss a message? Or don’t have time to engage with your audience?
A social media management tool can take away your stress. Manage all your social media accounts in one dashboard. It will free up your time to talk to your audience, create quality content, and you won’t miss out on opportunities to sell.
This will increase your reach and your sales.
Social media management tools don’t include all platforms, so you still have to use more than one tool.
(Company name) is the easiest social media management tool that supports all social media channels with everything you need in one place.
What’s in it for you?
(icon) Integrated inbox so you don’t have to log into lots of different platforms
(icon) Publish on all your social media channels at the same time, so you only need to type a post once for all platforms
(icon) Live stream to engage with your audience, making it more likely they will convert
(icon) eCommerce promoter to automatically promote your stores to increase your sales
(icon) Total automation to schedule your posts for the best time, ensuring more people see your content.
Sound good?
Click the link below to see our packages for all budgets!
BUY NOW
P.S. Manage all these platforms
(coloured icons for all the social media buttons)
Follow Us
(social media icons)
Our mailing address: Company LLC, 222 Hawthorn Way, Northern Ireland, BT39 9AR
Click here to unsubscribe.
There you have it, a promotional email that you can use for any subject!
