What’s your point?
Ask yourself ‘why am I doing this?’ And no, ‘because the boss told me to’ is not a good enough reason. Seriously. What do you want from this? What are you hoping to achieve? In marketing lingo, what are you objectives?
Have an awesome subject line. Or at least a rather good one.
Your subject line needs to be truthful. Yeah, that means don’t lie. And it needs to promise something of real value and interest for your reader: Learn something. Get something. Be entertained. Don’t miss out. There should be a promise in there. And it should be about ten words long.
Get to the bloody point
People are busy. So get the offer on the table. And fast. Say you understand their problem. (There’s always a problem.) And how you have the solution. Don’t waffle on with pleasant introductions and anecdotes.
Benefits, not features
Show how your product or service can help; not just what it does. Say it will help your reader do something in half the time. Or reach their target weight even quicker. Or make them feel better within 3 weeks (or their money back). Or increase productivity by 53%. Be as precise as you can.
One message, one love
Don’t be tempted to get all your offers in one email. Most of your readers have the ability to digest one sales message at a time and that’s it. You can always send another email next week with another offer.
Give stuff away
Everyone loves a freebie. It doesn’t really matter what it is. So tell your reader to go to your website right now and download a free e-book. Or fill in a simple form to claim a free pen. Or order in the next 24 hours and get 10% off of your order. Just give, give, give.
Give instructions
Tell your reader what you want them to do: Download this pdf. Call us now. Visit the website to buy. Email now for a free sample. And make sure a member of your team is available to take that call; make sure the product is actually available on the website; make sure all your links are working. Your reader has shown interest. Now don’t screw up.
Make it personal
Target your sales emails properly. A superbly written email is of no interest whatsoever if it goes to the wrong person. And get a name. Write ‘dear John’ rather than ‘dear subscriber’. Make someone feel special.
Opt in (or opt out)
This is really important. You need to make it really easy for your reader to opt out or unsubscribe. It’s that law. Make an unsubscribe link is at the bottom of your email.
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