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Email copywriting best practices for better conversion rate

Email copywriting best practices to improve conversion rate

Copywriters prefer different frameworks or sets of copywriting best practices when they are writing email campaigns or web pages.

Similarly, before you think of a better conversion rate, you need to define what conversion rate means to you.

Different email campaigns may have different conversion rate criteria.

You can put hours of effort crafting the perfect email marketing campaign.

You can learn by trial and error and improve your conversion rate – nothing wrong in that.

Self-taught are the most experienced and learned people, especially in the world of copywriting.

You can use the best practices or frameworks to minimize the chances of committing a mistake.

What makes your email copywriting successful? What gives you a better conversion rate?

How do you define better conversion rate

Here are a few things:

Better open rate.
More people reading the complete message.
More people clicking the CTA.
Ultimately, more people buying from you.

Selling isn’t always the goal of every email marketing campaign.

There are different ways your email may convert better.

Buying is a culmination of many factors and whether someone buys from you depends on where they are in their buyer journey.

Your conversion rate depends a lot on where a person is in your sales funnel.

A typical buyer journey may involve anywhere between 6-12 (or more) stages, and for multiple stages, different types of content are needed, and conversion rate manifests in different ways.

Even different types of email are needed.

Hence, your email marketing campaign needs to target the precise engagement factor.

This could be

Downloading your white paper or case study.
Downloading your brochure.
Agreeing for a phone call.
Checking out the latest offerings.
Clicking a blog post link.
Making an appointment.
Participating in a seminar.
Watching your video presentation.
Participating in a survey.
Indulging in any other engagement activity promoted by the email campaign.

Every non-“buy from us” email campaign is a lead generation campaign, and such campaigns are as important as asking people to buy from you.

What is the difference between email copywriting and website copywriting?

Difference between email and website copywriting

Surprisingly, there isn’t much information available on the topic of difference between email copywriting and website copywriting.

One of the most prominent attributes of copywriting is conversion.

Whereas content writing for websites is all about educating and engaging visitors, when you write copy for websites, you need to convert people and turn them into your paying customers and clients.

Just like in email copywriting, website copywriting also has different purposes.

It isn’t always about making sales.

You want to improve engagement rate.

You may want people to subscribe to your email updates.

There may be a landing page that asks people to download a white paper or a case study.

So, whether you are writing copy for an email campaign or a website, a big part of copywriting is conversion.

That is common between email and website copywriting.

One of the biggest differences is that in email copywriting, you can personalize your messages.

Whereas traffic on the website is inbound, your email traffic is outbound.

You cannot be selective about who comes to your website.

But you can be selective about who receives your email updates.

Being selective means, you choose the email ids to which you send your email marketing campaigns.

You have more information about your email recipients than you have about your website visitors.

In email copywriting you may solely depend on your text, but in website copywriting, you can liberally use visuals in the form of images and videos.

Another big difference between both is that communication through emails is an ongoing process whereas your website provides a single touch point.

Of course, in the case of your website you regularly update your blog, and this draws people on regular basis, but the frequency of sending out emails is often greater than the frequency of updating your blog or updating your website.

Although most of the content on blogs is written by content writers, many people prefer to call themselves copywriters even when they are writing blog posts.

Other highlights of email copywriting:

People receive your email copywriting messages in their inboxes.
Most likely they have given you permission to email them.
Distractions are less in the inbox and hence your copywriting may perform better compared to website copywriting.
The success of your email messages depends on how well you have crafted your subject line.
You can use segmentation to make your writing more focused.

Email copywriting best practices to improve your conversion rate

Better conversion rate – email copywriting best practices

There is a difference between “email best practices” and “email copywriting best practices” and when you search on Google, you will find that both bits of information are often interchanged.

For example, including a well-defined signature may be a part of email best practices but not, at least directly, a part of email copywriting best practices.

So, when it got email copywriting best practices, I strictly speak in terms of writing your emails, and not about their aesthetic appeal.

Write a convincing subject line

Your subject line makes people open your email message, or stops them from doing so.

There are two things you see first when you check your inbox: the sender’s name and the subject line.

These two factors can convince you into opening the email.

Even if the sender is familiar (I’m not talking about family members or friends or people whose email you will never ignore), unless the subject line motivates you, you are not going to open the email.

Everywhere on the Internet when you read about email copywriting best practices, this is the first most topic people broach – an effective subject line.

Most of the techniques that work with your web page headlines and title also work on your email subject line.

It goes without saying that your subject line must be hard-hitting and forceful.

47% marketers say that they test different email subject lines to increase the performance of their email marketing campaigns (source).

You can write effective subject lines using the following emotional and psychological triggers

A feeling of urgency
A sense of curiosity
An irresistible offer
Personalization
Relevance
Fear of missing out
Breaking News

Something like:

Surprise sale today – up to 50% off!

Keep your subject line brief. Don’t go beyond 30-50 characters.

A MailChimp study has revealed that email campaigns with the subject lines less than 50 characters have 12% higher open rate and 75% higher click-through-rates than email campaigns with subject lines of more than 50 characters.

Write an equally compelling preview text

The preview text of your email is a small portion of your email message that is visible to the recipient without opening your email.

Email preview text screenshot

It either appears next to the subject line or below the subject line.

If you don’t manually enter a preview text, email readers like Gmail randomly pick portions of your email and display them as your preview text.

There is no ability to enter preview text in standard email clients like Gmail and Outlook.

But if you manage your email marketing campaigns using services like MailChimp or Aweber, you can separately add an email preview text.

In the preview text, write something that will further make the recipient want to open your email message.

Start with the name of the person

Avoid starting your email with “Dear friend,” or “Hello there!”

Preferably, use the first name of the person.

Start with, “Dear Sarah,” or “Hello Abdul”.

Hook the reader with a headline

Depending on whether you send out an HTML email campaign or a text-based email, you will have a headline with a bigger font or the first sentence as “headline”.

Your headline or the first sentence is very important.

Although, once a person opens your email message the likelihood of reading the message increases manifold, whether a person reads the rest of the message depends a lot on your headline or the first sentence.

Your headline must be a continuation of your subject line.

For example, if your subject line was, “30% off”, your first sentence of the email can be

Congratulations on getting a 30% discount on your next purchase.

Just make sure you place orders through this email.

You will repeatedly come across the advice that the job of your headline is to make people read your first sentence, and the job of your first sentence is to make people read your second sentence, and so on.

So, write your first sentence or your headline in such a manner that it makes people read the rest of your email body text.

Have a clear goal for email copywriting

What do you want people to do once they have read your email?

Do you want them to book an appointment?

Do you want them to download your e-book or case study?

Do you want them to read your blog post?

Once you have a clear goal, your entire narrative revolves around that.

Every sentence must lead to your CTA (the goal of your email copywriting).

Use a conversational style for email copywriting

Conversational style comes with many dimensions.

Write in first person using “you” and “I”.

Write short sentences.

Avoid difficult words.

Write the way you talk.

When you write your email campaigns in a conversational style your readers feel like they’re being talked to personally.

Formal writing can create a barrier.

Pay attention to how your recipients speak in their day-to-day conversations.

Just like in the midst of the conversation you ask,

“Isn’t it right?” or “Don’t you think?”

Find out words and expressions that they use when they talk about your business.

Instead of writing “Our team can help you with complete auditing of your website”, write, “We can completely audit your website.”

Write in a way you talk to them.

In conversational style, instead of neutral, you sound emotional.

You use lots of contractions instead of using full words.

Sometimes you break grammar and spelling rules but be sure of what you’re doing.

You write in active voice.

You use simple words.

You use lots of personal pronouns.

You can also use transitional phrases to keep people reading.

Some examples of transitional phrases are

This is how it is done:

Want to know more?

You know what? Something else was about to happen.

Long story short.

Still not convinced?

For effective email copywriting, the key is knowing your target audience.

What are their needs, desires, aims and fears?

When they have doubts, what influences them to change their minds?

What motivates them?

What type of conversations do they have when they talk about your product or service.

For effective email copywriting it is important that you forget about what you think, and then think in terms of what your target audience things.

Other things to keep in mind when copywriting for email marketing campaigns:

Avoid badmouthing about your competitors (comparison is fine).
Praise your readers whenever you can (but be genuine).
Be sincere when you express emotions.
Address the concerns of your readers.
Write how you talk.
Anticipate questions in advance and provide answers.
Keep your copy easier to read.
Don’t overstretch your message.
Use action words and power words – “Save 30% now” and “Don’t miss the last chance”.
Don’t use words with negative connotations – “premium” instead of “expensive”, or “other options” instead of “not available”.
Hold the reader’s attention by using phrases such as “imagine”, “have a look”, and “just think what would happen” (just to name a few).
Use double numbers: 15 ways to increase your conversion 5X
Mention the key benefits of using your product or service three times throughout the copy – in the beginning, in the middle, and then at the end.
Use logic to make a point but cater to emotions.

In this blog post you have learnt a few email copywriting best practices that you can use to improve your conversion rate.

Of course, as I always say, nothing is written in stone.

Experiment.

Find different ways.

Be adventurous.

How you improve your conversion rate depends on your specific industry and you should apply copywriting best practices accordingly.

Writing effective cold emails

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Writing effective cold emails.

I think suddenly a web page that talks about my email writing services has risen in its rankings. I get lots of queries about my email writing services. Many clients also want me to write cold emails for them.

What are cold emails? No, they’re not written after keeping your laptop in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Or maybe they are called cold emails because you expect people to give you a cold shoulder after receiving them.

Cold emails or unsolicited messages are sent to people who are unaware of your existence. You offer them your product or service through the cold email. They are not expecting to hear from you. They don’t know anything about you. They are just going about their life and then suddenly your message pops up in their inbox and low and behold!

I have never written cold emails to promote my content writing services because I have rejection issues, but I have written plenty of them for my clients.

There is a difference between cold emails and bulk emails

Cold emails are different from the usual bulk email marketing campaigns mostly considered as spam. A cold email is sent directly, preferably to someone you know, with a unique business proposition or a unique idea, or a unique bit of information that you feel will be useful to the person.

A cold email is good for one-on-one interaction. You come across a person. You have his or her email address. You know what the person does and what sort of business partnership you can have. So, you send a proposal.

How to write an effective cold email that generates a response?

Keep it personal

Address the person by name, something like “Hi Balbir.” Use a conversational tone.

Use a compelling subject line

By “compelling” I’m not saying using hyperbolic expressions or promising the stars. Avoid something like, “This email is going to transform your life!”

When sending out cold emails, my personal recommendation is that try to build a relationship instead of getting a business deal or trying to sell something.

A good example would be, sharing a piece of information that would be useful to the recipient. And use that thing in the subject line (Here is something I found that will be useful to you… ).

Use a recognizable “from” line

Use your name instead of just your business. The “from” line can contain something like your first name, your first name and the title, your first name and the company name, and so on. Just make sure that your name is there.

Quickly introduce yourself

It takes someone just a couple of seconds to move to the next message. As soon as the body text of your email begins, tell about yourself. Possibly in just two sentences. Introduce yourself in a manner that it is relevant to the cold email that you are sending.

For example, if I want to offer my content writing services, I should introduce myself like, “I am an experienced content writer who…”

Start with some words of encouragement

Don’t start with “me, I” – start with “you”. Something like, “I really like what you have written on your website, particularly on this web page…”

Or, “The point that you made in the recent LinkedIn conversation was quite revealing and informative.”

Come to the point as fast as possible

Preferably, your cold email shouldn’t be more than 60-100 words. If you can manage, even less, even better. Most probably the person on the other side will be checking your message on his or her mobile phone. It is not convenient to read long email messages, especially cold messages, on a mobile phone.

If possible, don’t try to sell something

Sales messages are really off-putting, especially when you’re not expecting them. No matter how useful a product or service is, nobody wants to spend money just like that. When people want to spend money, they want to spend money when the thought of spending money comes to them, not when someone else brings it up. Just let the person know that you would be interested to know if there is a possibility of you and him/her working together.

Don’t go on and on about your product features

Tell the person how the product is going to help him or her improve his or her life or the way he or she does his or her work. Offer a solution rather than a product or a service.

End with a call-to-action

Don’t ask for something a person would hesitate to do. Just ask him or her to send you a quick reply. Just one word, something like “Yes” or “No”. The person will really appreciate it. Avoid asking to click a link or fix a 30-minute call.

Remember that the best response is that the person responds and responds without a negative reaction. If he or she is eager to take the conversation forward, your cold email has succeeded. Even if it is just a blank response to let you know that he or she has received your mail.

How to run a successful email marketing campaign with effective copywriting

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Successful email marketing with effective copywriting.

These days I’m getting lots of queries from clients who want to run successful email marketing campaigns and they need my copywriting services.

According to Statista, an estimated 306.4 billion emails travel the length and breadth of the web every day.

The graph below shows the trend over a period of 2017-2023.

As you can see, the number is projected to reach 347.3 billion emails by 2023.

Graph of number of emails being sent during 2017-2023

It is not just the number of emails being sent and received that excite digital marketers and general clients.

It is the ROI in the stats.

This is a slightly old finding, but on an average, for every $1 that you spend on email marketing, you get a return of $38. Some even claim $40.

Here is another pleasing graphic that I found on this link.

The highest ROI is in email marketing.

Of course, you may look at these numbers cynically because at personal level, you may not have experienced such a startling success with your email campaigns.

The problem is not with the numbers, the problem is with the implementation.

When people claim that you can earn $38 for every dollar you spend on email marketing, you must do whatever is required to make your email marketing effective.

What makes your email marketing successful and how does copywriting contribute?

Email marketing is not about sending emails to a group of subscribers or email ids though, it is a big part.

Successful email marketing is about active engagement.

Here are some attributes that enable you to call your email marketing successful:

A greater number of people open your email messages.
A greater number of people read your messages.
A greater number of people respond by either replying or clicking the call-to-action button or link.

All these three points are very important to make your email marketing successful.

If people are just opening your message and do nothing else, you aren’t achieving much.

Recently a client told me, with a touch of pride, that his open rate is 22%.

Marvelous, I said. Then how do you want me to contribute?

I’m not getting any business, he replied with a subdued tone.

Unless people open your messages, read them, get affected positively and then contact you to do business with you click the link to buy from you, you cannot call your email marketing successful.

Everything needs to work in tandem.

The success of your email marketing depends on the following factors:

The quality and growth of your email list.
The trust factor enjoyed by your email marketing service provider (so that your emails are not redirected to the spam folder).
Your reputation – are people familiar with you? Do they know what you represent and why you are sending them emails? Do they trust you?
Your subject line – no matter how familiar they are with your name or brand, unless the subject line compels them to open your message, they are not going to open it.
The main headline – this is going to be the biggest work. Only if the headline captivates them, they’re going to read the rest of the message.
The convincing copy that keeps them engaged, excited and leads them to a culmination.
The most appropriate call-to-action.

Effective copywriting for email marketing

My clients often hire me for my content writing services but when I’m writing marketing emails, I provide them my copywriting services.

You may like to read this: Difference between copywriting and content writing.

Copywriting informs, educates, influences and sells.

Content writing informs and educates.

Marketing means selling.

When you’re sending out emails wanting people to buy from you or do business with you, you’re selling an idea.

They have a problem, you offer a solution.

For example, if I send you an email marketing campaign with the subject line “Better conversion rate for your email marketing with my copywriting services” I am assuming that you are worried about your conversion rate.

Problems may include…

Not many people are opening your messages.

Even if they open your messages, they don’t respond to them.

Even if they contact you, there is some communication gap and they don’t become your paying customers and clients.

The gist is, you’re looking for a solution that can help you improve your email marketing conversion rate and I’m offering you the solution.

Frankly, without effective copywriting, there is no email marketing.

The communication dynamics are different in email marketing.

You need to be bang on the main message of the email.

People don’t want to read long messages unless they are reading some scholarly discourse on a highly technical B2B product.

They have a problem.

You offer a solution.

You offer an irresistible proposition.

You convince them, without making them feel vulnerable or defensive, what a great loss it is going to be not doing business with you.

For such a message, you need copywriting.

You need a copywriter who can write convincingly and persuasively.

The copywriting in your email marketing campaign must be able to directly talk to the recipients with zero distraction.

Remember that most of your recipients will be reading your message on their mobile devices.

They may be in a highly distracted state.

They may be travelling.

They may be in a meeting.

They may be standing in a queue.

They may be sitting on the toilet seat struggling with constipation.

Amidst all this, your copywriting must ensure that the message gets across.

Some tips for effective copywriting for successful email marketing campaigns

Here are some tips to follow when writing copy for your email marketing campaigns.

There are no hard-and-fast rules because every audience is unique, but you can apply the general template that works pretty much for every audience.

Then you can make small tweaks here and there for better conversion rate.

Another thing you must keep in mind is that there is no magic wand.

You will have to experiment.

You will need to gather data and allow your email marketing service (MailChimp, for example) to analyze your campaigns for at least a month to give you some usable insights.

Anyway, there are some things you can do for effective copywriting for successful email marketing campaigns…

Create a killer subject line

As mentioned above, your subject line is very important.

As a copywriter, coming up with the most compelling subject line is one of your greatest challenges.

If the subject line is not great people don’t open your email message and if they don’t open your email message, no matter how great your email message is, everything will go down the drain.

Hence, spend a lot of time coming up with the most appropriate subject line.

It doesn’t have to be out of this world.

There is no need to say something earthshattering.

You don’t need to shout “Earthquake!!” just to get their attention.

Just mention something that will make them open your message in a relevant frame of mind.

Offer something they need, in a clear language.

Make better use of the preview text

These days, many email clients such as Gmail show a small preview text in the inbox even when you haven’t opened your message.

This is another opportunity for you as a copywriter to convince people into opening your message.

Write for easier reading

More than 100 characters in a sentence including spaces?

More than a sentence in a paragraph?

You have already lost most of your audience.

Write very short sentences so that they are easier to read and comprehend on a mobile device, probably while the hand is shaking.

Represent one idea through one sentence.

Use simple sentences, avoid compound sentences.

As far as possible, make sure that your message is not more than 200 words.

Lay everything down for them as clearly as possible.

Never use words and expressions that can be confused or mixed with other words and expressions.

Preferably, write in the first person

It also means that you must know the name of the person to whom you are sending your email messages, but that’s a different issue.

Email messages written in the first person elicit better response compared to email messages that read like as if they have been written to a group.

Again, this is not a hard-and-fast rule – it depends on your audience.

Your copywriting style must reek of enthusiasm

If you don’t sound enthusiastic, how can you excite your audience into taking an action that requires them to go to the trouble of entering their credit card details and buying your product or service?

But make sure that your enthusiasm is not fake.

Remember you’re offering them a solution to their problem.

You are feeling good about the fact that after buying your product or service, their lives are going to be easier or enriched.

Feel good about providing them that solution.

When you feel good while writing the copy, it will show through your writing style and then it will get conveyed to your audience.

Don’t refrain from using persuasive language or power words

Of course, don’t overdo.

Remember you are not writing a Shakespearean play.

Your protagonist is not going to be stabbed by his own supporters.

On the other hand, unless you tell them to do something, how do you expect them to do it?

Hence, tell them that it is a bargain.

Let it be known to them that it is a never seen before offer.

It may even be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Can my copywriting quadruple your email marketing conversion rate? Heck, why not?

Is it a limited offer available to just the first twenty responders?

Cater to their greed.

Invoke their insecurities.

Just make sure that you don’t trigger a “flight, freeze or fight” response with too much aggression or assumption.

Most importantly, don’t lie.

Always mean what you say.

Write email copy with a specific goal

Don’t have multiple objectives for a single email marketing campaign copy.

Focus on one thing.

Let the objective be just one.

If you have multiple objectives this will stop you from effective copywriting and you will also end up confusing your readers.

So, if you want people to download your white paper after reading your email campaign, just talk about the benefits of downloading the white paper.

If you want them to download and install your mobile app, just focus on that.

Avoid messages like “Although I’m asking you to download my e-book, now that you are reading this message, here are the services that I offer…”

They will neither download your e-book nor contact you for your services.

In conclusion, I have observed that the best copywriting for successful email marketing campaigns comes from the heart.

Mean what you say.

Come to the point as fast as possible.

Give your email is enough time to evolve.

What is website content writing and how is it different from copywriting?

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What is the difference between website content writing and copywriting?

There is always some confusion about what is website content writing and what is copywriting.

This confusion is not there in the non-Internet world.

You know that a person who writes for newspapers and magazines is a journalist or a writer.

A person who writes ad copies is a copywriter.

A person who writes books is a novelist or an author.

The distinctions are clear.

But when it comes to writing for websites, there is a confusion about website content writing and copywriting.

This confusion is normally among the clients who are either unaware of the difference or don’t want to pay for copywriting but want to use the services of a copywriter.

Website content writers and copywriters come with different skills.

As a website content writer, you are mostly writing information.

A website content writer writes blog posts, SEO articles, social media updates and web page content.

A copywriter writes marketing copy or sales copy.

These are different writing styles.

I have different rates for website content writing and copywriting: I charge more for copywriting.

Copywriting, or rather online copywriting, is marketing and sales related, whereas, content writing helps you build your brand.

Can one work without the other?

I can’t deny. People have built entire businesses upon the fundamental base of good content, without resorting to copywriting.

In simple terms, website content writing gives you brand presence and online copywriting does the selling for you.

The job of a website content writer is to bring people to your website. The job of an online copywriter is to make those people buy from you.

Of course, a single writer can achieve both the tasks, just like I do.

When I’m writing for a blog or a press release or a social networking update, I am writing as a content writer.

When I’m writing copy for a landing page or homepage or even one of the main pages of a business website, or an email campaign, I’m writing as a copywriter.

Why I charge more for my copywriting services

I should begin explaining this by saying that I charge less for my content writing services.

The reality of the world is, you don’t mind paying less, but you certainly mind paying more.

It’s easier to be a content writer (compared to being a copywriter).

When someone hires you for your content writing services, he or she does not expect you to increase his or her sales.

At the most, he or she wants you to improve SEO and provide writing that is free of spelling and grammar mistakes.

If the writing is interesting, contains a personality and a stylish, well, it is icing on the cake, but, as long as the writing is good and covers all the topics (the keywords), the icing isn’t as important.

Copywriting comes with the cake, with the icing, and with everything else that must make the cake completely delicious.

No scope for compromise.

The stakes are higher when you are writing copy and the stakes are higher when you are hiring someone as your copywriter.

Your business depends on this type of writing.

If the copy is not effective, if it is not convincing, if it is not informative, if it is not compelling, people are not going to buy from you.

No matter how much traffic you are getting from search engines, if the traffic does not convert, it is of no use.

Hence, copywriting can make or break your business.

Content writing on the other hand, definitely makes your business, but the chance of it breaking your business is less and even if it causes some sort of harm, you can easily and quickly recover.

But writing is writing, you may say.

Yes, I agree.

I maintain a certain level of quality whether I’m writing content or writing copy.

I don’t cut corners just because I expect to be paid more for one type of writing and less for another.

The quality and the style is more or less the same.

I charge for copywriting more because people are ready to pay more for copywriting because it is crucial for the business.

Everybody with an ability to write straight sentences can be a content writer.

But, only a highly skilled and expert writer can be a copywriter.

This is the difference.

I am getting more email writing queries these days

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More queries about email writing services

I have an optimized web page that constantly draws traffic from Google for my email content writing and copywriting services. On an average, I would get 2-3 queries every month, and this is when my page appears on the first page on Google for search terms like “email writing services”, “email content writer” and “email writer service”.

Suddenly, on an average, I’m getting one such query everyday from people who want help with writing emails. Many of them are about writing copy for email marketing, but I’m also getting queries for day-to-day email correspondence.

My rankings haven’t suddenly spiked and although the traffic has been increasing in the past weeks, it isn’t because of traffic related to email writing services.

I think more people are realizing the importance of professionally written email messages. For example, I received a query from a person who has been promoted to the post of systems administrator. He said he would have to write email multiple times a day and he wants someone to refine them so that there are no errors and confusion in his messages.

He didn’t reply when I sent him the quote, but I’m getting many such queries.

Has business increased from people who want to hire my writing services for emails? Although conversion rate among people who want copywriting for their email marketing campaigns has certainly gone up by 20-25%, no conversion has happened among those who are looking for someone to help them with their day-to-day correspondence. It could be logistics – the hassle of sending the points and then waiting for my draft – or the fear of having to spend lots of money if there are many messages per day.

No matter how much the conversion rate is, what’s interesting is, more people want better written email.