How to Write Persuasive Marketing Emails That Convert
When you send a newsletter to your email list, would at least 20% or more of your list open and read your email?
And if you sent an email with an offer included, would at least 7% of your list click your call-to-action (CTA)?
If you can’t confidently answer Yes to both of these questions, then it may be time to review how you write your emails.
In this article, I’ll provide you with a step-by-step guide on writing persuasive marketing emails that convince customers to read your message and click on your CTAs, which will help grow your business.
Follow these steps to craft emails that will catch the attention of your email list and convince even the skeptics to check out your offer.
7 Steps to Create Persuasive Marketing Emails That Convert
1. Determine Your Email’s Goal
The first thing you need to do before writing a marketing email is to figure out what action you want your email subscribers to take after reading your email?
This will be the goal of the email.
Every email you draft and send to your list should have a singular goal, whether it’s buying a product or reading a blog post. Do not try to have multiple goals at once, as this can distract your readers and they will end up taking no action at all. Instead, focus on the action you want your readers to take and use it as the basis of your email copy.
For example, the goal of Infusionsoft’s email below is to get readers to schedule a demo:
2. Add a Compelling Subject Line
The subject line is the first thing that your readers will see. It has a big impact and it will determine whether or not your readers will click to read or ignore your email.
Here are several strategies for writing a compelling subject line:
Question: Questions can trigger your reader’s curiosity and inspire them to click on the email to find the answer.
Command: A command is like a direct CTA (call-to-action) that encourages readers to take the action you want them to.
Teaser: Make people curious to learn more about what they will find in your email with a teaser subject line. If you inspire enough curiosity, this will make them want to learn more by clicking the email to read it.
List: Listicle emails and posts are usually popular as they let readers scan and digest information in a fast and easy way. They also let readers know what they can expect to learn through a summary of points.
Announcement: Create email subject lines that excite your readers to learn more about a new product or service. These subject lines should create a feeling of exclusivity and make them feel like they are the first ones to know about what you are announcing.
3. Pay Attention to Preview Text
Your preview text is also of great importance as it’s often the next thing that readers notice. In some ways it acts as a second subject line.
Your preview text provides additional information about what the reader can expect when they open the email. Preview text length typically ranges from 35 to 140 characters, depending on which email service you use.
Quite often, the preview text will be the email’s first line.
Check out these examples of preview text from The Muse:
4. Use a Brand Voice
Help your readers to become more familiar and comfortable receiving and reading your emails by using a consistent brand voice. Using a brand voice helps people to relate and communicate with your brand.
A brand voice refers to the personality and emotion infused into all of your WHY story, and interactions online. This includes everything from the words and language you use, to the personality and image your interaction and communications create in the mind of viewers.
This voice is largely influenced by your or your company’s personality, your message, and the language and slang used by your ideal customers.
For example, Mailchimp uses a casual yet professional tone of voice when communicating with their email subscribers.
How do you determine your brand voice?
Crackerjack Marketing’s framework uses a four-part formula to help brands find their voice.
Here’s an explanation of each section:
- Purpose – Defines the reason behind your brand’s existence (your WHY story).
- Character – If your brand was a real human being, how would you describe it? What is its personality like? Chose three descriptive personality traits.
- Tone – What kind of words and tone of voice does your brand use? For example, is your brand young, hip and casual or is it refined, classy and professional?
- Language – What is the language of your ideal clients? It is vital that you use the same language that your ideal clients use, so your message will resonate with them.
The answers to these questions will help you determine a distinct brand voice that will make your brand more recognizable and relatable and that will build trust with readers.
5. Be Clear and Concise
People usually see the design and structure of the email before they read it. If it seems too long, too hard to scan or not enough white space, then there is a good chance they will hit the delete button.
People don’t read emails word for word. Most people prefer to skim the email first, before deciding whether to invest the time and effort of reading the whole email. Some people will just be looking for the link that will take them where they want to go.
For this reason, it is best to use short and clear sentences that drive home your point. You can also use bullet points to draw the reader’s eye.
Check out the example below from Flywheel, which shows an easy to scan email.
6. Keep it Personal
Whenever possible, address your subscribers by their first names in the email. This is a form of personalization, but there’s a lot more to personalization than just adding their name.
While you can’t make each and every email you send out unique, you can increase personalization by creating emails based on segmented lists. These segmented lists are groups you can create based on a subscriber’s gender, engagement level, behavior and purchase history.
Several studies have found that personalization can significantly increase sales. Aberdeen found that personalized emails can improve click-through rates (CTR) by an average of 14% and conversions by 10%. Additionally, segmented and targeted emails generate 58% of all revenue.
7. Include Attractive Visuals
They say a picture is worth a thousand words.
While many people skim the text, they can instantly process graphics and images. This makes it ideal for you to use GIFS, pictures, videos and other forms of media to catch their attention.
Colors can also elicit different reactions.
While you will generally want to work within your brand’s colors to maintain your voice and identity, try experimenting with different colors throughout the email, such as your CTA buttons, and find out which colors your readers are most responsive to.
You can also try using different faces and shapes to direct the gaze of your readers to your CTA.
Master the Art of Persuasive Marketing Emails
Every time you send an email to your email subscribers, that email is competing for their attention. As most busy professional people now receive well over a hundred emails a day, you may have a lot of competition for their limited time and attention span.
For this reason, it is vital that follow the steps I’ve laid out in your email marketing so you can first get them to click into your email, take a few moment s to scan it and then click on your call-to-action (CTA).
If you focus on implementing each step, for every email you send, you’ll soon see an improvement on your email open and click through rates, which will help increase your conversions and sales.
Did you find these tips on how to create persuasive marketing emails helpful? If so, would you please share this on your social media pages, and with any friends or colleagues that you think should read this too.
Emil Kristensen is the CMO and co-founder of Sleeknote: a company that helps e-commerce brands engage their site visitors—without hurting the user experience.
