Email Copy That Converts

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Once you have crafted a winning subject line and got your recipient to open your email, the next job is to make him pay attention to your offer or message. In a world of numerous windows, multiple devices and endless twitter updates, this can be quite a challenge. We give you some helpful tips.

Bring in Personalization and Context
The problem with personalization is that it often starts and ends with, “Hi Tim”. See what more you can personalize in your email. Explore the options in your email tool.

For instance in SEO Resources, you can personalize the “view in browser” message. So instead of the default, "Trouble viewing this mail? View it in your browser", you can personalize it to "Hi Tim, can't see this mail properly? Click here!"

Put some context in your email. Tell Tim why he received this email. Maybe Tim is a customer or is part of a certain professional group or perhaps he has registered for a particular event. Say something like: “Tim, you have received this email because you have registered for the upcoming C3 Conference. As part of the registration process we would like you to…” This can help get Tim’s attention.

Be Succinct
People don’t have a lot of time. And what’s worse? They also suffer from limited attention spans. They don’t read emails, they scan them. While scanning they look to delete as many emails as possible, so they can focus on the few that need their undivided attention. How can you grab that undivided attention?

Keep these points in mind when you put your email copy together.

• Follow a format - set the context, explain the offer and prompt the desired action.
• Don’t digress. Get straight to the point. Keep your text to a minimum and make sure the email is focused.
• Keep your paragraphs short. This makes for easier reading. You might want to try a one line paragraph somewhere to break the monotony.
• Use bullet points, headings, highlights, bold or italics font as and when appropriate.
• Ideally your email should not take more than 30 seconds to read, says Dr Flint McGlaughlin, Managing Director of MECLABS.

Make Your Call to Action Button Conspicuous
You probably want the recipient of your email to do more than just read your mail. You want him to come to your landing page and perform a certain action like sign up for a free trial, refer a friend or register for a webinar. This is the objective of your email.

The mail should clearly prompt this action. Don’t just leave the recipient hanging. Have a clear, conspicuous and attractive call to action button which takes him to the relevant landing page.

Don’t confuse him with multiple calls to action. Stick to a single one. “The more you multiply options, the more you slow down the conversion process,” says Dr Flint.

Pay Attention to Design
The email copy does not sit in isolation. Rope in your design team. Let them work on a background, a banner with a company logo, an interesting font, an appropriate image and an enticing call to action button in a bright and contrasting color.

Evaluate the following:

• How does the email look with the added design elements?
• Are the line breaks uniform?
• Is the text easy to scan?
• Is there sufficient white space?
• Is the call to action button as large as it can possibly be?
• How long does it take to scan the email?
• How does the email render in different email clients? Make sure the text by itself conveys the entire message. Some email clients block graphics and images.

Peer Review
Your copy writer maybe so involved in the writing process, that he may miss minor typos and even gaping holes.

Have a peer review the email content. Ask him what action he would take upon reading the email. If he does not take the desired action, rewrite the email copy or change the call to action button.

There Is No Running Away From Testing
Do A/B testing. Send two versions of your email to a small group.

You could test:

• Short versus long content.
• Bullet points versus paragraphs.
• Text versus HTML format.
• With image versus without image.
• Different CTAs – vary color, shape and text.

See which version gets a better response. Send that out to your entire list.

Obey the Law

• Place the “unsubscribe” option prominently in every mail or risk being labeled a spammer. 
• If your message is an advertisement, say so.
• If your email marketing is outsourced, make sure your vendor complies with the CAN-SPAM Act.