Email Marketing Planning

Having a strong email marketing plan, blended with effective email copywriting tips, will go a long ways toward supercharging email as a direct marketing tool.

1. Know the Objective of the Email
   Do you want people to click-through to a landing page and buy? Or fill out information and capture them as a lead?
2. Before Writing…
   Do your research. Look at past email performance, open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates. Get on competitor email lists.
3. Who is the Sender?
   Will the recipient know the sender? Is there already a relationship in place (past purchase or inquiry)? While it’s tempting to send email from “the company,” email comes from people. If you use a person’s name as the sender, it’s important to include the company or brand name with the person’s name for instant recognition.
4. Visualize the Recipient
   Picture the person who will receive your email. Know their one dominant emotion as they read your copy. If the email is about a health product for men over the age of 50, visualize what they may be going through. The visit to a doctor. Embarrassment. The desire to be younger. Write to that single dominant emotion and you’ll grab your reader.
5. What’s in it for me?
   Your reader is subconsciously asking themselves that question the moment they decide to open your email. Why should they invest a few seconds to read the first sentence or two of your email? And why should they keep reading? What’s in it for them?
6. Sell Benefits
   The health product may have a secret ingredient from a forest in South America only found in one-square mile on the earth, but the reader wants to know what it will do for them.
7. Visually Engage with Graphics
   Email is usually seen as text only, or designed very neatly and orderly. But direct mail copywriters know the visuals – boxes, bursts, slashes, sidebars – all pause the reader. These graphic elements make sure the reader doesn’t miss points of emphasis. For the reader who is scanning copy (which most of us do), these graphic enhancements can help the reader “get it” quickly and easily.
8. Find Your Voice
   Email copy should be conversational. Looser than other writing. And it needs to be consistent from one email contact to another. The voice should reflect the product being sold and the reader. Read copy out loud to hear for yourself if the copy tone is right. Often, reading copy out loud will enable you to find the words that trip the reader, or give you ideas for a more conversational word. For example, would your readers prefer to hear how prize money is “divided” or is it more interesting for your reader to say you will “divvy-up” the prize earnings?
9. Less is More
   Be a relentless editor. Just because you loved the words written doesn’t mean they should be included. If the copy isn’t moving toward your objective, cut it out.
10. Test
    Email allows you to test many approaches quickly. And that’s how you discover what works best for you.

As a direct email marketing firm, we can also create autoresponder messages that may be the most effective way for you to convert prospects into buyers.