Today I’m chatting with my copywriter, Emily Conley of Emily Writes Well, and we are getting deep into email marketing strategy. If you want to learn how to write better emails… this episode is for you!
We dive into tips about both sales emails and regular content emails. Plus, tons of tips on things like subject lines, email formatting, preview text, storytelling, and so much more! I think you’ll walk away from this one with more confidence to write great emails as a business owner.
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Emily and I have had the privilege of working together on several really FUN projects and she is such a pro at what she does. From a new podcast intro and media bio to email sequences and sales copy, Emily has been my go to gal for spicing up the copywriting in my business.
She is also a podcast listener, EM Shop customer, and lives in the same area as me!
Are you ready to up your email writing game as a non-copywriter? Here are Emily’s tips for crafting better emails:
Tips for writing sales emails:
1. Understand the buyer’s journey
Emily says that she knows sales emails sometimes just feel overwhelming and scary, but they don’t have to! You do want to take them seriously but not be afraid of the outcome.
When you can understand the basic buyer’s journey, you're going to have a much better email sequence. That looks something like starting with awareness. Directly pitching your offer to a cold audience isn’t very effective because they aren’t ready.
We really want to start with building awareness and tell them that they might have this problem and might not even know about it or why it matters.
From there we move into building the interest. This addresses “What's going to happen if you don't solve this problem?” and “What's possible if you do!”
Next, you want to move to the consideration phase of the buyer’s journey where you help them consider if you are the right person to offer the solution to their problem.
The last phase is to offer an opportunity for the buyer to actually purchase your product or service.
Once you understand how this process works, it makes sales emails much less overwhelming because you're going through this process in a sequence. You can cover all of this over several emails and not feel like you have to cram it all into one.
2. Have a specific goal for each email (more than just “buy!”)
You need a goal for each email. Every time you send something to someone’s inbox it should have a specific purpose. That is the importance of the strategy behind what you are writing and the content you are creating. Your strategy could look different depending on what your goal is, but you need to have a goal regardless!
Emily tells us about an email marketing strategy she uses when writing email sequences for sales or launches is to determine how many emails are needed for the sequence FIRST. Then from there she and her clients determine a goal for each email.
Tips for ALL emails:
3. Add Value
Emily says adding value when you send emails in KEY! Teach, share helpful info, provide resources and links. This doesn’t have to be business related specifically. But this is giving people a reason to open your email and not asking anything from them.
Emily says that a lot of times we send emails that are “I want you to read my blog” emails when really the email marketing strategy should look more like saying, “I want to teach you something.”
“I want you to read my blog” is not a good reason to send an email.
- Emily Conley
Emily’s rule for email marketing strategy is to follow the 80:20 rule. 80% of your emails should be giving information and 20% should be asking or selling.
Tune in to the full episode to hear Emily expand on examples of adding value to your emails.
4. Find your style and (roughly) stick with it
As you start writing emails, find your style and use it! Maybe you love storytelling like Emily, or you might be a bulleted list kind of gal. Some people like to send videos or emails with lots of formatting.
Emily encourages us to try to find a style and format that we really like and mostly stick to that so that your audience knows what to expect from you. It also takes some of the work out because you have a place to start already mapped out.
Tips for finding your own style:
TRY some different styles out. Commit to one style for a month and see how it goes. Did you like that style? Check your open rates for data on how that style is performing! Don’t be afraid to test things especially with email marketing strategies.
5. Have a really solid “why” for every email you send
Emily says that if you are writing emails every week (or whatever your schedule is) just to do it because it is on your marketing calendar, DON’T SEND THAT EMAIL! When you don’t really have anything to say but feel obligated to send an email, that is when email marketing can feel the hardest. You will find that you are less creative and probably won’t feel like your authentic self.
How do you spice up your emails and make them fun?
Emily says that emails are more fun when you write them like you are writing to a friend. Picture one person who fits into your ideal client profile and pretend like you are just talking to them.
Use your authentic BRAND VOICE and don’t be afraid to loosen up. You can add memes or GIFs to infuse personality. Telling stories is another way to make emails fun. You can also use slang that you use in normal conversations and funny PS statements at the end.
Having trouble finding your brand voice? Download Emily’s *FREE* Brand Voice Guide to get started today!
Dos and don’ts of subject lines
Emily says that the biggest mistake she sees people make with subject lines is summarizing what's actually in the email. We don't want people making a decision about whether or not this is for them before they open the email and actually read it.
Emily says to start writing your subject line by saying a straightforward version of what your email is about. Then ask yourself how you can make that statement into a question or create a curiosity gap.
Your subject lines do need to be related to your content in some way even if it is a loose connection. We aren’t going for a click bait situation. You also want to test your emails to make sure you can see the whole subject line. Anything more than a short sentence is probably too long.
Plain text or beautifully designed emails? Which is better?
Check out the full episode to hear Emily and I chat through the questions of whether or not you should put a ton of design energy into your emails.
I hope you have learned so much from about email marketing strategy in this episode and are ready to tackle writing better emails with confidence now! Send me an email at hello@elizabethmccravy.com or a DM on Instagram telling me your favorite thing you learned in this episode.
Meet Emily
Emily is a copywriter and strategist based in Nashville, TN. She believes that you were created with your distinct personality and skill set on purpose, so you can serve others in a way only you can. She writes website copy that connects, emails that make effortless sales, and sales pages that don't feel overwhelming for heart-centered entrepreneurs. She also teaches virtual assistants and business owners how to write like pros – and have a blast learning – in her group program and course, The Copy Party Academy. She also loves traveling, never turns down a cold White Claw, and spends most of her time exploring and enjoying life with her husband and 3-yr-old daughter.
