An inside look at the happenings of brands, email subscriptions are designed to provide consumers with timely information. However, establishing a brand identity known for great email marketing requires more than a few carefully placed words or visuals.
Writing good email copy starts with a strong foundation. Brand messaging can make or break how consumers view and understand the email content being delivered. Beyond that, the best email copy often shares relevant knowledge that encourages consumers to spend more time with their favorite brands.
By incorporating these six copywriting tactics, your brand can take each of these things into account, while taking your email marketing to the next level:
Taking Copy to the Next Level for Your Email Subscribers
1. Know your subscribers
Being a brand that delivers relevant guidance or material to its subscribers relies on marketers' abilities to understand the needs of consumers. No matter how flowery the language is or how many strong email marketing strategies get used, the value of an email's body copy solely depends on how consumers perceive it.
Subscribers are looking for content that is relevant to their interests. Delivering anything less is a quick way to change how they view their email subscription, potentially even making other brands look more attractive in the process.
Aside from the infamous email subject line, consumers also depend on the preview text included alongside an email to help them determine if the message is worth reading. Marketers who know their target audience inside and out, can use this knowledge to provide eye-catching email content that will motivate subscribers to click on the message, ultimately increasing the email open rate.
By having a clear understanding of what makes subscribers tune into emails, marketers can take their findings one step further and write great email copy that aligns with consumer interest.
2. Add Value
With so many forms of digital marketing at their disposal, consumers aren’t hard-pressed to find a brand that can meet their needs. This is all the more reason for marketers to create valuable content.
High click-through rates are often directly tied to great email marketing copy. To be defined as such, brands must use email marketing strategies that bring value to subscribers. Good email copy shows value through its content; effective emails answer consumer questions, help to eliminate subscriber pain points and inspire positive thoughts around a brand's email marketing.
Considering that customer satisfaction is at the forefront of the copywriting process, brands must keep the customer in mind at all times. Each email should provide the consumer with information that will enhance their overall experience through things like education and entertainment.
Email copy that functions as an engaging and informative source is an investment for subscribers. When consumers see a return on their investment through supportive email marketing content, they are less likely to unsubscribe and more likely to click on the next email sent.
3. Use Urgency
Why should subscribers pay attention to the information inside one email instead of another? What makes this email content different from a competing brand’s?
Some brands have gone on a mission to find a standout answer to these questions. Urgency marketing was one tactic they found.
Urgency marketing utilizes human psychology to not only pique interest in consumers, but motivate action. Psychological motivators that fall under the umbrella of urgency marketing include concepts such as scarcity, incentives, fear of missing out (FOMO) and more.
For example, when subscribers see email subject lines that encourage them to take quick action before time runs out, they are much more likely to see that call-to-action (CTA) as something worthy of their attention. That sense of urgency can help promote higher open rates and engagement with everything from email newsletters to one-off messages.
4. Emphasize Cohesion/Alignment
While some may think this practice goes without saying, it’s important to remember that email marketing basics can never be too far from a brand’s standard set of checkpoints.
Email copy has to make sense to the reader. It must align with the email marketing campaigns they’ve already come to expect from the brand, and it must relate to the email subject line or overall topic being discussed.
Being consistent with email marketing content delivered, especially email copy that performed well previously, is a great way to emphasize brand cohesion and alignment. Using templates that proved to support high click-through rates or drive powerful conversion rates in the past will help to offer structure that can influence similar results in future emails.
Showcasing brand cohesion in and around messaging, products and services will positively impact how consumers view email marketing campaigns.
5. Be Authentic
Consumers support brands they can trust. From the items sold, to the copy in the email, subscribers rely on their favorite brands to share truthful information that is beneficial in nature.
Brands can accomplish authentic email copy in a number of different ways. Here are a few marketing tips to take into account:
- Educate and inform email subscribers as often as you can; show them you have an authentic desire to serve them, rather than simply sell to them.
- Create effective email subject lines that directly relate to the email copywriting included inside.
- Only link back to landing pages or other information that is relevant to your email list.
Showing up as an authentic source for email subscribers will serve as a way to not only cultivate trust, but brand loyalty.
6. Don’t Be Pushy
Shoppers want to make the best decisions for themselves and their families, and they trust brands to help them on their journey. Offering guidance to subscribers through the email body should be done with care.
When writing email copy, don’t make subscribers feel confined to one specific way of operating. Instead, use email content marketing strategies that offer support and solutions to potential pain points.
Marketers can equip email subscribers with quality facts while still giving readers the chance to feel confident about their choices. Taking a less aggressive approach doesn’t mean that marketers aren’t doing anything productive to push businesses forward. Giving subscribers ownership over their decisions is a great way to promote feelings of trust and loyalty.
While it may seem like marketers and email subscribers are a part of two different worlds, it could be argued that they want the same thing: to experience the positive effects of an expertly orchestrated marketing campaign. By incorporating these tactics, brands can take their email marketing to the next level and help to make that happen.
