Email

What is email copywriting?

Email copywriting refers to any sort of content involved in a marketing email, from subject lines and preview text to the body copy itself. An email copywriter writes this copy for brands, generally with the purpose of engaging with and converting both existing and prospective customers.

Email Copywriting Examples

• Promotional Emails
• Feedback Requests
• Product Emails
• Welcome emails
• Re-engagement emails
• Post-purchase emails
• Cart abandonment emails
• Company updates
• Policy changes
• Industry-relevant breaking news

Email copywriting tips

1. Nail the subject line

Your email subject line is the headline equivalent for your email copy. If it isn’t relevant or interesting and doesn’t inspire your readers to take action, they won’t open it.

Put a lot of time into writing your subject line just like you would writing an engaging blog headline. If you spend four hours total with your email copywriting, you should spend half of that on your subject line.

Options for your subject line:

• Length: Research shows that short subject lines—between six and ten words—had the best open rate. This is likely because most people spend time reading emails on their mobile devices. If your email subject line is long, it might look great on a browser but mobile users won’t get the whole story—and they definitely won’t click it.
• Word choice: Use action verbs in your subject line. This will help subscribers understand what you want them to do before they even open the email. Use phrases like “act now,” “you deserve this,” or “don’t miss out” to create a sense of urgency.
• Keep it personal: Using the names of real people in your “to” and “from” fields will earn you higher open rates. Email is a personal medium, treat it that way. It’s refreshing for readers to see an email in their inbox from a real person’s name rather than a company.

2. Don’t forget the preview text

For users on mobile devices, preview text helps them decide whether or not the email is worth opening. 

3. Get personal

This cannot be stressed enough: email copywriting needs to be personal if you want it to convert. Pretend you’re talking directly to one friend or one customer. Let them know about the exciting stuff you want to tell them and explain what you want them to do.

Keep it conversational. By nature, email is private and personal. If you want your copy to resonate with your readers, you need to approach them on a personal level.

4. Avoid industry jargon

You’re not writing to show readers how much you know about your industry. Skip the industry jargon and use terms that real people can understand. Even lawyers and investment firms should avoid technical language in emails for average consumers.

5. Choose your words carefully

Keeping in line with the conversational tone, use the words “you” and “your” quite a bit as you go about your email copywriting. This will let your readers know that the email is about them and not you.

You’ll also want to focus on the benefits of what you’re offering rather than the features. When you talk about features, the focus is on you, your company, and your product.

When you talk about benefits, the focus is on how your product or service can enrich the lives of your subscribers.

6. Keep things short and concise

If you’re writing several hundred words of copy in your emails, you’re doing it wrong.

Although people spend a lot of time scrolling through their inboxes while they complete other tasks—6.4 hours a day in many cases—people only skim individual emails.

Get right to the point. Let your subscribers know what’s up, how you’re ready to help, and what you want them to do. Use bulleted lists, short sentences, and questions as needed to get your point across.

7. Make sure your content is relevant

If you just learned about a cool new video game, would you call or message everyone in your contacts to tell them about it? No, you’d contact only the people who care about video games.

Likewise, you shouldn’t send the same email to all of your subscribers. Creating general emails for your entire list won’t resonate with anyone and they certainly won’t convert. In fact, if you’re still sending general email blasts, now’s the time to retire that email marketing tactic.

Instead, break your subscriber list into segments based on what they’ve clicked in the past, age groups, shopping habits, when they signed up, and other factors that make sense for your industry and brands.

8. Include a single and simple call-to-action

It can be tempting to fill an email with multiple CTAs in the hopes that at least one will resonate with your subscribers enough to get them to click something.

But the truth is, if you give your subscribers too many links and buttons to click, they probably won’t click any of them. Your copy should be simple and you should include a single CTA that clearly states what you want your readers to do. Don’t beat around the bush. Your readers don’t have time for that.