You’ve been promoted to online editor and email copywriter. Now what?
So you’re a new online editor. You’ve been transported from the print team and are assigned the studious task of writing daily blogs and sending email newsletters. The problem, is that this whole advertorial thing is new to you. How can you uphold your editorial integrity while selling a product?
It’s simple. Don’t loose your focus on the reader. Even a promotional email or advertorial should help the reader in some way. Even if you’re selling a product, you should give away enough information, or a simple tip that will make your email worth reading.
For the rest of it, here are a few email copywriting tips to get you started:
How to Get the Email Opened
Assuming that your email list is opt-in only, then you can conclude that people actually want to open your emails. They find your content intriguing and look forward to opening your email. Even so, many people have a lot of emails to open every day, so writing a good subject line will help. Try adding a sense urgency or possibly a question. Read our free 17 Best Email Subject Lines white paper for more on that!
Mystery is a good thing, just make sure not to cross the line of “tricking” your readers into opening an email that has content not aligned with what you’re promising them. The email subject line is not creative if it prompts the recipient to open your email message, but subsequently disappoints, confuses, or worse, alienates the recipient.
How to Get the Email Read
First of all, you’re a great writer. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be assigned with the task of writing email newsletters, or daily blogs. Consider what makes you read an email newsletter. Take an inventory of the email newsletters you receive and save the ones that really catch your attention. Every email copywriter has an archive of email newsletters and promotions that they model after in their own attempts.
Pictures are often eye-catching, but can be blocked by many email providers. This means that it’s nice to have a picture, but don’t depend on it to “sell” your email. Graphical elements, especially large and elaborately designed ones often distract from the message. Read our free Email Copywriting Basics white paper for a deeper discussion on great email copywriting.
How to Convert
Once they received, opened and read your email successfully, all that’s left is conversion. You need a clear call to action. Don’t blast your reader with a hard sell, but do allude to the product you will promote later in the newsletter. Take the time to edit your email down so that there is less clutter and more key points.
