Selling products through email can feel like a shot in the dark. You craft what you believe to be compelling messages, yet they seem to fall flat. The truth is, writing emails that sell isn’t about luck; it’s about strategy, understanding your audience, and knowing how to craft words that move them to action. Let’s dive into how you can transform your emails from simple messages into powerful sales drivers.
Why Email Still Reigns Supreme for Sales
In the ever-evolving world of digital marketing, email often gets overlooked as the “old-fashioned” tactic. Yet, it remains one of the most effective channels for driving product sales. Think about it:
- Direct Line to Customers: Unlike social media, where your posts compete with countless others, email allows you to communicate directly with individuals who have already shown interest in your brand. They chose to give you their email, and that is a golden ticket.
- Personalized Approach: Email gives you the power to segment your audience and tailor messages to their specific needs and preferences. This level of personalization can significantly boost engagement and conversion rates.
- Measurable Results: You can track key metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates with email marketing. This data lets you understand what’s working and adjust your approach.
- Cost-Effective: Compared to other marketing methods, email marketing often offers a higher return on investment (ROI), making it a good option for businesses of all sizes.
Email is not just a tool for sending messages; it’s a platform for building relationships, nurturing leads, and driving sales. If used right, it can make a big difference to your bottom line.
The Essential Elements of Emails That Sell
Before you start writing, you need to understand the components that make an email effective. These are not just about words; they also involve the structure and flow of the message. Here’s a look at the elements:
The Subject Line: The Gatekeeper
The subject line is your first (and sometimes only) chance to grab attention. It’s the gatekeeper, deciding whether your email gets opened or sent to the trash. The best ones are:
- Clear and Concise: Let the reader know what they will find in the email. Avoid vague language and long sentences.
- Intriguing: Make people curious enough to want to learn more. Ask a question, share a surprising fact, or create a sense of urgency.
- Personalized: Use the recipient’s name or refer to their past actions with your brand. Studies show personalized subject lines get higher open rates.
- Relevant: Ensure your subject line is in sync with the email’s content. If they do not match, you may lose the reader’s trust.
The Preview Text: A Sneak Peek
Preview text is the snippet of text that appears after the subject line in the inbox. It offers another way to entice the reader to open your email. When used right, it’s a boost for the subject line, giving it more power.
- Extend the Subject Line: Treat preview text as an extension of the subject line. Give more context or build on the hook you created.
- Include a Call to Action: Guide the reader to take the next step. You could say something like “Shop now” or “Learn more.”
- Use Compelling Language: Choose words that are eye-catching and relevant to the content of the email.
The Body: The Heart of Your Message
This is where you present your product or service and persuade the reader to make a purchase. The best way to approach the body is by:
- Start with a Hook: Use the opening lines to grab your readers’ attention and keep them reading. Make a bold claim, tell a short story, or ask a question that relates to their needs or desires.
- Highlight the Benefits: Talk about what your product or service can do for them. Talk about how it can make their lives easier, better, or happier. Focus on solving their problems, and not on just features of your product.
- Use Storytelling: Share customer testimonials, case studies, or personal stories that resonate with your audience and build a personal connection.
- Keep it Concise: People read emails on the go. Cut the jargon and keep your writing short and to the point. Use short paragraphs and bullet points to make the text easy to skim.
- Create a Sense of Urgency: Use words that make the reader feel like they need to take action now. This might mean saying there is a limited time or there is limited stock of a product.
The Call to Action: The Final Push
The call to action (CTA) is where you tell the reader what you want them to do. This needs to be clear, specific, and compelling.
- Use Action-Oriented Language: Start your CTA with a verb. Words like “Shop,” “Buy,” “Learn,” or “Download.”
- Make it Stand Out: Use contrasting colors, large fonts, or buttons to make your CTA easy to see and click.
- Keep it Concise: Avoid long sentences. Get to the point and tell the user what to do.
- Create a Sense of Urgency: Use words like “now,” “today,” or “limited time offer” to inspire a sense of urgency.
Crafting Compelling Email Copy
Now that you have a grasp of the elements of a sales email, let’s talk about writing techniques that will help you craft copy that converts:
Understand Your Audience
Before you write a single word, understand who you’re talking to. Consider their:
- Demographics: Age, location, gender, income, education, occupation and more. This gives you a bird’s eye view of the user.
- Needs: What problems are they trying to solve? What are their desires? What are they looking for in a product like yours?
- Pain Points: What are they struggling with? What fears or frustrations do they have?
- Values: What do they care about? What are their beliefs? What do they consider important?
Once you know who you’re talking to, you can write emails that speak directly to their specific needs and concerns.
Nail the Tone
Your email tone needs to be in sync with your brand and the needs of your target audience. The tone you use affects how your readers perceive your message, brand and product. Consider the following options:
- Friendly and Conversational: This approach is good for creating a sense of connection and building rapport. Use a casual language and speak to the reader as if they are your friend.
- Professional and Authoritative: This works best when you need to show you are an expert. Use a more formal language and give stats and data to back your claims.
- Urgent and Exciting: This tone can get readers to take action fast, but you can’t use it for every single email. Use it for sales, product launches, or limited time offers to push people to buy.
- Empathetic and Understanding: This tone is a good fit for showing you care about the problems of the reader and will work to offer the best solutions. Use this to establish trust and build a personal connection.
Tell a Story
Stories are a great way to connect with readers on an emotional level. They help make your message more memorable and engaging.
- Customer Stories: Share how other customers used your product or service to solve their problems. Use real names or case studies to make your stories more relatable.
- Brand Stories: Share the origin of your company, or share a challenge you faced and how you overcame it. This will help the reader understand your values and see you as a real human.
- Personal Anecdotes: Share relatable stories about yourself or your team. Show you’re not just a faceless corporation, but real people.
Highlight the Benefits, Not Just Features
It’s easy to get caught up in talking about all the features of your product, but what readers really want to know is what it can do for them. This means you should always:
- Focus on the End Result: How will your product or service improve their lives? How will it make them more efficient, effective, or satisfied?
- Use “You” Focused Language: Talk about what the reader will get from your product and not just what your product does.
- Use Strong Verbs: Use verbs that show the power of your product and what it can do. Words like “transform,” “boost,” “save,” and “achieve.”
- Address Specific Problems: Explain how your product or service will solve specific problems and issues the reader might have. Show you understand their pain points.
Use Power Words
Power words are words that can evoke emotion and inspire action. These can significantly increase the effectiveness of your copy. Some common words are:
- Urgency: Now, fast, today, hurry, limited, last chance.
- Exclusivity: Secret, private, members-only, exclusive, special.
- Value: Free, bonus, save, discount, guarantee.
- Results: Achieve, transform, boost, improve, discover.
- Emotion: Love, happy, excited, amazing, incredible.
Make it Skimmable
Most people do not have time to read long, dense paragraphs. Make sure the reader can easily scan your emails and find the important information they need. This means you have to:
- Use Short Paragraphs: Stick to two or three sentences. Longer paragraphs might cause the reader to feel lost.
- Use Bullet Points or Numbered Lists: These make the information easy to scan and digest.
- Use Headers and Subheaders: Help the reader see the main sections of your email.
- Use Bold or Italics: Stress key points and show the important parts of your message.
Make it Personal
People respond better to emails that feel like they were written specifically for them. There are a few things you can do:
- Use the Recipient’s Name: Start the email with their name. This is an easy but powerful way to personalize your email.
- Segment Your Audience: Send messages to different groups based on their interests, past purchases, or behavior. This will make your emails feel like a better fit.
- Refer to Past Actions: Acknowledge their past purchases or their actions on your site. If you know they browsed for something specific, show products that relate to those browses.
Test and Iterate
The best way to know what works is to try new things. Test different parts of your email to see what resonates best with your audience.
- A/B Test Subject Lines: Try different words and phrases to see which one results in more opens.
- Test Different CTAs: Change the text, the color, the placement and more. Try to find out what leads to more clicks.
- Track Email Analytics: Look at metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. Use these metrics to adjust your approach.
- Look for Patterns: See what types of emails do best with your audience and use them again.
Types of Emails That Drive Product Sales
There are many different types of emails you can use to promote your products and drive sales. Knowing the right time to use each email type can help you make a big impact. Here are some examples:
Welcome Emails
These are sent to new subscribers and set the tone for your relationship. You might:
- Thank New Subscribers: Show how much you appreciate their interest.
- Introduce Your Brand: Share your brand story and your unique value proposition.
- Show Your Best-Selling Products: Guide them to a few of your best products, which might spark their interest.
- Offer a Discount or Promotion: Give a first-time buyer a discount. This makes them feel welcome and motivates them to make a purchase.
Product Launch Emails
These announce new products or features to your audience and help generate excitement and sales. You should:
- Build Anticipation: Start by teasing your new launch to get people excited.
- Share a Sneak Peek: Give them an idea of what they can expect with your new product or feature.
- Highlight Benefits: Show how the product can improve the reader’s life.
- Include a Strong CTA: Make it easy for people to buy your new product by using a clear call to action button.
Promotional Emails
These emails offer discounts, deals, or special offers to your readers to encourage them to make a purchase. This involves:
- Clear Offers: Make sure your discounts are easy to understand and are very obvious.
- Time-Sensitive Deals: Make readers feel like they need to take action right away by giving time sensitive deals.
- Relevant Products: Show products that the user might be interested in based on their previous actions with your brand.
Abandoned Cart Emails
These are used to recover lost sales by reminding customers of the items they left in their carts. To encourage the reader to buy, you should:
- Remind Them of What They Left: Show pictures of the items they left in their carts.
- Highlight the Benefits of the Products: Give the reader an extra push by showing all the good points of the products they left in the cart.
- Offer Free Shipping or a Discount: Give the reader a little extra something to finish the purchase.
- Include a Clear CTA: Make it easy for them to return to their cart and finish the transaction.
Transactional Emails
These emails are automated messages sent to confirm purchase details. While these are not meant to drive sales, you can use them to your advantage by:
- Cross-Selling or Upselling: Recommend products related to the one they bought.
- Offer a Discount on Their Next Purchase: Motivate them to buy something again by offering a small discount.
- Include Links to Helpful Resources: Provide information on how to get the best results from the products they bought.
Re-Engagement Emails
These emails are aimed at customers who have not engaged with your brand for a while. They offer a good chance to regain lost sales. Consider doing these things:
- Ask About Their Preferences: Get to know if they still want to receive emails from you and what they might want to see.
- Offer Exclusive Content: Give content they can’t find anywhere else.
- Include a Special Promotion: Give them a good deal so they feel like returning is worth it.
Technical Aspects to Keep in Mind
Besides the words, there are technical aspects that also influence the performance of your emails. Keep these things in mind:
Email Deliverability
Make sure your emails get to the user inbox and not the spam folder.
- Use a Reputable Email Marketing Platform: Use trusted platforms with good deliverability rates.
- Authenticate Your Emails: Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to prove that your emails are legit and not spam.
- Avoid Spam Trigger Words: Don’t use words like “free”, “guarantee”, “limited time offer” in your subject line. These tend to trigger spam filters.
- Maintain a Clean Email List: Regularly remove inactive subscribers and bad email addresses.
- Get Explicit Consent: Only email people who have agreed to receive your emails.
- Use Double Opt-In: Verify new subscribers with a confirmation email.
Mobile Optimization
Most people read their emails on their phones, so make sure your emails are mobile-friendly. This means you should:
- Use Responsive Design: Make your emails look good on any device.
- Use Large Fonts and Buttons: Make text easy to read on small screens and make links easy to tap with fingers.
- Use Short Subject Lines and Preview Text: Mobile devices don’t have much space so keep things short.
- Keep Email Sizes Small: Don’t use very large images. These can take a long time to load.
Email Design
The way your email looks is as important as what you write.
- Keep it Clean and Simple: Use a design that is easy to look at. Do not overcomplicate your design with too many elements.
- Use High-Quality Images: Use images that are clear, professional, and relevant to your message.
- Use Brand Colors and Fonts: Keep things in sync with the visual identity of your brand.
- Use Enough White Space: Don’t overfill your design, give some space so things are easy to read.
Email Segmentation
Segment your audience to make your emails more relevant and effective. This involves:
- Create Buyer Personas: Make profiles of your ideal customers.
- Segment Your List Based on Behavior: Divide your list by purchase history, web activity, demographics, or any other traits.
- Send Personalized Emails: Use information to make emails that are more relevant to each individual subscriber.
Measuring Your Email Success
Use metrics to see how well your emails are performing and to find ways to improve. Some of the metrics you should track are:
Open Rate
This is the percentage of people who open your email. A high open rate shows that your subject line is effective.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
This measures the percentage of people who click on a link in your email. A high CTR shows that your email body is persuasive and engaging.
Conversion Rate
This is the percentage of people who complete a desired action, like making a purchase. A high conversion rate shows that your email is effectively driving sales.
Unsubscribe Rate
This is the percentage of people who unsubscribe from your email list. A high unsubscribe rate means your emails are not relevant or you are emailing too often.
Bounce Rate
This is the percentage of emails that don’t get delivered. A high bounce rate can mean your email list is outdated.
Revenue Per Email (RPE)
This shows how much revenue you get for every email you send. It’s a very good measure of how profitable your campaigns are.
Return on Investment (ROI)
This is a comparison of how much you make vs how much you spend on email marketing campaigns. A high ROI shows that your email campaigns are profitable.
Final Thoughts
Crafting emails that sell products is both an art and a science. It requires deep understanding of your audience, a strategic approach to writing, and an eye for design. By focusing on clarity, personalization, and compelling storytelling, you can write emails that are not just read, but are acted upon. Remember to always test, iterate, and measure your results to get better. The key is to always be learning and adjusting your approach to get the best results. Email marketing has the potential to be a very effective sales tool for your business, as long as you learn how to harness its full power.
