Know Your Target Audience
Tailor your message according to your audience and your
objective. Know what motivates your recipients and use it
to determine how, and in what order, to describe the
benefits of your offer.
Be Clear and Concise
Stick to simple words, short phrases and paragraphs
consisting of 1-3 short sentences. Your recipients should
not have to think too much, parse long sentences or read
big sections of text. Check for words that can be
eliminated. You will be surprised at how many you find and
how much cleaner your writing is when you are finished.
Get to the Point
The first two sentences of your email should answer
important questions for the recipient like, "Who are you?
What do you want me to do? And what's in it for me?" So
state your offer up front, include benefits and make it
easy for your audience to take the next step.
Include "Call to Action" Links
Know what action you want your recipients to take. Do you
want them to read an article? Learn more about a product
or service? Buy something? Then, place a link in the
beginning, middle and end of the email, making it easy for
the recipient to click whenever they are ready. People
read, react, make decisions and take action differently.
By sprinkling links throughout your email, you can be
ready whenever they are.
Focus on Benefits
Make your offer valuable. Before you start writing, try
listing the benefits of your offer, rank them in order of
importance, then pick the top three and be sure to
emphasize those benefits early on.
Create a Sense of Urgency
Limit the offer to a specific time period or, for example,
the first 50 customers. People don't like to be at a
disadvantage or left out. Try throwing in a bonus, for
example, "Act now and also receive…" to sweeten the deal.
Proofread
Read your email copy aloud. If you stumble over words or
phrases, rewriting is a very good idea. Check your
spelling and grammar thoroughly. Errors not only make your
email harder to read, they can make your company look
unprofessional. Ask others who are not involved with your
business to read your email. They will be able to tell you
if it makes sense.
Use These Words
Experts agree that the following are among the most
powerful and persuasive words you can use in email
promotions:
You, your, discover, free, healthy, easy,
introducing, gain, new, money, advice, results, sale,
proven, benefits, effective, save, value, now, win,
right, why, most, safe and guaranteed.
Punctuate Judiciously
Save exclamation points for when you really need them, use
ALL CAPS carefully for emphasis and steer clear of
emoticons ;). The benefits of the offer itself will
motivate the recipient more effectively without reasonless
clutter.
Beyond these general guidelines, it is experience that
will help you improve your response. Define your objective,
your audience and your offer, and then be creative!