11 key steps for writing email marketing content that converts leads into sales

Email marketing is still, if not more, effective than it ever has been before. In fact, over 100 billion emails are sent every single day. As a marketer, it’s definitely a medium you shouldn’t ignore.

But, the question remains. Are your emails making the most of the opportunities that they have? Is your content and email copy turning those leads into profitable customers or service users? Today, we’ll explore eleven keys steps you can take to make it happen.

Nail the subject line

Imagine if an email was an article or a blog post, the subject line would be the headline and the main draw for people to want to click on your emails. This needs to be short, dramatic and make an impact with your recipients.

Perfect the preview text

Just after the subject line, you’ll normally see a preview of the email, usually around 3-10 words long. This only takes a second to read so you can be sure that your readers are reading it, judging whether or not to open your email. Make it count. You can use free online tools, such as Easy Word Count, to track your word use to ensure that it’s perfect.

Define your audience

Before you even set about writing the first word, it’s vital that you know exactly who your audience is going to be. Are you writing for female swimmers in the Downtown Chicago area aged between 18-26, or are you writing for the over-50’s knitting group in Western Australia?

You need to have this information at the forefront of your mind when you sit down to write your emails. This will help you to determine your style, your language, your angle and your formatting.

Format your content

Once you’ve hooked your reader into opening the email, the real mission begins. Just like you would if you were writing an article or a blog post, you want to make sure that your email is nicely laid out, easy to read and formatted professionally.

This means adding bullet points, headings, sub-headings and short paragraphs. For more advice and guidelines on how to format your text, your content and your emails properly, use the online guides, such as State of Writing or Assignment Help.

Create email templates

What’s the point in sitting at your computer creating email after email after email? Instead, why not save a sample of your emails as a template for you to use over and over again, saving you so much time while allowing you the opportunity to refine and analyse your effectiveness continually. Websites, such as iContact, are a great place to start and come with a whole range of pre-made designs to work from.

Be a human

When writing your email content, it’s important to remember that your readers will want to see you as being a human, not a cog in the capitalist machine. This means you need to treat your readers as readers, as equals and actually have a conversation which them, rather than sounding like a robot.

When writing your emails, try to avoid complicated marketing language and complex terminology. Instead, imagine you’re simply sitting down across the table from this individual, and you’re simply telling them about your product or service.

Automate your emails

If you’re not doing this by now, then you’re seriously MO. By automating your emails, you can specifically target your email campaigns towards certain people at certain stages of your sales funnel.

The easiest way to automate your emails is by using software, such as AWeber or GetResponse, which can be incredibly easy to set up and manage.

Take advantage of proven psychology

As with social media, the internet and indeed, pretty much everything else in our lives, there are several psychologies you can use in your emails that will help to drive up your click-through rate as well as your conversion rate.

For example, one of the most popular, and the only reason that social media is so addictive is Fearing of Missing Out (FOMO). You may say in your email how popular your service is and how ‘everybody is getting involved.’ This immediately makes people believe that they want to be involved and so they do. This is also why exclusively timed deals work so well.

Perfect your content

After you have finished writing your emails, before sending them, make sure that you proofread and edit your content to ensure that it’s as ready as it’ll ever be.

You’ll want to keep an eye out for punctuation, grammar, spelling and the sentence structure to see how well your email reads. For guidelines and professional assistance, it’s recommended that you use online services, such as UK Writings, or Oxessays.

Looks professional

It’s important that all aspects of your emails look professional and is as good as it can be. If it doesn’t, your readers will simply dismiss your emails, send it to the trash, and they’ll never think about your email again. Even down to details, such as insert quotes or reviews of your site, need to be added in a professional way, using tools like Cite It In.

Use images

This doesn’t mean you have to use full-scale, high-quality images. Obviously, use good quality images, but it’s worth experimenting with what works for you. Look for gifs, graphical logos and vector images, all of which can stand out and make your emails pop.

Reward the readers

There’s nothing better than opening an email from your favourite website, only to find out they’ve given you a lucrative reward, such as a 10% discount, just for being you. Readers love this kind of offer, and it’s a great way to push your email marketing campaign and convert those leads into sales.

Final thoughts

Email marketing may seem difficult at first and can even be disheartening when they’re failing to convert leads. However, with practice, and determination, you’ll soon find that your email marketing strategy can be one of the most effective ways of converting leads and could easily be your primary source of traffic if mastered.

Gloria Kopp is a marketer strategist and a content writer at Boom Essays. She enjoy sharing her writing advice in her posts at Engadget and Paper Fellows Blog. Gloria also writes Studydemic blog where she shares her tips and reviews for students and educators.