How to Create the Perfect Content for Your Email Marketing

• Updated on: 2021-07-17
• Read original article here

With the mainstream emergence of social media marketing platforms, some experts have jumped the gun to declare email marketing dead.

This claim can’t be any further from the truth. Despite being one of the oldest forms of modern marketing, email marketing is still alive…and (pardon my French) kicking butt.

But it all depends on how you apply email marketing strategy. Nowadays, consumers yearn for a personal connection with a brand.

So, gone are the days of generic emails that sounded like formal letters. You can now choose a unique content tone to boost your audience and conversion rates.

Let’s explore how to create the perfect content for your email marketing campaign and why your business needs to do so to be successful.

You are probably still wondering who still uses emails to promote and sell their products.

But think about it for a minute; even companies like Google and Yahoo still market their products. Just check your mail and see their multiple email chains.

This means that email marketing must be generating returns for such renowned corporations to use it consistently.

So, here are the reasons your business or startup should optimize its email marketing content and capitalize on all of the benefits of email marketing:

Now that you have seen the benefits of email marketing, you should be convinced that your business can gain from it and generate a positive email marketing ROI.

However, you need to follow specific rules and avoid spam content to get massive returns. This all comes down to heart of your email marketing: Your actual content.

Creating written content can be a challenge for some, and when things get too complicated, you can engage with a freelancer or hire a professional writer from a write essays for me writing service to write persuasive copy for you.

Through years of research and experience as a writer, I would like to share with you some of the best ways of creating pitch-perfect email content.

Before choosing the medium for your marketing, you need to specify the goals. Once the goals are clear, you can start working on a universal strategy to achieve them.

When it comes to email marketing, your goals can fall under the following categories:

Depending on the specific goal, you should adjust your email marketing content to reach the perfect audience.

Also, you can create email content that addresses multiple objectives at the same time. Of course, this approach is more productive. But the problem is that you cannot always mash everything into one.

So, stick to a unique message in your email content. And if necessary, create separate email campaigns for different marketing objectives.

To avoid your email ending up in the spam folder, you need to work on an attention-grabbing subject line.

Internet users have a short attention span and are bombarded with notifications all day.

So, they have a limited window to evaluate the sender and their intentions. That is why you need to make a lasting first impression with the subject line and preheader.

Try to encapsulate the entire gist of the email in the subject line. Keep it short and straight to the point. You can also elaborate more in the preheader by highlighting a benefit the customer can gain from opening the mail.

But in the spirit of catchy headlines, some people rely on clickbait subject lines. While this approach might work the first time, your email over time just might end up in the spam or trash folder, wasting both yours and the customer’s time.

Now when it comes to the email content itself, you should personalize the message to every individual.

But that doesn’t mean you have to craft a separate email for every subscriber. You just need to get the tone right for a fictional customer.

How can you figure out the best way to personalize?

Customer personas contain a collection of information about your audience demographics and interests.

You can collect information to develop your customer persona through surveys, direct engagement, and questionnaires. With the information from this survey, you can craft a personalized message that addresses every potential customer.

And most importantly, use the second person in your emails. Only focus on “you and I” instead of writing about “the company.”

This conversational tone creates a sense of familiarity with the customers and increases the chances of them opening your email.

We always hate it when people are actively trying to sell things to us, and here is why…

Pushy salespeople make us feel suspicious about the product.

Why is this person trying to push me to buy this? What are their intentions? Is this product the real deal?

When you start your mail with a sales pitch, the customer will have the same reaction as a suspicious buyer. So, never pitch your product out the gate.

Create a mailing strategy to ease the potential customer in before selling them your product. This approach will also show the customer that you are reliable and considerate.

With your form designs and catchy headlines, you still need to back them up with top-quality offers.

First of all, always deliver on the promise as stated in the opt-in form and the subject line. This is the first test of your company or brand’s credibility.

Secondly, think of an offer that your audience will love. Do they want regular product updates or newsletters? Are they interested in promotions and freebies?

By determining their interests, you can tailor your email marketing content to address them. You should also segment your mailing list based on their opt-in pathways.

For instance, if someone subscribes to the newsletter, you should only send them newsletters. Otherwise, they will get frustrated and unsubscribe.

Most importantly, always offer the ultimate value in every email you send. If the potential site visitor or subscriber opens your email, they should get a beneficial product — a free ebook, promo code, or discount offers.

You are probably wondering why you should tell a story in your email. Famous writers like Jon Morrow use stories in their newsletters — and it works like a charm.

You don’t have to craft long-winded narratives to drive your point. Just keep the story short and relevant to the message.

For example, you can tell a short story about a student’s struggle with writing to market a Grammarly discount.

People always scan the document to get to the end. And they always read the endnotes and PS lines at the end.

Think about it; you always read those in any letter.

So, adding this line as a caveat or additional fact adds an extra sense of familiarity to the entire email. Besides, you can use the caveat line to specify a deadline for the promo or product availability.

You have probably seen a countdown timer on your favorite e-commerce website on Black Friday.

But why do you think that timer is there? To evoke a sense of urgency and serve as a reminder at the same time.

Of course, you would still buy the product anyway, but the fear of missing out (FOMO) will convince you to take action faster than usual.

So, always add a sense of urgency and FOMO in your email copies. You don’t need the countdown timer for this. You can craft your words to create this same feeling.

Here are ways to use FOMO in writing:

By the way, you can also use the ‘exclusivity’ clause as an incentive to convince the email recipients to take action.

When creating email content, marketers often forget to pay attention to their buttons and CTAs. This negligence is understandable because most people don’t recognize the importance of highlighting buttons.

If you want the recipient to follow a link, make it stand out from the rest of the page. Use contrasting colors to distinguish the button from the surrounding text.

You should also place the buttons centrally in the email body and make them visible.

And also, don’t forget to add a call-to-action to every button. CTAs serve as psychological triggers for the customer to perform an action after reading the email content.

You can always use generic CTAs like “Order Now” and “Download the PDF” to optimize your buttons. Alternatively, you can come up with a custom and friendly CTA for every email chain.

Your email marketing content should focus on continuing the dialogue with your customer rather than one-sided communication. Making the letter open-ended leads to more engagement and familiarity with the customer.

So, try to add a direct-response link in the email chain. And better still, encourage the reader to reach out if they have any concerns or questions. It’s a simple thing that shows you care and will increase engagement.

Technically, there is nothing wrong with posting plain text as your email content. But here is the thing: humans are visual creatures. We digest visual content faster and better than written content.

And let’s face it, text-only emails are bland to read, and as a result, reduce the CTR and subscribe rate.

That’s why you need to beautify the UI and email body. Use images and attractive colors to design the interface. And try to use relevant images for products and promotions.

You should also add social proof by including links to your social media platforms in the footer content.

As you’ve probably guessed at this point, the spam folder is where all emails are laid to rest before fulfilling their purpose.

Imagine spending your time, money, and effort to create an email content marketing campaign, and everything ends up in the spam folder.

You definitely don’t want that.

But you can keep your mail out of the spam folder by following these rules:

Ultimately, you should always read the email before sending it to make sure it doesn’t sound ‘spammy.’

Finding the perfect content marketing strategy involves meticulous planning and research. And once you find that perfect formula, you will meet your marketing goals.

But here is the problem: email marketing is a constantly evolving field.

Not long ago, all email communication was formal. But today, companies are using conversational and informal messaging for their content.

And who says this trend will not change in the coming years?

As automation starts to take over, new email marketing trends will appear to address consumer behavioral changes.

To always stay in the loop, you need to gather A/B analytics for every email initiative. Use the figures to find out what works and what doesn’t.

And from this data, you should adjust your email content marketing strategy to meet new standards and generate more leads and sales.

Finding the perfect content formula for your email marketing strategy can be challenging if you lack the required experience and skills. But you need to focus on the end customer’s needs at every stage of the email marketing funnel.

Start by creating a customer persona and growing your mailing list. Keep all your communications personal and relevant with a well-crafted subject line. And don’t forget about the design and CTA.

Follow the steps in this article to keep your email out of spam folders and into the inboxes of customers who will await every email communication from you!

This is a post contributed from one of my marketing partners.