This is my follow-up to yesterday's post: How NOT to Write an Email Promotion Message. It's so easy to pick out what's wrong with something; the real crux is in correcting an email to make it sizzle.
Pat McGraw of McGraw Marketing contributed a great comment which sums up what is wrong with the previous email message: "This laundry list of stuff has no clearly stated benefits and is more about the Famous Guru that it is about the recipient of the offer(s)."
I agree with Pat about what's wrong:
- No greeting, nothing with my name
- No reason given why this is important to me
- Only give me one thing to think about at a time, otherwise too many choice, no action will be taken.
There are others, but clearly the biggest one is not addressing the needs or wants of the reader. What's in it for me?
Even if I know who is sending me a message, I still need the reasons to care to be spelled out. Why? We're all busy with our own stuff. So if you don't spell it out for me, fuggitaboutit, I delete and move on.
Rule #1: Grab my attention. Here's a clue. I scan email headlines to decide what needs to be read. If your subject line isn't compelling, I ignore your email.
Discounts and sales don't intrigue me. Stories do. Tell me a story that involves real people, that gets me every time.
Rule #2: Tie in your story to the reason I should act on your offer. It can even be border-line lame, that's sometimes funny. But if you don't appeal to my needs and my wants, you'll fail to get me even curious to click to find out more. What's in it for me? Why is this important? Tell me.
Rule #3: Be personal. use my name. Most email services offer the ability to include first names in the headline, the greeting, the conclusion.
Rule#4: Keep it simple, only one offer at a time.
Rule#5: Give me a reason to click through now.
Remember to appeal to my emotions. Everybody wants to save time, money or energy. Everybody wants to have prestige, money or love. But not everybody is motivated by the same ones. And, why would I act now unless you include a sense of urgency?
Rule #6: Above all, be real, be honest, be authentic. Avoid hype. Show you're real by showing some humility. Nothing says arrogance like assuming everybody will want what you have to offer. Address objections because everybody has them in one form or another.
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