3 things every effective email needs
--> most people miss #3 (sorry!)
I’ve always tended to overcomplicate things.
Thankfully, with age comes forgetfulness wisdom, so a lot of what I teach these days is simplified, stripped down, and frankly, more effective.
I’ve noticed that pattern in my emails over the last year or so too. Some of the most effective ones have often been the simplest.
And they (usually) have 3 key features:
They’re interesting - so people actually read them. That might be because of a story, an unusual idea, or the revelation of a valuable secret you might want to know.
They’re useful - so people keep coming back for more. This really is the biggest factor driving your open rate. It doesn’t matter how clever or clickbaity your subject line is, if people get the idea your emails aren’t going to help them, they’ll stop opening them.
They “prove” my products work - so that over time, people will buy. This is the trickiest one for most people so let’s dive into it a bit more...
Interest and value is what gets people to open and read your emails and to keep coming back. But what’s the point of having people subscribe and read your emails unless eventually, it turns into clients or customers?
If you want people to buy from you, you have to offer them something they want, and give them a good reason for buying from you - and ideally for buying right now.
That means at some point your emails have to point readers at your products and services - or a first step towards them like a call or webinar.
And they need confidence that your products will work for them, and that they’re a better choice than other options. That’s where the proof comes in.
Proof can come in many forms in email.
If you’re an expert selling your services or some type of course or information then delivering valuable and relevant advice in your emails goes a long way to proving you’re the right person to work with. provided - of course - that you highlight they’ll get more and better from your paid services.
Illustrating your emails with a case study from your clients or your own experience allows readers to come to the conclusion that your stuff gets results.
Actually demonstrating what you do in your emails is the ultimate proof. For example last time I used one of my own email templates to show how easy and quick it is to come up with great emails if you’re got a good theme and outline to follow.
Why do most of us end up missing this more sales-oriented step?
Partly, I think, it’s because it’s usually such hard work writing a good email that once we’ve done it we don’t have the energy to review it to make sure it’s also leading people towards buying.
Partly, of course, it’s because most of us in the helping professions rightly don’t like being “too salesy”. But as a result we go too far in the opposite direction and end up just hoping people will notice how great we are and call us rather than actually making an offer.
And partly it’s just because we don’t know how to do it in an effective, non-jarring way.
The simplest way I know to make sure you don’t skip this vital step is to build it in to the templates and formats you’re using for your emails.
If you’re writing from scratch, start with a simple template that says something along the lines of:
* Subject line & pre-header
* Hook
* Transition
* Valuable Content
* Call to action
Then at least you’ll have a reminder to write one.
And if you use one of my email template packs, you’ll get detailed guidance on how to write an effective call to action that fits with the type of email you’ve written.