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Todayâs burning question is a really interesting one from Marta. And I suspect one that will help anyone trying to sell in their emails without the email just becoming a sales pitch.
Martaâs question is:
How do you decide which angle to use to write an email, especially if itâs more of a salesly email and your goal is to convert?Â
Sometimes I struggle to decide as I feel more than one option could be suitable, and I wonder if there is a method you follow when picking (or am I overthinking this).
My initial reaction was to say I just go with what feels right. But thinking a bit more deeply about it, thereâs actually a kind of logic going on behind the scenes.
The first thing to say is that ideally, youâll be writing a series of emails to promote something rather than a one-off. That then gives you more chance to hit whatever the key hot buttons are in different emails rather than only having one shot at it.
But when it comes to an individual email, the first thing on my mind is how mature the market for the thing I want to promote is. Specifically how mature my audience is in terms of their awareness of the kind of problems the product solves.
For example, if Iâm talking about something that might solve a problem theyâre not actually aware of, then the first goal of my emails is going to be to raise awareness that they might actually have this issue.
So the angle of the email will be quite problem-focused.
It could be a âdo you make these mistakes?â type email. Or maybe an email where I call out a commonly held belief or âbest practiceâ as being wrong. Or if the thing Iâm talking about is quite new, the angle of the email may be to talk about a big new trend that relates to the issue.
Basically, the goal is to raise awareness of a problem or opportunity my readers might have that theyâre not aware of. Because if they donât think they have a problem thereâs no point trying to offer them a solution.
If I think that most of my readers will be aware of the problem, but there arenât a lot of well-worn solutions out there then the angle I take will probably be quite straightforward. Perhaps a how-to guide or a listicle with tips. The call to action in this case will be to offer a solution that goes into more step-by-step detail (like an online course) or offers personal support (like coaching).
If I think most people will not only be aware of the problem but have heard the basic solutions before and are probably aware of alternative offerings from competitors then my goal becomes to try to differentiate myself through the email (while providing value, of course).
So in this case I might write an email where I talk about my personal experience solving the problem for myself. Or it might be an email about a client I worked with to solve the problem for them. The idea here is to establish my credibility as someone who has done this in practice, not just in theory.
I might also try a âsecrets revealedâ type email where I show readers how most of the common solutions people talk about donât actually work and actually thereâs a different and little-known approach that does. This would work particularly well in a very mature or saturated market where clients have probably tried to fix the problem before and failed - so you need to show them that your approach is different to anything theyâve tried before.
I might also think about any objections Iâve regularly heard. For example if people often say âyeah, Iâve heard about that but it wouldnât work in accountingâ (or whatever niche you work in) then Iâd try to showcase what I did with a client in that particular sector and how they solved the problem.
In essence, youâre thinking âfor the majority of my readers, whatâs the biggest thing likely to hold them back from buyingâ and then using an angle for your email that lets you touch on that point.
You donât attack it head-on, of course.
No one wants an email saying âhey you, you have this problem but you donât know about itâ or âyou should work with Ian because his ideas are different to what youâve tried beforeâ.
Instead, you deliver value first with useful ideas in your email, but illustrate it with a story or case study that lets them infer the point you want to make.
Truthfully, I donât do all that thinking every time.
In fact, I donât do it most of the time.
If Iâm launching a new product or writing an evergreen email sequence that a lot of potential customers will go through then itâs absolutely worth doing.
But if itâs late on a Saturday night and I need to get Sundayâs email banged out, itâs probably not going to happen. Iâll think for a few minutes about what story to use to illustrate a point and then try to link to any call to action naturally at the end of the email.
Iâll have these concepts in the back of my head, but I wonât spend ages trying to find the perfect story that maximises my chance of converting.
Because thereâs always another email.
As long as this email is useful and interesting, people will stay tuned for the next and the next.
Plenty more chances to hit them at the right time with a message that resonates.
So Iâm fairly relaxed about it.
Todayâs email is a good case in point.
When I wrote the email I was 100% focused on answering Martaâs question in the best way possible rather than trying to build in any cleverness to lead you closer to being ready to buy something from me.
In fact, it was only after sending myself a test email that I thought âhang on, Email Angles is one of the things I cover in my Effective & Engaging Newsletters course. Perhaps I ought to mention thatâŠâ
So I am :)
The course isnât officially launched yet - thatâs why thereâs no fancy sales page telling you how it makes it super easy to come up with brilliant ideas for emails and gives you hassle-free ways to write them and get more people to buy from them.
And thatâs why itâs just ÂŁ97 (+VAT in the UK) right now - the price will shoot up when itâs officially launched.
So if you want to jump in and get started right away, just click the link below. Youâll get immediate access to the full course plus the new fast start module Iâm working on when itâs done.
Hereâs that link youâre looking for :)
- Ian
PSâŠ
How I decide on the right angle for an email
And if anyone is considering Ianâs course, go for it! Itâs everything and more you need to learn how to create a newsletter and structure emails for quicker, more efficient writing. Ian is a brilliant teacher!
Thank you Ian, so many key takeaways here, truly appreciate the in depth analysis!