You will be able to write a marketing email with a clear subject line, one message and one call to action.
Most promotional emails are deleted without being opened. The reader decides in a moment, and the decision rests on two things: who sent it and what the subject line says. People open an email when they recognise the sender and the subject tells them something they want, and fewer still read to the end. Think about the promotional emails that reached you in the last week and how few you opened. Your customers treat your emails the same way.
What follows deals only with what the reader sees: the sender name, the subject line, the body and the one link. Building a list, setting up sequences and getting emails delivered are covered in the Email marketing and automation course.
In the inbox, the reader sees two things before reading a word: who the email is from and what it is about. Both need work.
The sender name is the "from" name shown in the inbox before the email is opened. It should be recognisable at a glance. For a small business it is often a person's name plus the business name, such as "Priya at" followed by the name of her tuition centre, rather than a generic "Newsletter" or "noreply". People open email from people they know, so if your customers know you by your first name, use it.
The subject line tells the reader what the email is about, and it has to be specific and true. Specific means it says what is inside and why it matters to the reader. "Our March newsletter" tells the reader nothing. "Saturday trial slots for P5 maths, three left this week" lets a parent decide in a second whether to open it. True means the claim holds: if the subject line says three slots are left, there must be three.
Good subject lines follow the same patterns as the headlines in Lesson 2.2: how-to, problem, outcome, a question the reader would answer yes to, and a specific number. The headlines you rejected in Lesson 2.4 are a ready supply. For every email, write three subject line options and pick one. If your email tool lets you test two subject lines on part of your list, use it, and keep a note of which kind tends to win.
Each email should carry one message: one thing you want the reader to know or do, rather than an update on everything that happened this month. If you have three things to say, that usually means three emails. A reader who finishes an email with three equal messages remembers none of them clearly and does nothing. With one message, they know what to do next. The reasoning is the same as for calls to action in Lesson 4.3.
The four-part structure from Lesson 4.1 fits an email well: the reader's situation, what you offer, one piece of proof, and the action. In a short email each part may be a paragraph or less.
The one link is the single link you most want clicked. Make it obvious, either as a clear button or a plain link whose words say what happens when it's clicked; Lesson 4.3 covers how to word it. In a longer email the same link can appear twice, once near the top and once at the end, as long as both go to the same destination. Footer links such as your address and the unsubscribe link are expected and do not compete. What competes is a body full of different links to the blog, the shop, Instagram, a survey and the offer. Each one draws clicks away from the one you want.
Marketing email reads best as one person writing to another. Use "you", and "I" or "we", and write as you would to a customer you know rather than in the voice of a brochure.
Most readers open email on a phone. Keep paragraphs to two or three sentences so the email doesn't become a wall of text on a narrow screen. Put the main point in the first two lines, because some people read only that far. Make the button large enough to tap with a thumb.
Priya works at a tuition centre that offers P5 maths. She sent a short email to parents who had enquired about P5 maths but had not booked. The subject line was "One Saturday class, no payment, to see if it fits".
The email opens by saying it is from Priya at the centre and reminding the parent that they asked about P5 maths a few weeks ago. It then names a problem many parents report: the child knows the work at home but goes blank in the test. Priya explains that the Saturday classes of six are built around this. The tutor checks every child's working as they go, so mistakes are caught early. She offers one free trial class, this Saturday or next, with no payment and no commitment to a term. There is one button, "Book a free trial class". The email closes by saying that if now isn't the right time, that's fine, and the parent can reply with any question, which Priya will answer personally.
The email works because it has one message, one link and a way to reply, it is written by a named person to one parent, and it reads easily on a phone.
Write one promotional email for your own business. Decide the single message first, then the single link. Write the body next, covering the reader's situation, what you offer, one piece of proof and the action. Write your three subject lines last, when you know exactly what the email says, and pick one. If your tool supports it, test two subject lines on part of your list and note which kind wins.
Before you send it, check the body against these points:
One message One link, repeated only if it goes to the same destination Written to one person, using "you" and "I" or "we" Paragraphs of two or three sentences The main point in the first two lines A button large enough to tap with a thumb
Write one promotional email for your business with three subject line options, one message and one call to action.
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