• By michelle
• In Content Marketing
• Posted Jun 23, 2016

Elements of an Effective Email 

 

An email is one of the most appropriate vehicles to use when making offers and sending content to interested prospects.

In fact, emails are 40 times more effective in acquiring new customers than Facebook or Twitter.

With this in mind, it’s time to stop sending emails haphazardly and look at implementing an email marketing strategy for your business.

Maybe you’re reading this and thinking, “I’ve tried email marketing before, and it’s been a waste of time—we’ve had little or no results from it.” Fair enough.

Would you try it again if I told you that I have the secret ingredients to crafting an email that converts and helps drives sales?

You’re in? Fantastic! (I pegged you for a savvy reader ☺.)

Add the following elements of a perfect email into the next message you send your list and see a change in your email marketing success.

Eye-Catching Subject Line

The first thing prospects see as they scroll through their inbox is your email’s subject line.

Therefore, your subject line needs to be flashy, sexy, and interesting…it needs to be Ryan Reynolds running shirtless through a field of puppies as money rains down from the heavens.

Ok, maybe that’s a little extreme, but you get the point.

You have two options when it comes to subject lines.

Direct Subject Line

A direct subject line tells you exactly what is inside the email.

Example: Dirt cheap Facebook leads

When you open the email, you’re going to find info on how to get dirt cheap Facebook leads.

Indirect Subject Line

An indirect subject line is curiosity driven.

Example: This is embarrassing but…

When you stumble upon this headline, curiosity is going to drive you to open the email.

Inside will be content that is indirectly related to the subject line.

Craft an eye-catching subject line, and your emails will generate more click-throughs.

Greased Chute Opening

A greased chute opening is simply a punchy or interesting opening to your email that slides the reader into your body content.

It’s important to pull people into your emails this way because it builds momentum to keep the reader reading.

A great example comes to us from Digital Marketer.

Notice how they spark interest in the opening of their content by talking about something they failed at.

It’s no surprise that people are going to want to keep reading to see what the author did wrong, and then eventually figure out what they learned from it.

Body Copy

It’s no big surprise that every email you send out needs to have body content.

Unfortunately, what some people forget about is the difference between “body copy” and “valuable body copy.”

If you’re going to send your prospects emails, especially ones that sell a product/service, they need to contain value.

Period. End of story.

You can add value to your emails in many ways. Here are a few examples:

• Give a shortcut to doing something.

• Give a solution to a problem.

• Give your audience a free tool.

• Give your readers access to important information/knowledge.

• Give away coupons or free stuff.

Call to Action

A call to action is by far one of the most missed elements in an email. Don’t forget to put it in your emails.

Why is it so important?

Well, you just spent all this time crafting an email that prompts a person to opt in to something, download a piece of content, or purchase a product or service.

If you did it correctly, you’ll probably have people that are now interested in what you’re offering.

If you don’t give your readers a Call to Action, there’s a good chance they will move on without taking or purchasing what you have to offer.

Check out this example from a webinar we did.

Don’t Forget the P.S.

Adding a P.S. gives you one last chance to call attention to something interesting or important in the email you just wrote.

Telling stories in your P.S. or including testimonials or photos is also another great way to increase click-throughs.

You can also use it to forecast emails that you will send in the future.

Check out this example:

The P.S. reminds the readers that more important information is on its way. A P.P.S can also be used to end an email.

In this example, it’s calling attention to The Original CrockPET™ Diet, which has nothing to do with the educational email content, but does offer pet owners another solution on how to keep their pets healthy.

 Love this post? Share it on Twitter.