10 Tips To Create a Killer Copy + 20 Email Copywriting Examples
Reading Time: 9 minutesSince its adoption in the early days of business, email has been an advertising staple. However, too many emails sent to consumers day after day go unread and unappreciated. The truth is many email copywriting examples worth looking at are simply skipped because of the plethora of emails consumers receive daily.
But should that demotivate you to write emails? Absolutely not! Did you know that for each $1 spent on email marketing, you make $42 in return?
The reason for today’s article is to show you how to drive more revenue from your email marketing campaigns by writing better copy.
Quick links:
1. Craft a supreme subject line
Email subject lines are the first point of contact between your brand and your subscribers. As such, they must be creative, enticing, and above all, relevant. That’s why it’s essential to invest the time necessary to write compelling ones that will grab your readers’ attention. They should be personal and tempt the reader to take action.
Length matters
If you have an excellent idea for a subject line, think twice before asking for a pat on the back. Financeonline states in their article that longer subject lines drop down to a 9% open rate. Vice versa, short ones (between 9 and 60 characters) are optimal. Still, 50-60 characters might be an issue for mobile device users, and we’d advise you to go for a maximum of 40.
Example 1:
Source: Wordstream
Here are two good email copy examples. Why? We are curious by nature. Adding numbers is triggering our minds that something interesting will be shared in those emails.
Example 2:
For some, Ryan Levesque is a notorious spammer, for others, he is a role model. The truth is we can fill our article with email marketing copywriting examples only from Ryan. And they will all be fabulous.
2. Pay respect to the preview text
A preview is the quick summary text that follows an email when viewed in the inbox. In other words, it’s the first line of copy for your message and can be very useful on a mobile device or one without too many emails stored already. You don’t overwhelm people with lots at once! Retailers often neglect to optimize this space and think there’s no need to do so.
However, along with the subject line, the preview is what your clients see first, so you better start investing in it. According to Litmus, one of the best practices is to keep the text under 90 characters but consider even less, especially if you want to aim for mobile customers.
Example 1:
Source: Sendinblue
Normally, if you don’t change anything, the text starts with “Hey X, Y here…” and then some text. However, what stops you from tweaking that text a little bit. It will certainly grab the attention of email readers and they’ll be more likely to open your email.
Example 2:
Source: Litmus
A prime example of how to make previews: short, funny, and to-the-point.
3. Give in-depth personalization a try
At this point, it is clear that you need to go the extra mile for your content and calls to action to stand out. The age of hyper-personalization has made addressing subscribers by their first name seem inadequate – so now what? You can’t just write “Dear Name” anymore!
Maintaining close relationships with your customers is achievable only after you clearly show how much you value them, and this is achieved by delivering content that is close to them.
Let’s say for a second that you work B2B. Enterprises will be more likely to read an email about scaling 7-figure businesses, while SMBs might be satisfied with ways to increase their profits by $20k.
Example 1:
Source: Twitter
One good example of great personalization is celebration emails. Be it a “Happy Birthday” email greeting or simply some anniversary wishes. No matter what you choose, it’ll make customers feel special.
Example 2:
Source: Hubspot
Definitely, one of the best email copywriting examples when it comes to personalization. Such emails are one in a million. If you can come up with something similar, your success is guaranteed.
4. Write your email body simple
An excellent way to be successful is by attracting non-fluent English speakers. If your email body text has simple, short, and concise sentences, this will make the message more easily understood by those who don’t speak or read fluently in that language!
It’s also a good idea to keep the total length short (between 50-125 words) unless you purposely aim to deliver some big piece of content over the email.
Remember: The email is not the place where you want to post long-form content. If you have something that you cannot present with less than 200-250 words, you can still create an article and add a caption in your email.
Example 1:
Source: Reallygoodemails
Not all email copywriting examples have to be rich in text. Some of them can have very few but impactful words.
Example 2:
Source: Reallygoodemails
In this example, the text is a bit more. Still, it is well structured, and it doesn’t hurt the eyes.
5. Avoid jargon
If you want to be taken seriously, your writing tone should not just imitate a “professional” one – the content of an email or other communication medium needs to be legible. Instead of using industry jargon that only those in the know will understand (and thus alienate most audiences), focus on pain points and how customers can overcome obstacles with products/services offered by companies. Real-world examples such as saving money through smarter spending habits etc., which everyone can relate to, can make miracles.
Example 1:
Source: Nutshell
Here’s a good example of how to embarrass yourself. It’s a cold email which plenty of industry jargon. Unsub? Response, Open Rate. And there’s way more which is flawed in this email.
Example 2:
Source: Reallygoodemails
Instead of using jargon language such as NAVDATA, GPS, True north, etc., Strava is focusing on simplifying the benefits for the customer.
6. Stress on benefits, not features
Product features are great, but they don’t tell your customers why they should buy. Email copywriting that highlights the benefits of buying will make them see what’s in it for themselves and get excited about their purchase. Focusing on your features puts your attention on your product. And honestly, no client cares about your product. What your consumers care about is how they could find a use of it.
Example 1:
Graphic Mama‘s comes with a supreme strategy to attract new customers by showing real-world benefits based on plans named after cute animals. Sounds lovely, doesn’t it?
Example 2:
We can also say that Squarespace Circle has also come up with some good copy. Simple, yet the outstanding features are in bold letters and bulleted. Classic but effective.
7. Add relevance to your email
Once you mention it in the subject line, then it’s a great idea to start the email with what the email is all about. If it’s about a free email marketing calendar, then start your first sentence about it!
Then you can build the whole email regarding this calendar. What it has, how it helps, etc. Add a CTA button (in our case, it will be a download link), and finish in style.
Example 1:
Apple has always produced sleek designs. Their famous logo + “MUSIC” navigates the customers what to expect within the whole email.
Example 2:
Casper’s email is pretty straightforward. They make sure that everything in their email – subject line, images, catchy lines “bed serious”, CTA and content are ALL about sleeping.
8. Use an Inverted Pyramid structure
I’ve seen many great emails that focus entirely on great content. Sure. Who can argue that high-quality content converts more than low-quality one?
But sometimes, email marketers are too focused on making the perfect subject line, adding the most incredible images possible, and finishing with a killer call to action. And they remember the primary goal of each email campaign – conversion.
For many years, industry experts have successfully embedded the inverted pyramid structure, as they realize the shape of the email is just as important as what’s inside.
Example 1:
Source: Getvero
Here is a good example of an Inverted Pyramid. The whole idea of the design and the copy is to lead the customer to the CTA button.
Example 2:
Source: Getvero
This is another good email copywriting example of an inverted pyramid. As you can see, the best emails start with a design, then some text, and finish with a CTA button in the middle.
9. Write in Second Person
In today’s society, people crave personal messages from brands. You can create a feeling of exclusivity by writing in the second person – as if only you and your subscribers know about this fantastic new product!
And doesn’t love being taken care of?
Example 1:
Source: Reallygoodemails
As we can see from the structure, Glowbar opens up with a dialogue which then leads to the promotion. Smooth move, no doubt.
Example 2:
Source: Reallygoodemails
In this example, we can see the seamless transition between “You” and “We”. The message is simple. You+We=Us. Job well done.
10. Add more links
Did you know how much you can achieve if you include links to related blog posts or campaigns? If the reader has reached the end of your email, they are most likely interested in what you have written and are willing to commit some of their free time to consume more content.
This is the perfect way to add a couple of links – whether a good blog post or some new products they might be interested in.
10.1 Additional links at the end
No matter how tempting it is, it’s imperative to position those links at the end of the email. Otherwise, you risk that your subscriber might be distracted from the email’s goal, and instead of converting a sale, they might go on and read an article. Not the best-case scenario, huh?
10.2 Relevance
If the topic contains information about your newest features, giving a link that will lead your subscribers to your home page will not be received with applause. Instead, try to be helpful. If you promote your new T-Shirt collection, you might include an article or a social media post related to T-Shirts.
Example 1:
Source: Reallygoodemails
The second most likable thing from this great email (after the cats, of course). You can add as many links as possible, as long as they are relevant to the topic. Also, there are 3 CTA buttons. Certainly, this is one of the top email copywriting examples on our list.
Example 2:
LinkedIn is a social media platform for professionals. One of the key strategies is its “Suggestion” list. Based on many criteria, the company offers its user the chance to connect with similar profiles and extend their network. While it is not a good option for each business to benefit from this as much as LinkedIn does, you can share your team’s profiles in some of your newsletters, in order to build authority among your users.
Conclusion
It’s never an easy task to create an eye-catching email marketing campaign. However, the right copy can help you gain access to your audience’s inbox. Don’t rely on successful campaigns in the past for future emails; try to always create something new. By developing a strong brand identity, you can improve your email marketing performance over time. And remember – patience is a virtue and consistency is your key to success.
Mailbakery
The recipes for email campaigns are as numerous as there are campaigns themselves. Mailbakery has been working with clients to help them create their emails since 2008. Our experienced teams of coders and designers will help you create and manage a successful email marketing campaign.
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