Small business owner, I see you…
Struggling to come up with an email marketing plan.
Scrambling to write marketing emails that get opens, clicks and the holy grail of ecomm – beautiful repeat buyers who welcome your emails with a trigger-ready BUY button. That’s the power of email marketing – automating those flows for consistent brand presence and income. More on that over here from the wise Loan Kien at The Digital Octopus.
Oversaturated buyer, I feel you…
An overfull full inbox stuffed with emails trying to sell. A brain frazzled from all the things that want a piece of your headspace.
An itchy online shopping desire, just waiting to be scratched.
And that delete all button is right there.
So, ecomm biz owner, how do you make sure your marketing emails aren’t given the flick?
Follow these email marketing copywriting tips
1. Put yourself in your buyer’s shoes. (The key to all good copywriting).
When you understand where your customer’s at in their buyer journey, in the funnel, how they feel, what they’re thinking, their barriers, internal battles, you can write eDMs that connect.
With punch.
An example? Look at your abandoned cart flow. A buyer has gone through the whole purchase process until the very last hand-over-your-money step. One tap on the PAY button is all that’s standing between you and a sale; your buyer and an easier life with your products.
Get into your buyer’s head with a killer abandoned cart email by understanding their barriers. You know they want your product. So it’s most likely price, overwhelm (who doesn’t look at alllllll the brands and options when buying something new?), or not being totally sure it’ll solve their problem.
Solution? Tackle those barriers head on.
Follow up with a limited time discount and a product benefit reminder.
Nudge them with a reminder of how easy/hairless/profitable/gorgeous/successful they’ll be with your product, backed up with social proof from another happy buyer.
Remind them Compare your product with your competitors', highlighting why you’re better.
2. A can’t-not-open-it subject line.
Kinda a no brainer, right? Most email marketing platforms have an inbuilt subject line generator tool so that’s a great start.
Better than an AI subject line (don’t even think of using Chat GPT – I’ll tell you why here) think about where your audience is in their decision making process when they’ll receive your email. That’s how you can tap out a smart little subject line that they can’t resist opening.
Here are some examples I 🫶.
Gorman taps into your brain with a savvy subject, a dash of curiosity and a sense of urgency.
The Iconic flips that FOMO switch and backs it up with a GO TO BAG button that is SO hard not to tap.
3. The power of one.
One message, one goal, one CTA. That’s all you need for juicy eDM copy.
We’re all losing We’ve lost focus. Have zero time and major distraction. Cut-through all that fluff with a less is more approach that’s heavy on imagery, and light on confusing messages. The best eDMs are the ones with the least copy, in my experience.
Two short sentences is all it takes for Bonds.
Rockwear harnesses solid graphics and one liners.
Keep it simple. Ask your buyer to do one thing per email. Shop now, leave us a review, sign up for an event, grab the download. Whatever you want them to do, be clear, direct and choose one ask per email.
And one CTA makes it simpler to untangle your analytics and A/B results.
4. Make it human.
You already know this – humans like to buy from humans. In small business, bringing the humanness to your brand always wins. When you make you buyers feel like they are hearing directly from you, connection grows, affection blooms and loyalty comes.
Here are some ways to make your emails human...
Write to one person, not a thousand. Keep it direct, from us/me to you.
Rollie Nation makes you feel special like Vince is really emailing you himself.
Personalise (and productise) your flows. e.g for products that you know will need replenishment, bump your way into your buyers' inbox and remind them they're due for more of you.
These are a handful of ways to make your eDMs readworthy, profitable and on- brand. Need help with your email marketing copy? I can help. 🙋♀️ Let's chat about what you need.