Need an email copywriter?

When your marketing email lands in their inbox, something magic needs to happen or they'll just hit 'delete'.

Email copywriting is something that many small businesses never quite master. That's because the right email marketing material that really hits home has to do a whole bunch of things all at once.

It has to:

Have a catchy subject line.
Be right for the target audience – and be written with the correct tone of voice.
Direct people to a well-thought-out landing page or be created with some other key call to action (CTA) built into it.
Avoid the spam folder.
Get the reader's attention right from the off.
Encourage prospective customers to read until the very end.

It's a colossal ask! Just think how many examples of email marketing you receive in your own inbox every day. It's a minefield, isn't it?

Creating a great email marketing campaign

Before you or your email copywriter get to work, you need to establish the reason why you're doing this.

Many SMEs feel compelled to send out weekly newsletters, no matter how bland. But unless you are offering absolute gold in the contents, why bother?

Would you phone up your clients every week and say, "Hello, we all went to the bar on Tuesday, then we took on a new client on Wednesday and we have a meeting about a potential new product next Monday morning."? Of course not. Have a point!

When I work with clients as a freelance email copywriter, I pull together a whole bunch of email copywriting tips that I've picked up over the years – tips designed to boost an email's chances of being opened.

"Mike takes a job away from me that I find tremendously stressful and delivers amazing copywriting time after time. A wordsmith, a gentleman and a great asset to my team."

Steve Levy, founder, Heat Outdoors – July 2023

"I really appreciate your work! The emails are great – all information clearly explained."

Martin Szumny, founder, AudioBuyersWilts – Dec 2023

These include:

Giving the email subject line serious thought.
Making sure that the CTA is astonishingly clear (and enticing).
Adding compelling headlines and a 'hooky' sell that will lead the reader into the rest of the copy.

Does it always work? Of course not! There's not an email copywriter alive who can guarantee open and response rates.

But by running your email copywriting through the correct filters, we can give it a fighting chance.

A subject line seems such a little thing that many firms and even some email copywriters gloss over it when planning an email marketing campaign. Part of the reason for this is that getting the subject line right is hard!

But if you want email copy that stands out from the crowd, the subject line is your golden chance to get off on the right foot.

So I'll work on your subject line – sometimes for a whole morning if that's what's needed. Rushing it makes no sense at all.

The next thing to do when I am hired to write email marketing copywriting is to explain the offer (every marketing email campaign should have an offer of some kind) in the headline in the most appealing way I can find.

Your offer may be:

1/ Information about a product that your target market will be interested in. Sometimes, emails of this kind are not widely opened – though your chances improve if your fan base is incredibly strong. If your potential customers don't currently know you, then your product or service needs to be highly appealing and original for a decent open and response rate.

2/ Information about how to do something better. Let's say you sell paint – your email might have a number of videos to show how people can 'cut in' or master other painting tips. Or perhaps you've created a new calculator that people can use to see how much they can save by using one of your products.

3/ An invitation. Maybe your digital marketing campaign is designed to entice people to a specific event. Your email writer can help with ideas here.

4/ A special offer. When handled properly, these can be highly effective and probably account for the lion's share of all email marketing campaigns. Whether you're offering 20% off for a limited time, reduced price subscriptions or something else, it's a given that most people like a bargain. Your goal is to generate more online sales, but your pitch will falter if it's confusing or dull.

5/ The feel-good factor. Your offer in this case is that by opening your email, the reader will get a nice warm glow because, for example, they have helped you raise £50k for good causes by being a valued customer.

There are other kinds of offer – and, to be fair, other kinds of marketing emails – but they all come back to one thing: having a point.

Copywriting emails always needs some careful thought. Your reason for sending should never be, "We'd just like to say 'hello' to people."

When you are a business owner, coming up with an email campaign by yourself is a big ask. While a message may take less than 10 seconds to digest, it's likely to take hours to create. Let's not forget that in most cases, you'll need a designer, too.

But most of all, you need a thick skin – because it's a given that the majority of emails will fail to land unless you're offering a free Aston Martin to everyone who replies. It's a numbers game.

You can improve your chances of your email campaigns having an impact by working with a seasoned freelance copywriter who has been tasked with coming up with email marketing copy that has been through all of the steps outlined above.

The power of GREAT subject lines when email copywriting

Email copywriting starts with intent

When I work with clients on their email copy, the starting point is the intent behind the email. You need to have a reason for sending it. Here's why: think of each email you send as burning through your supply of 'credits' that your customers are prepared to grant you.

Bear with me!

If they already know and like your brand, perhaps they'll subconsciously afford you 5 credits. By which, I mean they'll receive 5 'meh' emails from you before they start ignoring future email campaigns you send – or unsubscribe.

If they don't already know you, you've probably got just one of these credits. The first time you approach these unsuspecting souls on your email marketing list, you'd better make sure that the message is just about as good as it can ever be.

Which means that it is imperative we begin with intent. You never, ever send an email without a valid reason for doing so – or you burn up these metaphorical credits. You'll disappear into the spam folder. Forever.

So start with "why are we doing this?" Define what the point of the email is. If you've brought me in to do your email copywriting, there needs to be something on which to hang everything.

If you're not sure where to begin, I can work with you to help you find the message. But don't skip this step. Without a carefully-thought-out email marketing strategy, you are wasting time and money – and burning bridges with your prospective clients.

Do you need help with your marketing campaigns from a UK email copywriter?

That's intent, subject line, headline, sell, great body copy, CTA and an image. And a proper email copywriting strategy.

When you hire me as your freelance email copywriter, I can help you find different ways to come at your next campaign, whether it's a one-shot email or a protracted project spanning weeks or even months.

If you need an experienced copywriter to help with your sales emails, newsletters or marketing, drop me a line.

"Every piece of email copywriting work Mike does for us is flawlessly delivered and gets his total commitment. He is always looking for the next eye-catching headline or visual to boost our audience, and I can't recommend him enough."

Paul Miller, founder The HS Manager – Dec 2023