In a Dilbert cartoon, the pointy-haired boss chastised Dilbert for forgetting to tell him about an important meeting.
When Dilbert replied that he had notified him by e-mail, the boss replied, “Well, obviously you chose an uninteresting subject line; otherwise I would have opened it.”
He concluded by telling Dilbert, “You’re a bad e-mail sender.”
What about you?
Are you a good e-mail sender or a bad e-mail sender?
Do people on your opt-in e-list actually look forward to getting your e-mails…and order the products you recommend in them?
Or do they view you as a spammer and unsubscribe in droves every time you broadcast to the list?
In my own start-up Internet marketing business, CTC Publishing, I’ve found 3 copywriting tactics that work particularly well in e-mails sent to our subscriber list.
These are: stories, content, and teaser.
A “story” e-mail is just that: an e-mail that tells an amusing story or anecdote.
For instance, to promote our PR course to my subscribers, I sent out an e-mail that told a humorous—and true—story.
It was about what happened when my then-7-year-old son dropped his new gigapet—the latest electronic fad at the time—in the toilet.
The copy read: “Alex took the gigapet with him to the bathroom…and promptly dropped it in the toilet.
“I quickly fished it out. But the water damaged the electronics, and the device was ruined.
“Upon seeing his digital pet was dead, Alex burst into tears.
“‘C-c-can we b-b-bury this one?’ he asked me tearfully.
“Being a soft-hearted dad, I immediately took him to the back yard—and with a shovel, we buried his dead electronic pet, using a brick for a headstone.”
I went on to reveal how I had gotten on the front page of the leisure section of a major NJ daily newspaper by sending out a press release on “Microchip Gardens”—the world’s first gigapet cemetery.
The e-mail was very profitable—and I learned that my list likes stories.
Second, content.
An e-mail marketing message that actually presents an idea, tip, advice, or other content can often work better than one that is merely a sales pitch for a product.
In an e-mail promoting a program I sell on how to write a non-fiction book and get it published, I revealed a secret that many aspiring authors do not know:
“Do you want to write a non-fiction book and get it published?
“Then don’t write the book—at least not yet.
“Publishers don’t want to read an unsolicited book manuscript from an unknown author.
“If you send it, they’ll either mail it back unread…or toss your book in the trash.
“What you need to do is write a book proposal.”
If the reader learns something useful just from reading the e-mail, he appreciates the value you are giving him…and clicks on the link to your site to learn more.
The third type of e-mail I’ve found to be extremely effective is the ultra-short teaser e-mail.
The lead talks about a benefit, a solution to a problem, or something else highly desired by the reader.
And the next paragraph promises to deliver this benefit or solution when the reader clicks on the hyperlink to the landing page. For example:
“A recent survey revealed that writers who earn more than $60,000 a year consistently do 22 things that writers who earn less money don’t.
“To get your hands on this list of 22 habits of highly profitable writers…and master dozens of additional strategies for earning six-figures as a freelance writer…click below now…”
This teaser e-mail generated a 2.5% click-through rate with a 10% conversion to orders for a $29 e-book.
Tell a story…give valuable free content…use a teaser.
These 3 approaches to e-mail copywriting have worked for me.
Perhaps they can work for you, too.
Bob Bly is the author of “World’s Best Copywriting Secrets” and has written copy for more than 100 companies including IBM, Boardroom, Medical Economics and AT&T. He is the author of more than 75 books and a columnist for Target Marketing, Early To Rise and The Writer. McGraw-Hill calls him “America’s top copywriter”.
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