Three questions to help you create even better emails
Some of us wear multiple hats because running your own business often means that you need to be an all-rounder. However, if your experience doesn’t lie in a specific industry, such as marketing, it can be hard to perfect each and every role.
That’s why simplifying your approach is essential. And one way to do this in email marketing is to focus on these three simple questions. (No, you don’t need to get caught up in all the jargon and complexity. And you can actually have some fun with it.)
Question 1: Why are you sending me this?
The first question you need to ask yourself and answer is why you are sending your customer’s the email. What is the intention of the email?
You can answer this from both your perspective and your customer’s perspective.
From your perspective, answer this question: what do you want your customer to take away from this email? For example, one answer might be that you want your customer to trust and buy from you.
And from their perspective, answer this question: how does this affect me/why is this email relevant to me? For example, one answer might be that you’re offering valuable content about a topic they’re interested in.
Question 2: What do you want me to do?
The second question to ask yourself is what do you want me to do? Your email needs to have a clear action that you want your customer to take.
For example, if you’re offering 10% off on selected products, you could ask your customer to click on a link. The link will take them to those products so they can enjoy your savings. Creating a clear call to action makes it easier for your customer to know what to do next.
Top tip: Opt for one primary action you want your customer to take and make sure you use actionable language to encourage them to ‘shop now’, ‘learn more’ or ‘download’.
Question 3: Why should I bother?
The final question is why your customer should bother. If your email isn’t relevant to your customer, they have no reason or motivation to read or click on your email.
Many brands believe that offers are a great motivator, and they are, but you can’t always offer discounts or deals. That’s why it’s important to have emails with a clear purpose and ones that are personalised to your individual customers.
Other motivators may include:
Intrigue - your customers may want to learn more about a certain topic (so you could link to a blog or your website)
Social proof – your customers are more likely to trust what other people say about your business and products (so you could include testimonials in your email)
Urgency – your customers are more likely to act if they believe it’s urgent (so you could include a countdown clock in your email and use action-invoking language).
Create even better emails
These three questions help you define and decide on the other elements in your emails. Once you have the answers to these three questions, deciding on your subject line, copy, images, and CTAs become easier.
Try asking these questions and see if you can create even better emails.