The 9 Must-Have Components of Compelling Email Copy

Email marketing has come a long way in just the past few years, but with all the fancy new functionality brands are utilizing, you know what’s kind of funny? A well-written plain text email can perform just as well, if not better, than a highly designed email with tons of bells and whistles. In fact, no matter how fancy your marketing emails look, if they’re devoid of well-written content, your subscribers will stop opening and start deleting your messages, and your list will quickly dwindle in value.

So how do you write a great marketing email? It all comes down to a few copywriting best practices that you should apply to both the subject line of your message, and the message body itself. Next time you draft a message for a lead nurturing campaign or just a one-time email send, ask yourself whether your copy meets all of these guidelines first.

Writing a Compelling Email Subject Line

Part of writing effective email copy is nailing the subject line. The subject line is like the gatekeeper of your email -- no one gets to read your stellar email copy if they aren't interested enough to open your email in the first place. And that interest is garnered almost wholly on the subject line of the email (with the sender name playing a role, as well). We've written an entire blog post about crafting email subject lines, but here's a distillation of what you need to know to write some excellent copy.

Use Actionable Language

With email subject lines, using actionable language doesn't necessarily mean using verbs -- though it certainly helps. OpenTable, for example, sent me an email just a few days ago that said "Take Mom to Brunch" in the subject line. This is one way to use actionable language effectively in email subject lines; by incorporating a verb -- like "take," "download," "reserve," "ask," "buy," etc. -- the reader knows exactly what they can do in the email.

But there are ways to use actionable language without relying on verbs, giving you more room to play with words when crafting email subject lines. Simply use language that makes it clear to the recipient when they can do with the information in the email should they choose to open it. In other words, keep the value for the user top of mind.

For example, TicketMaster sent me an email last week with the subject line "Don't Miss Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band." They didn't order me to purchase tickets by saying "Purchase Tickets Tomorrow for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band," though such a subject line may have performed just as well. The original subject line worked well because it was clear what I could do with the information in that email -- ensure I'm prepared for the 10:00 AM sale time so I could snag my tickets (which I did, thanks to the email)!

Personalize When Possible

Emails that are highly segmented benefit from better performance in a number of areas. Take a look at the data below from eMarketer, which shows the effect of list segmentation and targeting on email marketing performance metrics.

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