The Dos & Don’ts of Persuasive Email Marketing

Written by: Chris Donald

Published on: 10-01-2018

Chris is Managing Partner at InboxArmy and has more than 25 years of experience in email marketing

Persuasive email marketing is all about convincing your leads to purchase from you. You only have a few seconds for your email campaign to create an impression on your subscribers.  If done right, though, email marketing campaigns can successfully drive conversions.

Let’s take a quick look at the dos and don’ts of persuasive email marketing.

DO:

1. Be aware of your target audience

While sending out persuasive emails, you should be aware of who your target audience is. Write an email that matches their buyer persona and place in the sales funnel.

2. Define the purpose of your email

What do you want your subscriber to do? Define a particular goal for your email and make sure it’s obvious in how you place an enticing CTA.

3. Deliver value for the customer

Essentially, answer “What’s in it for me?” A good persuasive email is the one that helps the customer in some or the other way. Justify your email by providing a solution to a problem that they might be facing.

4. Leverage word of mouth

Include testimonials and user reviews for your products and services. This can breed a sense of trust in your subscribers and point them to evidence of customers made happy by your brands.

5. Use eye-catching language

Highlight action words that grab attention, like fast, improve, introducing, etc. Make them bold if you have to. The point is to grab the subscribers who will be scanning your message for something important.

6. Add your headshot in the email signature (where it makes sense to do so)

If your email is truly meant to be one-to-one, never forget that you are communicating with a real person at the other end of the email. Including a headshot in your email signature is a nice way of conveying that the email is from a real person just like the recipient.

Now, let’s shift our focus…

DON’T:

1. Use redundant words

Avoid fluff.

2. Make the email too long

Your email should be as short and to-the-point as possible (unless you’re testing). If needed,  break the email into smaller more readable (read: scannable) chunks. Include an interesting visual that matches your email purpose and conclude with a relevant CTA that stands out in the email.

3. Use technical jargon (unless required)

It’s a major turnoff for people when they read an email that is totally irrelevant and hard to understand. Give a clear idea about how you can help by using clear language and simple terms.

4. Forget personalization

Take into consideration past interactions and past purchases, if any. Draft an email specifically tailored to meet their requirements.

Wrap Up

Create emails that your readers look forward to receiving and want to open. Deliver content that make your subscribers want to buy from you. That’s the whole idea of persuasive email marketing.

About Author

Chris sent his first email campaign in 1995. He’s worked directly with Fortune 500 companies, retail giants, nonprofits, SMBs and government agencies in all facets of their email marketing and marketing automation programs. He’s also a BIG baseball fan, loves a good steak, and is mildly obsessed with zombie movies. For more information follow him on linkedin

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