Crafting the perfect email can be a difficult task, no matter how much experience a digital marketer may have. It’s a skill that takes plenty of practice, and it also requires you to test out what your audience likes. As you learn about crafting effective emails in this reading, keep in mind that it may take some time for you to become a master marketing email writer. If you feel like you’ve already got what it takes to write a great email, use this artifact to finetune your skill even more.
The purpose of your email
When you prepare to send emails to your subscribers, you’ll need to have a purpose. Ask yourself why you are sending an email in the first place. It could be to announce a new product launch, to educate your subscribers with relevant tips and tricks, to offer a discount code or announce a sale, or many other reasons. Make sure there is motivation behind every email. Doing so will allow you to create context for your email. If you know why you want to send an email, you’ll have an easier time deciding what to say in it.
The narrative in your email
Now that you know the importance of having a purpose behind your email, you can decide what the narrative should be like. If you aren’t well-versed in writing, storytelling, or marketing, that’s OK. You’ll want to think of emails from your readers’ perspective. Ask yourself, “what kind of narrative do my subscribers want to read?”
If you are sending an email to announce a product launch, you might want to tell the story of how the idea came to life. Who came up with the idea for the product? What motivated them to do it? How long did it take to create? What problem does the product solve? Consider adding all of these details in your email so that the reader is engaged with the narrative and they relate to it in some way.
If you aim to educate your readers with a weekly newsletter featuring tips, tricks, product uses, articles, and more, try to develop a theme for each week. This theme will give your email a general narrative. Use internal and external resources and links that fit into this theme so that the newsletter feels cohesive.
If you’re announcing a sale on your website, you might want to explain why there’s a sale and how it will benefit them. Are you celebrating the company’s birthday or another holiday? Are you trying to sell inventory so you can bring new inventory in? Is it an end-of-the-season sale? Crafting a narrative about why you’re having a sale can help convert potential and loyal customers.
The tone of your email
The tone of your email will vary depending on the purpose and the narrative. As you reflect on your purpose and narrative, think about what tone aligns with them. The tone should always be courteous and helpful in some way, but you should feel free to add a few other qualities to it based on what your goal is.
Going back to previous examples, if you are announcing a new email launch, consider using a bright and enthusiastic tone, and include language that gets the reader excited.
For your weekly newsletter where you’re educating your readers and giving them tips and tricks, consider a professional and light tone. It might include authoritative language because you want to communicate that you are the expert on this topic.
If you’re announcing an upcoming sale or your brand’s birthday, maybe your tone is spunky and thankful—you might use language that shows your gratitude to your customers.
Pro tip: Reading your emails aloud will help you understand what your subscribers feel as they read your work, and it will help you decide if you like the tone you’re using.
Note: Regardless of your purpose and narrative, you’ll want to make sure the tone fits your brand voice so that your readers feel familiar and comfortable reading it.
Key takeaways
Determining the purpose, narrative, and tone of your email before you begin writing will help keep you on track as you write. As you are crafting your email, you should refer back to the purpose, narrative, and tone that you started with and make sure you are aligned with them.