The 4 Things you Need to Write a Better Marketing Email

There's a lot of ways to sell online. From social media, influencer marketing and retargeting, different options require different skills and some can quickly add up in cost.

The good news? One of the easiest ways to drive sales online is email marketing. It is also one of the most effective ways, with every dollar you spend generating $38 in profit.

But how do you write a good marketing email? To make sure your customers are opening your emails and even purchasing, you just need these four tips.

Make your marketing emails personal and relevant

This seems obvious, but for many companies sending a personal email just means including the customer’s name in the subject line.

While this is a good start, sending personal and relevant emails goes beyond that and their effectiveness is clear. According to a study by Direct Marketing Association, segmented and targeted emails were responsible for 58% of revenue, but what does this mean for wine email marketing?

Consider this. A customer has been buying from you for three years. They have bought only red wine. Would you send them an email announcing a sale on white wine?

While they might decide to try something new at a discount, it is far more likely they will delete your email without doing anything. And that's if they even open it. This isn’t necessarily an issue – a customer of three years will forgive you for one email that isn’t right for them, but will they forgive months of this? Beyond that, if sending them the email is unlikely to do anything, what’s the point in spending the time and effort creating it?

Instead, use the information you have about your customers to create emails that resonate with them. Bigger is not better. In fact, having smaller (and more targeted) lists should be your goal. Using the example above, why not create three versions of the email? One that announces a sale on white, one on red and one on both? You can then look at a customer’s previous purchases to determine which email is most likely to be effective.

Make your marketing emails active

This is twofold. Use verbs such as buy, enjoy, experience (particularly in your subject lines) to indicate to your customers what they can do in your email. You should also use the second person to draw them in and then give them somewhere else to go.

This may vary depending on what you’re trying to achieve but for our wine sale example, you will likely need to direct them to your website. Use Call to Actions or CTAs ie those well-placed buttons that make it very clear where you need to click.

Don’t leave anything up to chance. Make sure the buttons are obvious and the text in them is clear. Shop Now or Buy Now are easy examples that your customers will immediately understand.

Ideally, your emails should only have one CTA but don’t be afraid to include other text links. These can be to the same location on your website or somewhere different, depending on what works with your copy.

Pro tip: Make sure you link the images you use too as you never know where a customer might click.

Keep your marketing emails short (and mobile friendly)

With over 55% of emails now being opened on a mobile device, it is even more important to keep your content short and skimmable. Most email platforms will have a series of templates that are designed with this in mind, so just use one of those and update the colours to match your brand.

Ideally, your reader should be able to understand what you are emailing them about in a single glance. Make sure to highlight the most relevant points and take a top down approach. This means that the most important information should be at the top and the finer details lower down. You can also use sites like Canva to create strong images that grab attention, but do test these on your mobile to make sure they’re still easy to read.

Show your personality

When writing the copy for your email, think about who you are as a company and don’t be afraid to show your personality. Very few people who have signed up for your newsletter will be expecting to read corporate speech from a winemaker after all. Having a casual and welcoming tone will suit you better.

If you’re not quite sure how to do this, our best advice is to simply write as you would speak. Then, once you’re done, read that aloud. Chances are, there will be sections that you’ll stumble over or words that you will add that aren’t on the page. Use these to guide your edits and if you have the time, ask a coworker or friend to read over the final draft. They might see something you don’t.

And that’s it! Happy emailing!