Today I’m going to break down the anatomy of a successful sales email.
Once you’ve built your email list, it’s time to start sending out great emails, right?
There are tons of different ways to use psychology and copywriting tricks to write emails that convert to sales, but they don’t always feel good.
Writing Emails That Get Results By Sending Feelings Digitally
The way I’ve naturally evolved to write sales emails is not to send marketing but rather to send feelings, digitally.
That might sound weird, but I really start any sales email with what feeling it is that I want to communicate.
Your sales email doesn’t need a ton of logic, reasoning, or facts. The sales page where someone orders your product or service can have more of those details, but in order to get someone to click a link in an email, you need to start with feelings.
Start by looking at the desires and fears that your ideal customers have.
Do they crave freedom, self-expression, understanding, support, love, security, prosperity, connection?
Or are they running away from pain, confusion, overwhelm, anger, shame?
Let’s Look At Email Copy Best Practices
Start with a few sentences or questions that arouse curiosity. If the first line of your email screams “I’m going to sell you something” (usually this happens when you talk about yourself or your product right off the bat) then your reader hit delete.
You can start with a story, a funny occurrence, or a question where someone who would be a great prospect for your sales offer might respond with a “yes”.
For Example: If you’re about to offer dog training services, you could ask: Are you still struggling with potty training your dog?
Build Rapport With Your Copy
There are a few things that I do when I write email, to make my reader feel at ease. I never want to make someone feel like I’m above them, or like I am judging their situation, even if I happen to have a solution to their problems.
I take the edge off by sharing my own stories and life experiences to help me connect with them on that human level.
I also use visuals and paint a picture with my words, tapping into the different senses if I can.
Why not mention that when I get stressed out I reach for a square of 80% dark chocolate that melts on my tongue? Or that I do a happy dance in front of my computer in my hand-knit slippers when I reach a big business milestone?
Now it’s time to weave in some of those emotions you identified in the beginning. Dive into the important stuff.
In the Myers-Briggs framework I’m an INFJ, which means that I’m not interested in small talk. If the conversation I’m jumping into doesn’t go deep into the “good” stuff, then I get restless.
I feel like it’s the same thing when writing emotionally engaging sales emails. You need to tap into the real stuff, not talk about the weather or meaningless stuff.
Go straight for the jugular, and ask people to feel the sometimes confronting emotions they’ve been avoiding.
Example: If you help people get out of debt, you need people to recognize how much burying their head in the sand is costing them so you can help them start taking action. If they don’t “wake up” to their reality and feel the fear or shame they might be avoiding, they might stay stuck in their current situation for a long time.
Now The Compelling Call To Action Comes In
Now that you’ve established similarities, leading with imagination, feeling, and stories… it’s time to tie it all into a natural progression to your offer.
This can be a delicate thing to do, but if you’re in business offering products and services you believe in, then you’ll be able to write the “pitch” part from the right place in your heart.
Write about why now is the time for the reader to take action, if they’ve been feeling what you wrote about in your email and stories.
Tell them exactly what to do using a strong call to action: click the link, hit reply, or pick up the phone to talk to you.
Don’t let the person off the hook by ignoring this super important step.
The result? You’ve just written an emotionally compelling sales email, that’s both entertaining and makes people feel good… all while getting them to consider buying your products or services.
Your first sales email might not hit the target, but with practice and by noticing what works and what doesn’t, you’ll only get better at writing emails that sell without being sleazy!
Now leave a comment below with one story or idea that could benefit your email subscribers, and tie into an offer.
