You may think that closing a letter is simple. Closing a personal letter is simple. Closing a sales email, which is intended to have a personal feel to it, isn’t simple at all.
Obviously, you will sign your name at the bottom. You may also provide contact information and a link to your website. That actually is simple. The hard part is the closing paragraph. Of course, you want to use that paragraph to call your reader to action, if you haven’t already done so. However, you also want to end the email where you began – on a personal note.
Our sample email above would continue with the writer telling the reader that he really didn’t want to spare the time, but that his friend Buddy was so adamant that he read the content on that website that he decided to take five minutes out of his busy day to do so.
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I’m really going to owe Buddy big time for this. I know that this information has changed my life, and I may be able to have time to do the things that I want to do before next week.
Since I know that you are like me, and that you also want to have more time for yourself, I wanted to share the link that Buddy gave me with you. I realize that you are just as busy as I was, but believe me – this is worth your time. Take five minutes and look at the information. You will find it at www.amazingwebsite.com.
I’m going to go read more now. I feel that this is so important to my future that anything else that I had planned for my day can wait. I’ll bet you are going to feel the same way. I hope that you take the time to free up more of your time in the future, like I did.
Sincerely,
Great Marketer
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Naturally, he will have started out skeptical, only to be completely turned into a true believer by the time he finishes reading the information. So, how does the letter end?
That’s all that is needed really. Some marketers may add a postscript, some marketers may not. There is a way to decide this. Did you get your point across? Did you include all of the elements of a good sales letter? If so, the postscript isn’t needed. If not, add one, and use it to add that element.
Note that there is one other element in the last part of this email. The writer is telling the reader how they will benefit from taking the action. This particular reader will benefit from clicking the link, by finding out how they can free up more of their time in the future.
Now, of course this is a simple email. There isn’t anything grand or even special about it. Some may even think that it is boring. Boring, however, is becoming a better thing these days. People have been fed so much hype over recent years that they immediately delete any email that even hints at hype.
While the general layout and verbiage of the email may seem ‘boring’ there is a story that is interesting enough to keep the readers interest. In terms of boring or over-hyped, you could call this email somewhere in between, and this is what you should strive for in your own sales emails.
This marketer does not come off sounding like they are better or more successful than someone else. They are the same as the reader, in the reader’s eyes. Now, this doesn’t mean that you couldn’t take a more authoritative stance. It really comes down to what it is that you are trying to sell. In the marketing arena, where the marketer is trying to sell something to other up-and-coming marketers, the authoritative ‘I am successful, you want to be successful, I can show you how’ stance would probably work better.
In this case, however, the marketer isn’t trying to ‘teach’ the reader anything. He is trying to sell a product that saves time. Perhaps it is software that makes it possible to complete a job in half the time. Maybe it is software for organization. The point is that the writer needs to put himself in the ‘same boat’ with the reader. They share this time problem, and the writer has found a solution to this time problem that he is sharing with the reader.
This is the one thing that many would-be successful marketers don’t get. There is no one right way to sell something. It all comes down to what you are selling, and whom you are selling it to.
So, the next time you construct a sales email; really consider your product and what problems that product can solve. Then, consider your audience. Finally, determine whether you are in the boat with the reader, waiting to be rescued, or if you are driving the Coast Guard boat coming to rescue them. It will make all of the difference in the world!
Filed under Email Marketing by Almin
Spread the Word!
After the greeting and the first paragraph, you have set the stage for the rest of your sales email. Of course, it isn’t good to jump from one topic clean into a different topic. That can not only confuse the reader, but turn them completely off – because then they feel that you have tried to ‘butter them up.’
In our example above, the writer of the message wrote that it was a shame to be trapped indoors on such a beautiful day. This can effectively lead into the body of the email, where the writer will discuss the ability – or the means – to not be trapped indoors on a beautiful day.
The writer can basically say ‘I know how to escape outdoors’ and then proceed to lead the reader to the information that will help them to not be trapped indoors on a beautiful day.
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Hi [firstname],
I was working in my office this morning, and I thought about what you and my other readers may be doing with their time this morning. Are you working in your office as well? It is a shame to be trapped indoors on such a beautiful day, isn’t it?
As the morning progressed, I couldn’t stop thinking about spending time outdoors – but with all of the work to be done, I didn’t see how it was possible. I’m sure you have found yourself in the same situation.
I’m a big believer in fate. The phone rang just as I had resigned myself to missing out on the great outdoors today, and it was my good friend Buddy. Buddy was on the golf course and knew I was stuck in my office.
At first, I thought he just called to gloat, but as the call progressed, he told me that he wanted to share a secret with me. He asked me if I knew why he was at the golf course, while I was stuck inside. I told him that he was just luckier than me, and he responded that this just wasn’t true. He said it was because he had information that I didn’t have.
Buddy asked me if I had a pen and paper. I reminded him that I was in my office, and that of course I had a pen and paper. He told me to write down a website address, and to visit it. He said that after I read the information there, I would know what the secret was, and that next week, when the sun was shinning, I could join him in a game of golf.
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Here is an example of how it might go:
Now, not only has the writer of this email kept things on a personal ‘I’m just like you’ level, he has also started telling the reader a story. At this point, the reader wants to know what that secret is.
Now, obviously, the action that this writer will want the reader to take is to visit a website. The key to getting them to do that is to rev them up, and keep the secret. The only revelation will be how the writer knows what his good friend Buddy was talking about now, and how he knows that he will definitely be enjoying the great outdoors next week. He will also, of course, share that link with Jane – and his other readers.
There are simple rules for copywriting, and you simply have to insure that you include all of the elements for a successful sales letter in your email. Here are the elements:
- Personalization - Hi Jane is the beginning here, and the first paragraph proceeds in that personalization. The writer wants the reader to know that they are ‘in the same boat.
- Set the scene and address a problem – We’ve set the scene with a beautiful day, in which the author is stuck in the office. His problem is that he wants more time to be able to do the things he wants to do. He wants to get outside, and he is assuming that his reader, Jane, wants the same thing.
- Provide a solution – The writer’s good friend Buddy has provided a solution to the problem, with a website address.
- Draw the reader in – Tell a story. You always want the reader to want to know what happens next.
- Compel the reader to take action – As the email goes on, the writer might tell the reader that he noticed that there is a limited time that this webpage will be up, or that only a certain number of people are going to get this information before it is gone forever.
You could also take a different approach, and really hit on the readers emotions, as they relate to the problem.
So, how many paragraphs do the body of the email need? You can have as many or as few as you want. Ideally, it should be no more than seven or eight short paragraphs. If it is too long, your reader may not even read it, thinking it will take too much of their time. If it is too short, however, you may not have enough time to compel the reader to take the action you want them to take.
Filed under Email Marketing by Almin
Spread the Word!
