We receive 121 emails each day.
5 frequent copywriting mistakes to avoid.
Indeed, according to Campaign Monitor the average office worker receives 121 emails each day.
And 73% of people say email is their preferred marketing channel (DMA).
Explaining why 99% of us check our emails every single day (OptinMonstor).
And emails are the first source of information of the day, before Search, Social and News media.
For you, email is the #1 channel to reach out to your contacts, build awareness, raise interest, connect their challenges with your company's solutions and drive business growth.
On the other hand, your prospects and clients receive a ton of emails from your direct competitors.
As Sales Reps, we constantly seek ways to connect with our audience and differentiate ourselves from the competition. This is where email copywriting comes in – it's a critical component of our communication.
The words and tone used in an email have the power to make or break a potential deal. Most of your prospects and clients will experiment either the fear of missing out (FOMO) or the fear of messing up (FOMU).
B2B email copywriting should be designed to deliver a jolt to the customer. This means that the email should be different from the typical sales pitches that customers receive. The content should be engaging and thought-provoking, encouraging customers to take action.
Whether you are reaching out to new prospects, following up with existing ones, or nurturing clients, your ability to craft compelling emails can significantly impact your results.
Common mistake #1: the lack of personalization.
75% of marketers say that personalization boosts engagement.
In fact, 74% of people hate being shown irrelevant content, that lacks personalization, research, and a tailored-made approach. You are probably one of them, as I am.
An email that lacks personalization and feels like a generic template can cause the recipient to lose interest quickly.
In B2C for instance, birthday emails generate 3 times more revenue than standard emails (according to a 2020 study made by Renegade).
In reality, the lack of personalization is the result of three things:
A lack of prep time and research on your prospects and clients
A higher focus on volume: targeting as many individuals as possible rather than adopting a qualitative approach
And a poor understanding of techniques and tools at your disposal so that you, salespeople, can apply personalization at scale.
As a consequence, your emails might not bring enough value. That's mistake #2.
For example, how many emails have you personally received that focus on the sender's company, their solution, and why they are the best?
Not understanding your audience's needs and their company's challenges is a relationship killer. If you don't connect the dots for them and don't bring any value of any shape and form (cost efficiency, time-saving, incremental revenue, customer satisfaction, and so forth), your email is likely to be ignored.
It is true for your prospects of course, but as well for your clients.
A frequent mistake I have witnessed was account managers sending a post-meeting follow-up email that was simply a recap of the discussion. If your follow-up emails don't bring additional content or ease up the process for your primary contacts, then you can be sure they won't execute on agreed actions and next steps.
Talking about execution, mistake #3 consists of not having a clear call to action.
A LinkedIn message, an email, or a comment on any social media that doesn't have a clear call-to-action confuses your contacts and leads to no action.
It comes down to making it easy for them to take the expected next step, like ending your message that suggests scheduling a call, reacting to your insight, confirming your educated hypothesis, or requesting a demo.
We tend to build our emails around our objectives rather than attaching more importance to our contacts' day-to-day challenges. You want them to start a journey with you and go from situation A to situation B.
Mistake #4: if your call-to-action is critical for your contacts to embark on this journey, having a poor subject line is an email killer.
It is the first thing your contacts see when they receive your email, so make it compelling and relevant. People are busy, and remember; people receive many emails daily.
Above five words in your subject line: your reply rate might start to decrease:
It's about making a solid first impression to grab your contacts' attention.
To go further, when was the last time you ran an A/B test on your subject lines? And when was the last time you tailored your subject line according to your audience?
Try to keep your titles short, get to the point, and ensure it accurately represents your email's content.
The same goes for your email body, your main content.
Mistake #5: sending emails with too much information and too much text.
Depending on your contact's device and your goals (open rates or click-through rates), it has been demonstrated that emails with less than 200 words generate the best outcomes.
It's pretty simple: having too many words will annoy your recipients and downsize your call to action.