An email copywriter helps your messages land with a fanfare of trumpets – not the sound of tumbleweed.
Email copywriting is something many small businesses never quite master. That's because email marketing material that hits home has to do a whole bunch of things all at once.
It has to:
-
Have a catchy subject line.
-
Be right for the target audience – and be written with the correct tone of voice.
-
Direct people to a well-thought-out landing page or be created with some other key call to action (CTA) built in.
-
Avoid the spam folder.
-
Get the reader's attention right from the off.
-
Encourage prospective customers to read to the very end.
It's a colossal ask! Just think how many examples of email marketing you receive in your own inbox every day.
It's a minefield, isn't it?
The secrets of a great email marketing campaign
When I work with clients as a freelance email copywriter, I pull together a whole bunch of email copywriting tips, tricks and best practices that I've gathered over many years.
These are designed to boost an email's chances of being opened, read – and then inspiring your desired response.
But there's no single magic formula that will work 100% of the time.
Success depends not just on winning words, but your audience, your offer, your timing and much more.
So we may need to test and test again until we get it right. But that's OK. I can include all of this delicate fine-tuning in the price.
GREAT EMAIL COPYWRITING CAN:
Market your business to a very large audience for a relatively low cost.
Keep your brand front of mind with your customers.
Develop and showcase your unique brand voice.
Drive traffic to your website, landing page or straight to a sale.
_%20Millions%20of%20them.jpg)
Hi, I'm Mike. I'm here to work overtime making your 'offer' – be that a discount, a 2-for-1 deal or a free consultation – as irresistible as possible.
'Why bother? No one reads my emails anyway!'
Boo-hoo!
Yes, email marketing is HARD! But don't give up. If you have a great deal, I'll help you sell it.
No budget?
I can often provide email content at great prices. A kind of 'loss-leader' to show what else I can do!
It works!
The biggest brands in the world hire email copywriters every day. It's a proven tactic.
"Flawlessly delivered email copywriting"
"Every piece of email copywriting work Mike does for us is flawlessly delivered and gets his total commitment. I can't recommend him highly enough."
Paul Miller, founder,
The HS Manager
Book me in. You're in good company...
Did you know?
81%
of businesses use emails as part of their marketing mix.
So you need to stand out from the crowd
50%
of marketers say that email is their most powerful channel.
So why not join them and start reaping the rewards?
2.3%
is the average click-though rate for emails.
So think big! The larger your audience, the better.
How it works: what happens when you get me in as your email copywriter
1. We'll define the 'offer'
Wasted emails are a sin and can harm your brand. I'll help you find a great offer (see below) for your audience.
4. Killer copy – just for you
I'll write my little socks off, with your goals, audience and CTAs in mind.
2. A hunt for the best subject line
Get ready for some A-B testing as we try different approaches and follow their open rates.
5. A starter kit for your designer
Your email copy can be delivered with rough visuals so those all-important words don't lose their impact.
3. Adding a voice to your brand
Emails are your chance to talk to your audience. I'll help you find a voice they can believe in.
6. A comprehensive round of revisions
Getting everything perfect first time is rare. So let's look at the data, iterate and create gold!
What is your email's 'offer' and why is it important?
When you send out a marketing email, you've GOT to have a reason for doing it. In simple terms, you're making your audience an offer. Here are five different kinds:
1/ You're telling them about something new and exciting
People love to know things, so information about a product that your target market will be interested in is a commonly seen offer.
While emails of this kind are not always widely opened, your chances improve if your fan base is incredibly strong. Think Apple's new product launches.
If your potential customers don't currently know you, then your product or service needs to be highly appealing and original for a strong open and response rate.
2/ You're making their life a little bit better
People enjoy finding out how to do something better. Let's say you sell paint: your email might contain a video with expert tips on how to create perfectly straight lines.
Or perhaps you've created a new calculator widget that people can use to see how much they can save by using one of your products.
3/ An invitation
Maybe your digital marketing campaign is designed to entice people to a specific event. Your email writer can help with ideas so that it sounds unique and unmissable.
4/ A special offer
Most people like a bargain – which is why this is the most commonly seen offer in email marketing. When handled properly, this type can be highly effective – whether you're offering 20% off for a limited time, reduced price subscriptions or something else.
Your email copywriter's goal is to get the highest possible number of readers to take up the offer – but your pitch will falter if the offer is weak.
5/ The feel-good factor
Here, you are offering the reader a warm glow by opening your email – because they will learn how they helped you to raise £50k for good causes, for example.
This kind of marketing email can be quite tricky to pull off, as the offer has to punch above its weight to really hit home.
NOTE: There are other kinds of offer – and other kinds of marketing emails – but they all come back to one thing: having a point.
Copywriting emails always needs careful thought. Your reason for sending should never be, "We'd just like to say 'hello'!"
What does freelance email copywriting cost?
The quick answer? It depends!
That's not me being evasive; what I'm trying to say is that there are so many variables when copywriting for emails that it's not possible to say it will cost £x.
Here are some of the many factors that affect the price.
-
Size of business
-
Number of emails in the sequence
-
Whether 'the offer' needs work
-
Urgency
-
Briefing and research requirements
-
Approval process expectations
-
Number of testing rounds
The size of the business is important because it helps define expectations. I couldn't realistically expect to charge a one-person trader £1,000 when they need something short, sweet and effective that might general £2,000 of business.
And if I quoted £150 to a large corporation, it would suggest I didn't quite grasp the importance of the challenge – or of the time involved.
As for 'the offer' you're proposing to your audience, in some cases I'll need to step in and help you come up with something more compelling than what you were planning.
That doesn't mean I want you to give clients a bigger discount. But some serious thinking time may be needed to figure out what's going to get your audience's attention.
Why you need me (or someone like me) for your email copy
Hiring an email copywriter isn't just about finding someone who can write a punchy message.
Your copywriter needs to understand that your brand, your audience and your goals play an even bigger part.
When I work with clients on their email copy, the starting point is the intent behind the email. You need to have a reason for sending it.
Here's why: think of each email you send as burning through your supply of 'credits' that a customer is prepared to grant you.
Bear with me!
If they already know and like your brand, perhaps they'll subconsciously afford you five credits.
By which, I mean they'll receive five 'meh' emails from you before they start ignoring all future email campaigns you send – or unsubscribe.
Why even one burned 'credit' is too many
If the recipient of your email doesn't already know you, you've probably got just one of these credits.
So the first time you approach the unsuspecting souls on your email marketing list, you'd better make sure that the message is just about as good as it can ever be.
We MUST, therefore, begin with intent. Why are you sending this email? Not knowing this means you will burn up these metaphorical credits.
And you'll disappear into the spam folder. Forever.
Starting with the 'why'
An experienced email copywriter will always start with, "Why are we doing this?"
They will want to help you define the point of the email.
If you've brought me in to do your email copywriting, I'll explain that there needs to be something on which to hang everything.
If you're not sure where to begin, I can work with you to help you find the message.
But whoever your freelance email copywriter is, don't skip this step.
Without a carefully thought-out email marketing strategy, you are wasting time and money – and burning bridges with your prospective clients.
"Full of great ideas... amazing copy!"
"It's rare to find someone who truly wants to help your business grow, but Mike is that exception. Full of great ideas, he has helped with amazing email and website copy."
Any Brann, founder, Synaptic Potential
FAQ
Find answers about why people choose me, my email copywriting strategy and more...
Why is trying to find the right email subject line so important? Email subject lines seem such a little thing. So much so that many firms and even some email copywriters gloss over it when planning an email marketing campaign. Part of the reason for this is that getting the subject line right is hard – and there is no single solution that is guaranteed to work! But if you want email copy that stands out from the crowd, the subject line is your golden chance to get off on the right foot. So I'll work on your subject line – sometimes for a whole morning if that's what's needed. Rushing it makes no sense at all. I'll also run it through a couple of online tools to make sure it ticks all the boxes. A successful email campaign is a labour of love!
129 words
What's the point of hiring an email copywriter? Do you have a strategy? When you are a business owner, coming up with an email campaign by yourself is a big ask. While a message may take less than 10 seconds to digest, it's likely to take hours to create. Let's not forget that in most cases, you'll need a designer, too. But most of all, you need a thick skin – because it's a given that the majority of emails will fail to land unless you're offering a free Aston Martin to everyone who replies. It's a numbers game. You can improve your chances of your email campaigns having an impact by working with a seasoned freelance copywriter who has been tasked with coming up with email marketing copy that has been through all of the necessary steps. These include defining the intent, acing the subject line, writing (and testing) the headline and subhead, great body copy, a killer CTA and images. That's why you need a proper email copywriting strategy. An email copywriter can help. Why not hit the big green 'CONTACT ME' button at the top and we can discuss what you need.
178 words
Can you guarantee that my emails will be opened and people will click on my website? No! No one can do that. But as with most things, experience counts. I've written thousands of pieces of copy, and will pull out all the stops to give your email the best possible chances of success. If you have a large mailing list, I recommend trialling 2 x different approaches with a portion of the total audience. Whichever works best can then be sent to the rest. Also, we'll need to work on your 'offer', as a link to a blog post, for example, might not be as attractive as you think.
96 words
Is copywriting for emails expensive? Give me a ballpark figure here! Honestly? I think it can be surprisingly affordable – because it can often be done quite quickly (compared to other freelance copywriting jobs). A website, for example, is unlikely to take less than 3-4 days and could easily be a month's work or more. By comparison, a marketing campaign based around a six email sequence is unlikely to take more than two days. As everything comes back to the total time involved, email campaigns are generally the most affordable service I offer. Ballpark figure? £300-£1,200, but obviously more for longer/more complex campaigns.
91 words
Do you actually send out the emails and measure their performance? No – that's something freelance email copywriters rarely do. We're all about the words – you'll need a separate service for delivery and tracking.
22 words
Can you come up with ideas for what I could include in my emails? Yes! Creative copywriting is at the heart of everything I do, and if you're new to all this I can help you work out a solid offer, a brand tone and a message that will – hopefully – resonate. I am an email copywriter UK clients rely on again and again for a full suite of creative services.
56 words
I'm going to write my emails myself. What's the ideal character count for a subject line? 40 – give or take.
4 words
My email campaign needs a landing page – can you help? Yes. Whether you want one as part of an email campaign that I write for you or need this as a standalone service, I can help. I can also provide a wireframe for the landing page that you can take to your designers. This is a rough design suggesting what goes where and is based on my many years of experience in creating web content.
65 words