How to Write a Marketing Email or Can AI Do It for You?

Capturing the attention of your audience is both art and science. 

Think of the last email you got from Netflix, a company known for their masterful email marketing techniques. Their approach, often featuring personalized subject lines like “🍿 [Name], your next binge-watch is here!” shows a profound understanding of what resonates with their audience. Later on we’ll explain what exactly makes the Netflix subject lines stand out.

Today, we will look into the essentials of writing a powerful marketing email. We’ll dive deep into how strategic personalization, much like Netflix’s method, can take your emails from mundane to must-read. And we’ll see which elements of your email marketing campaign (if any) are safe to outsource to AI.

1. Understanding Your Audience

The success of any marketing email depends on how well you know your audience. This means looking into their demographics (age, gender, location), interests, and habits. The more you know about them, the more you can tailor your emails to resonate with them. And with a bit of a personal touch, you can turn a basic boring email into a compelling message that gets your readers’ attention and calls them to act.

Here’s how to gather and use audience data:

• Surveys and feedback forms: ask your readers about their preferences and interests directly. You can use surveys or feedback forms either through emails or on your website.
• Analytics tools: tools like Google Analytics are invaluable when it comes to understanding how your audience behaves on your website. You can see what pages they visit, how long they stay, and what type of content they engage with the most.
• Segmentation: once you have all this data, you can go on to group your audience based on what they have in common.
• Setting Clear Objectives: Each email you send should have a clear objective. This could be raising brand awareness, driving sales, or retaining customers. Once you have a clear goal in mind, every element of your email (from content to design) should be in service of that goal.

Here are a few examples of marketing objectives:

• Brand awareness: these emails tell your brand’s story or share your values.
• Sales promotion: here, you can include special offers, discounts, or showcase new products.
• Customer retention: use these emails to check in with your customers, ask for feedback, or offer loyalty rewards.

2. Crafting a Compelling Subject Line

The subject line is the first impression your email makes. It’s a deciding factor in whether your email is opened or ignored. Trust us on this: an engaging subject line can do wonders for your open rates. 

Here are a few best practices for writing an attention-grabbing subject line:

• Personalization: Always include the name of the person you are writing to or adjust the subject line to their interests or recent interactions with your brand.
• Clarity and brevity: Keep it short and straightforward – let your reader know instantly what the email is about.
• Urgency and curiosity: Create a sense of urgency or curiosity. Phrases like “Last Chance!” or “You won’t believe this…” can be quite effective. But don’t overuse them as they might come across spammy as well, when not used under the right circumstances. 
• Avoid spammy language: Stay away from overly promotional language and CAPS LOCK, as these can trigger spam filters.

Still remember the Netflix subject line?

 “🍿 [Name], your next binge-watch is here!”

Here’s why it’s effective: 

• Personalization: It includes the reader’s name, making the email feel more tailored and personal.
• Emojis: The use of the popcorn emoji grabs attention and is an instant reference to entertainment and relaxation.
• Relevance: The email suggests that it has the reader’s next binge-watch, based on their viewing habits. This will make the reader curious and encourage them to open the email right away. 

To master the skill of crafting an appealing email subject line, check out this article: Email Subject Line Success: How to Stand Out in a Crowded Inbox

3. Designing Your Email

Yet another thing that can substantially improve reader engagement is a visually appealing email design. Choosing the right blend of colors, fonts, and layout can be great for capturing your readers’ attention. It will also make your content more digestible and easier to engage with.

Here are a few quick tips on how to best balance text and imagery:

• Use images that complement and reinforce your message. But make sure to not overwhelm your audience with too many visuals or dense blocks of text.
• Your emails should reflect your brand’s visual identity. This translates into the  consistent use of colors, logos, and font styles.

Mobile-friendly design considerations:

• Over half of all emails are opened on mobile devices. Use responsive design to ensure your email looks good on any screen size.
• Optimize image sizes so that your emails open quickly on mobile devices.

4. Writing Engaging Content

Once your reader has been hooked by your subject line, you need to deliver on the promise. Create content that will address the interests and needs of your audience. It should be clear and to the point. This is no place for jargon and overly complex language.

• Storytelling: Engage your readers with stories that connect them to your brand on an emotional level.
• Personalization: Use data to personalize content, making each email relevant to the individual recipient.

Storytelling plays a crucial role in marketing email writing. It creates a narrative that engages the reader emotionally and intellectually. It transforms a simple message into a compelling story, making it more relatable and memorable.

Here are some examples of how storytelling can be used in marketing emails:

• Customer success stories: Share a story about how your product or service has positively impacted a customer. For instance, a fitness app could share a testimonial from a user who achieved their health goals using the app, complete with their challenges and journey.
• Behind-the-scenes stories: Give your subscribers a peek into the inner workings of your company. A clothing brand, for example, might share the journey of creating a sustainable line of clothing, highlighting the challenges and triumphs along the way.
• Founder’s story: Narrate the origin story of your company, focusing on the founder’s vision and the hurdles overcome. This approach humanizes the brand and can create a stronger emotional connection with the audience.
• Day-in-the-life stories: Create a narrative showing a day in the life of a customer using your product or service. For a coffee brand, this might look like a story of a morning routine that is transformed by a perfect cup of coffee.
• Holiday or seasonal stories: Connect your brand to a holiday or season with a relevant story. For example, a home decor brand could share a family’s story of hosting their first big holiday dinner, emphasizing how their products added to the festive atmosphere.

In each case, the key is to craft a narrative that is not only engaging but also ties back to your brand and the message you want to convey. Good storytelling in marketing emails makes the reader feel something – inspired, educated, or just more connected to your brand.

To learn more email copywriting techniques: Email Copywriting: How to Create Engaging Content in 2024

5. Staying Within the Lines: Compliance and Best Practices

Understanding and adhering to email regulations like GDPR and the CAN-SPAM Act is crucial. These laws explain the dos and don’ts of commercial email communication and make sure you respect the privacy and consent of your readers.

Essential ethics in email marketing:

• Always get permission before sending emails and be clear about how you’ll use the data you collect.
• Always provide a straightforward way for subscribers to stop receiving your emails if they choose.

Testing for Success

The importance of testing can’t be overstated. A/B testing different elements like subject lines or CTAs can show you what resonates most with your audience.

Analyzing Your Results

Tracking metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversions will help you gauge the success of your emails. High rates are a good sign that your subject lines draw people in, and your content and CTAs are hitting the mark.

Should You Use AI for Marketing Emails?

Thinking about bringing AI into your email marketing game? It’s a big decision with a lot to consider. Here’s a breakdown of the pros and cons to help you make an informed choice:

Advantages of using AI:

• AI excels at automating routine tasks like segmenting your audience, personalizing emails, and scheduling campaigns, which can save you a ton of time.
• With AI, you can dive deep into big data to get insights on customer behaviors and preferences, helping you tailor your content more effectively.
• AI really shines when it comes to customizing content for each recipient based on their past actions, buying history, and preferences, boosting your engagement rates.
• AI isn’t just about setting up; it’s also about improving. It can continuously test and tweak your emails’ subject lines, content, and timing to help enhance open and click-through rates.
• Some AI tools can predict future customer behaviors, giving you an edge in planning more effective marketing strategies.

Limitations to consider:

• AI is smart, but it doesn’t quite capture the human element—those nuances of emotion and creativity that can make your messages truly compelling.
• Getting AI up and running can take quite a bit of  time and resources. Plus, there’s a learning curve to using it effectively.
• Using AI means handling lots of personal data, and you need to be meticulous about following privacy laws like GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
• Relying too much on AI can lead to bland, generic communications. It’s crucial to keep a good balance between automated and personally written messages.

Best practices with AI:

• Let AI handle the heavy lifting on data and efficiency. But keep the creative and strategic decisions in your own hands.This way, your messages will remain engaging and true to the voice of your brand.
• Always monitor how AI-generated content is performing. Make adjustments as you go to keep things fresh and effective.
• Make sure your use of AI in email marketing complies with all relevant data privacy regulations.

To Sum Up

To master email marketing, you will need to blend creativity with strategic thinking. Know your audience and create content that speaks to them.

Good design and mobile optimization matter too. And it’s absolutely paramount that you respect the legal standards and best practices to build trust with your audience.

Adding AI into the mix can bring great benefits like enhanced personalization and efficiency. But remember: the human touch is what makes messages feel real and resonant.