Although many people read emails, a large number of these messages are unfortunately ignored by recipients, not read in full, or deleted immediately upon arrival. That clearly doesn't work, since marketing emails are meant to truly "land" with the recipient.
For this reason, it is important to learn how to write business emails that are persuasive, relevant, and above all strong enough to prompt the recipient to take action, for example by clicking a link in the email.
That is exactly what this article is about.
What types of emails this article covers
There are several types of emails that can be classified as business emails:
- Marketing emails — these emails are sent with the goal of using the email recipient list to generate revenue by directly or indirectly presenting offers to recipients.
- Service emails — these are either sent automatically or assembled from text modules by support staff in order to respond to inquiries via email.
- Transactional emails — these often include emails containing invoices or payment requests. Emails used for business communication, such as between business partners, employees, or customers, also fall into this category.
The focus of this article is on marketing emails. A marketing email can be understood as a sales or business email whose goal is to close more deals with the help of email recipients.
Writing good marketing emails is a learnable skill
As every sender of marketing emails should know, an email can serve different purposes. In any case, it should not only be relevant to the recipient, but also informative, engaging, and goal-oriented.
A marketing email aims to anchor the company in the recipient's memory in order to grow and expand the business in the long term with the help of an own email list.
Statistics show that email is extremely well suited as a communication medium for increasing revenue — even more effective than social media. This makes it all the more worthwhile to create marketing emails that actively encourage engagement from recipients.
So what is the goal of a successful marketing email?
- Successful deliverability: It must first arrive in the recipient's inbox. For this, the use of professional email marketing software and the creation of clean email lists is recommended. A good option for this is GetResponse.
- A subject line perfectly suited to the purpose of the email: The subject line should already convey a certain sense of urgency so that the email is opened and read promptly.
- Email content with a clear structure: The content must be structured in such a way that the email is read in full and ideally triggers an action, such as clicking a link or scheduling a phone call.
Next, the focus will be on how to write exactly these kinds of marketing emails.
How emails are created that can sell convincingly
As soon as a marketing email is written, the following points should be taken into account for every single message and handled with particular care:
- Write emails in a personal tone
Even though an email cannot replace a personal one-to-one conversation, it should still feel as personal as possible. A conversational tone helps build closeness and trust. - The subject line must match the content
A good subject line clearly communicates what the reader can expect. It should be consistent with the content and phrased attractively so that the email is opened at all. - Relevant, concise, and straight to the point
Nothing is more off-putting than unnecessarily long and rambling emails. The clearer and more compact the content is and the more closely it is aligned with the goal, the higher the likelihood that the email will be read in full. - Ensure relevance
If a recipient has signed up for specific content, exactly those topics should be delivered. The core topic should always remain front of mind when writing to avoid unnecessary distractions. - Guide clearly toward an action
Every marketing email has a clear purpose. All necessary information should be included so that the desired next step — such as visiting a website or showing interest in a product — appears logical and easy. - Following up is part of the process
A single email rarely leads directly to the desired result. Often, multiple touchpoints are required to trigger the intended action. Consistent follow-up is essential in email marketing. - Avoid overly aggressive emails
Emails that are too pushy quickly become off-putting. Putting pressure on recipients or overwhelming them risks unsubscribes and a loss of trust. - Set a clear sending limit
In practice, it has proven effective to send no more than one email per day to a recipient and to define a weekly limit as well. Emails sent too infrequently or too frequently both have a negative impact on success.
The next step takes a closer look at the structure of a marketing email.
The structure of a good marketing email
A successful marketing email follows a clear and proven structure:
- Subject line
The subject line plays a decisive role in whether an email is opened. It should summarize the content concisely, attractively, and with clear relevance. - Salutation
Every email begins with a salutation. A personalized greeting using a first or last name has been shown to significantly increase success rates. - Introduction
In just a few sentences, the introduction explains what the email is about and what value it provides. - Main body
The main body focuses on the primary goal of the email, such as presenting a product or offer, and sparks interest in learning more. - Conclusion
At the end, the core message is summarized and smoothly transitions into the desired action. - Call to action
A clear call to action must not be missing. It can be placed at the end or repeated several times within the text. - P.S.
A P.S. attracts special attention and is ideal for delivering one final, strong impulse. - Legal notice
Every marketing email must include a legal notice. Ideally, this is permanently integrated into an email template. - Unsubscribe link
A clearly visible unsubscribe link is mandatory and allows recipients to stop receiving emails at any time.
Anyone who consistently follows this structure significantly increases the likelihood that emails will not only be opened and read, but also converted into concrete actions.
Equally important is the quality of the recipient list. Email lists should always be built independently and segmented according to interests. Mixing different target groups into a single list harms overall email marketing performance.
Conclusion
Writing persuasive emails is an art form, but one that can be learned quite well. Every marketing email consists of multiple content components that must be meaningfully aligned with one another.
What matters most is integrating all necessary elements and achieving the highest possible level of interaction with the email. There are numerous levers available to accomplish this.
Neither excessive aggressiveness nor excessive restraint leads to success. Emails that apply pressure or remain emotionally flat will not achieve long-term results.
The topic of spam should also not be underestimated in email marketing. Only legitimate emails tailored to the interests of recipients should be sent in order to avoid jeopardizing one's reputation.
In addition, the timing of delivery plays an important role. Depending on the target audience, marketing emails perform better or worse at certain times of day. Ideally, emails are sent at the optimal time.