How To Boost Your Email Copywriting (And Your Income) For Your Business
Email copywriting is one of the most effective ways to build relationships, but in the education world, it’s just another email asking for yet another thing.
The power of email copywriting lies in its ability to engage readers and hold their attention. In today’s world, people receive dozens of emails a day, and the last thing they want to do is read something that’s dull, generic, or irrelevant. Most EdTech companies fall short in this area. They believe emails to school administrators need to be formal and overly-respectful. But formality won’t get that email opened. At the end of the day, school district leaders are people, so when an email is crafted with the right words and tone, it can capture their attention and compel them to take action. The right email copywriting can maintain respect while still being charming and disarming.
School administrators receive hundreds of emails a day. These emails are always asking for something, whether it’s from parents, an administrative team, or teachers. There’s an influx of messages every time they log in.
So what will it take to open up your promotional emails?
A lot.
Email copywriting is one of my favorite forms of copy to help grow your Edtech business. Here’s why.
When you go to write an email for your EdTech company, you can have more fun and write in a much more relaxed tone than you ever would on a website, landing page, or case study.
You also don’t have to worry about headline scores, advertisements, or SEO when you write an email to your subscribers. You get to talk directly to them.
When you speak directly to your audience, you build relationships. And we know that relationship building in any company is a big deal.
It’s one of the most underrated means of marketing, but it’s so much fun and offers a ton of value for your customers.
Email subscribers should never be overlooked. I often hear many Edtech CEOs state that they have an email list, but that it’s not very big. Okay, and?
It doesn’t matter if you have ten email subscribers, a hundred, or thousands. What matters is that you nurture those relationships.
A large email list or a small email list is incredible! Someone found your business online and decided to hand over their email address to keep the conversation going. So, keep the conversation going. This potential customer has invited you into his or her virtual living room-do not dismiss that.
Emailing your subscribers is cost effective and when done right, it can earn you sales. According to DMA’s National Client Email Report, email marketing has an ROI of 3800%.
Imagine implementing a 5-day email sequence, costing around $1500 dollars, that generates you thousands of dollars in sales over and over again? Quite a return on your investment.
Pretty amazing, right?
What are email sequences and how does it tie into email copywriting?
Email copywriting is one of the most powerful tools in the digital marketing world, and it has the potential to make or break a campaign. Copywriting is the art of using words to persuade someone to take a specific action, and when it comes to email marketing, its power is immense. With effective email copywriting, businesses can generate more leads, drive more sales, and build stronger relationships with their customers.
When customers first go to your website, more often than not, they will subscribe to your business over paying for your product the first time. In fact, most customers need at least 7 different types of exposure to a company before actually purchasing. This rings true for school administrators. They’re not going to buy an entire district’s worth of products and licenses on the first go. Think of it like a first date; they’re seeing your potential and waiting to make up their minds.
So everytime an educator or school district leader subscribes to your business, it triggers an action and a welcome email sequence begins.
Why are email sequences so amazing? A well-crafted welcome email sequence…
Delivers value for your customers
Generates traffic to your website
Creates measurable metrics
Builds trust and credibility
Saves time and money
Combining powerful copywriting tactics into your email sequences creates action and momentum. If your welcome email sequence open rates and click thru rates aren’t generating the EdTech industry standard (25% and 7.49%), then you retweak and test. Try out different subject lines and preview text to start. If that doesn’t make any impact, you might need to restructure the order of the emails or change the copywriting strategies.
While schools receive countless emails in a day, they are still much more effective than social media, websites, and landing pages combined.
How do I write an effective email sequence?
Highly engaging email copywriting has the potential to..
Persuade someone to buy a product or service
Encourage people to sign up for a newsletter or mailing list
Promote an event or sale
Provide helpful information and advice
Highlight success stories or case studies
Re-engage inactive subscribers
Show appreciation to customers
Effective email copywriting is a combination of many factors, including the tone, style, structure, and call to action. It should not only be persuasive, but also empathetic and understanding, making the readers feel valued, seen, and heard.
Successful email copywriting is able to target audiences on a personal level using triggers from customer interactions like purchases, interests, and behaviors. Emotion-based writing can encourage people to take immediate action, whether it's signing up for a webinar, making a purchase, or simply replying to the email. In order to write an effective email sequence, you have to understand your audience and get really clear about their pain points.
Your writing needs to be relatable. Your audience needs to see themselves in the stories you tell.
Email copywriting should always have these 7 things:
Subject line
Preview text
Greeting
Body
PS & PSS
Tracking links
How to improve your email copywriting so an administrator actually opens
Getting higher email open rates starts with understanding who you’re talking to in the education world. School districts run like small cities, and there’s a hierarchy. Within any school district, there are vital positions:
superintendents,
board of education members,
Director of HR,
Director of Curriculum,
Director of Student Services,
Director of IT,
Content area supervisors,
building principals,
teachers,
counselors,
secretaries,
paraprofessionals,
custodians,
cafeteria workers, and
bus drivers.
These people play a key role in a district’s day to day operations, and it matters who your email is speaking to. Because if you lump a superintendent with the director of curriculum, you’re not speaking to either person. They have entirely different mindsets and motivations, so knowing your audience and who is reading your emails is key.
In addition to knowing the education hierarchy and personas, effective email copywriting should also be clear and concise. Clear messaging always wins over cute and clever. Well-written copy puts the most important information front and center so that the message is easily understood. The email must start out with a strong opening that hooks the reader, follows with a concise message using common language that is easy to understand, and ends in a strong and clear call-to-action. Since school administrators are always reading or learning, avoid verbs like read more or learn more in your CTA. Use verbs like:
Discover
Examine
Find
Determine
Explore
Try
Register
Another essential factor to consider is the timing of your emails. US schools run on a calendar cycle and operate typically Monday through Fridays, so knowing when to send your emails can make a huge difference in how effective they are. There are specific days and times of day that have been shown to have higher open rates than others. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays have consistently shown to have higher open rates than other days of the week, with the best time of day to send emails being between 10am-12pm.
To take full advantage of email copywriting, consider investing in email marketing software or hiring a professional email marketing company. Quality copywriting in emails requires creativity, copywriting skills, and the knowledge of the target audience. A professional email marketer can build effective email campaigns from initial concept to implementation.
If you’re considering hiring someone for your EdTech email sequences, complete this form and then we’ll chat.
