Direct Response Copywriter on High-Converting Emails. Part 5. Body Copy.

Once you’re sorted out the headline, it’s time to work on the body copy.

It’s at this stage of the exercise where the email can go in all sorts of directions.

I’ve written long emails … upwards of 2,000 words. I’ve written short emails of around 300 words. I’ve written emails based on direct response principles. I’ve written pithy emails that are more branding-oriented. I’ve written funny emails.

In fact, for one client, a restaurant in a basement location, I wrote an email saying they were going to expand underground. It was an April Fool’s stunt and people came in to the restaurant asking about the date of the expansion.

For that client, the comment they receive is “the only emails I open are from you.”

There are emails sent to cold lists and emails sent to warm lists and house lists. There's pure spam.

I don’t know of a single business who successfully sends readers directly to the checkout page from an email. But I could be missing something.

Usually, the emails I write send people to a landing page where the selling takes place. So … when it comes to body copy in an email, start by asking, “what are we trying to do here?”

I like the power of curiosity here. If someone is trying to sell a product to help direct response copywriters and they say, “I’ve got something that’s going to help you solve a big problem” then I’m highly likely to click through. But if they say, “I’ve got this new course and I'm the best and the course is about writing sales pages and it’s a bargain at $997” then it’s going straight to my trash.

There’s also a school of thought that says, “nurture your list.” For every 5 emails you send to the list, 4 should be informational. Email #5 can be more of a sales pitch. I like this approach because it builds trust with the prospects.

Many of the fundamentals of direct response copywriting apply to the body copy.

Copy in 7th grade English. Clarity. Benefits. Strong call-to-action. Proof. Testimonials.

If the list is big enough, you can split test. Then, in subsequent emails, you can write emails based on what seems to resonate.

It’s also extremely important to be laser-focused on what people on your list genuinely want and need.

Unless you’re appealing to people with a certain political viewpoint, keep politics totally out of the entire email. However, I like an opinionated email … provided it’s not political. In fact, I regularly send out opinionated and even controversial emails. I’m simply stating the truth about what’s going on in the world of the direct response copywriter.

Most sales-based emails I read are motivating me to click through to a landing page. That’s fine, of course, but stoke the reader’s curiosity, often with a couple of carefully-chosen benefits.

Remember what the reader is asking: “what’s in it for me?”

By following the direction in this email, you can cut through email clutter.