The Web Copy Blog

Forrester Research analyst Jim Nail underscored how important it is (or e-commerce players to use e-mail to create a dialogue and deepen intimacy with customers in order to maintain the response rates that e-mail marketing often enjoy. 

He emphasized the importance of starting slowly and gradually building rapport, which allows you to gain additional personal information that in turn helps you fine-tune your marketing and sales message.

Creating a dialogue, deepening intimacy, and building rapport take us to the importance of knowing your prospects’ and customers’ frame of mind.

Once you’ve identified and written down all the aspects of your own list members’ frame of mind, you are ready to write an effective e-mail.

The following technique takes the struggle out of writing e-mail.

Step 1: Write down the three words that best describe the message you’re trying to convey.

Not a three-word sentence, mind you, but three individual words or phrases that summarize the thought you are trying to communicate-for example, a smell, a benefit, an emotion, a color, a mood, a texture, a sound, a flavor, an adjective that describes your message.

If I were writing a letter about a hair restoration product, I might choose patent, scientific, and side effects. Or maybe clinical, success rate, and track record.

Your three words help narrow your focus and keep you grounded. After you select the words, start writing your e-mail letter, paying attention to these simple rules:

  Focus on the frame of mind of your audience, and write in a way that appeals to that frame of mind.

  Write the way you speak.

  Don’t try to be creative or formal.

  Write the letter as though you’re writing it to one person only and that person is your friend.

Step 2: Give yourself five minutes to write the letter, making sure you use your three key words in the letter.

Don’t edit the letter as you write. Here’s a trick that will make editing your letter painless: When you are finished writing, e-mail it to yourself.

The perspective you’ll gain from this experience is priceless. You’ll see firsthand how you’d perceive your subject line relative to other subject lines in your in-box.

Would you pick it out among the rest of your incoming e-mail? Would you open it and read the letter?

You’ll read it in a whole new light: from the point of view of your recipient. With every sentence, ask yourself, “Is this something that I would say to a friend?” If the answer is no, revise what you’ve written.

Similarly, you will discover the nuances of language and whether you’ve succeeded in gaining rapport and persuading your prospects into taking the action you want them to take.

All the rough areas that need work will become apparent, and you will see exactly what needs to be fixed.

Adapt as Your Audience’s Frame of Mind Changes
When you send a series of e-mails to your list, the recipients’ frame of mind is slightly altered with each mailing, as your previous communications influence their expectations and predispositions.

They may have warmed up to you and begun to trust you more, or, if you have misread their frame of mind, maybe just the opposite.

All too often, marketers assume that each e-mail gets the same kind of attention as those that went before.

This is a mistake. You must never write in a vacuum or regard each e-mail as an isolated piece. You must think of each e-mail as part of a conversation in an ongoing relationship.

When you have a good grasp of your prospects’ frame of mind at every stage, you are in a better position to monopolize their attention.

Since you know what your prospects’ predispositions and expectations are, you have the opportunity to find ways to engage them.

For instance, you can use the element of surprise to delight or intrigue them, or you can find ways to arouse their curiosity in order to make them look forward to future e-mails.

The variations are practically infinite. Just consider the unique frame of mind of your own list members and you can come up with ideas that may have never occurred to you before and that are custom-made for your list.

Do you have any other techniques that take the struggle out of writing e-mail?