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Unsellably Yours: How to Write/Create A Persuasive Email Template

Persuasive Email Template

Persuasion lies at the heart of marketing. For all your hard skills as a marketer, for all your number-crunching and shogi-level strategizing, if you don’t know how to write a persuasive email, it’s all for naught. 

Now, there could be multiple reasons why your subscribers are not converting. But, all things being equal, it boils down to just this: You’re failing to persuade your audience to buy from you. Having worked with over 5,000 global agencies across the world, you can take our word for it. After all, doing the right thing isn’t the same as doing it right. 

How about we con a few tricks of persuasion? We’ll explore what goes into making a truly persuasive email template. And of course, we’ll show you a number of examples. Let’s roll the ball! 

Persuasion in Email Marketing 

Persuasion in email marketing works differently than in other forms of communication. Since the primary goal is to persuade people to buy your product or service, email is concerned with persuading the recipient to click through to your website. 

Let’s put it this way: A truly persuasive email is the result of a series of “micro-conversions,” as Kath Pay has identified. 

To that end, here are a few things to bear in mind: 

Now, that’s the series of “micro-conversions.” It’s all good, in theory. But do brands follow it? Let’s explore a few examples. 

5 Persuasive Email Examples

Let’s look at 5 brands that have mastered the art of persuasion.  

1. dbrand

The hallmarks of conversion-focused copywriting are imagination, storytelling, humor, and subversion. It bewilders you, shocks you, and grips you. It’s daring and quite often so face-palmingly simple. 

Take a very close look at this cart abandonment email from dbrand; read every line of it. The email’s subject line is: “You did it again 🎉”

Source: Inbox

What makes this cart abandonment email so “persuasive?” Here’s what: 

In terms of design, the dark-color theme, paired with a prominently yellow primary CTA, and good use of white space make this a truly persuasive email template. 

2. Doughp

One of the greatest benefits of being creative is that you can depend on everything and nothing to get the job done. It’s not formulaic as such, though it has its rules and established strategies. Take a look at this persuasive email example from Doughp. It’s an apology email, and the subject line reads: “Yikes! We messed up…”

Source: Inbox

We almost feel that it’s so well-written it seems like a marketing ploy! But that’s the power of the (well-)written word. 

This is such a good apology that you’d buy in order to forgive than to enjoy a bucket of Doughp. Here’s what stood out to us: 

When the fast-food joint KFC ran out of chicken, they didn’t chicken out. Instead, they just rearranged their letters. (See below) You might argue that it’s a piece of creative stunt; in fact, one feels persuasion itself is only too glad to put on the stuntman’s rags, but that’s a brawl for another day. 

3. Graza 

In a study on the application of language in advertising, the use of techniques similar to those employed in poetry was highlighted. 

“The utilization of mnemonic devices, including rhyme, rhythm, alliteration and assonance provides a significant advantage due to their mnemotechnical effect. This effect ensures that the recipient of the advertisement retains the information more effectively and can retrieve it at the appropriate time,” state Annye Braca and Pierpaolo Dondio in their paper, Developing persuasive systems for marketing: the interplay of persuasion techniques, customer traits and persuasive message design. 

Take a look at Graza’s persuasive email template. The subject line employs alliteration: “TENNIS, TUNES, TALENTI, TASTY”

Source: Inbox

It’s Graza’s monthly newsletter. Check out what stood out to us:

Next, let’s consider the place of humor in email marketing. Humor is a potent persuasion tool. However, it is important to bear in mind that humor as an emotion is something which may only be leveraged against the backdrop of your peculiar brand identity. It presupposes a certain type of brand attitude. You can’t be funny anytime you feel like. Accordingly, let’s consider a brand like Shinesty. Keep reading! 

4. Shinesty

Shinesty has to be one of the funniest brands out there. And they’re proud to flaunt it in their emails. Consider the following example. How can you not be led to buy by such a persuasive email template?

Source: Inbox

Before diving into the “excellencies” of this email, appreciate the fact that it’s not meant for everyone. Shinesty’s audience is of a certain kind. Not everyone responds to such emails. We underscore this since we don’t want you to take what works for this email as a template. 

Now, obviously, many things stood out to us. Here’s some of them:

We’ll study one last persuasive email example, before moving on to a few expert tips on how to write a persuasive email.

5. L’Oreal Paris

It’s one thing to write persuasively, another to design persuasively. In our last example, we explore what goes into designing a persuasive email template. For that, check out this email from L’Oreal Paris first.

Source: Milled

L’Oreal Paris exudes power, empowerment, and confidence. That’s their brand attitude. Their tagline “Because you’re worth it” was the first tagline to highlight self-confidence in the history of advertising. Does their email design also show this? Let’s find out. 

That wraps up the examples part. We’ll leave you with a few expert tips on how to write a persuasive email. 

10 Tips on Creating A Persuasive Email Template

  1. Know your tribe: You want to persuade, but persuade who? Do you know your audience well enough to dare to persuade them? The fuel of persuasion is stored in the other party’s tank. So make sure you know your audience like the back of your brand.
  2. Attract from the get-go: If you want to capture attention, do it quickly. Master the headline. It ought to grip the reader. Don’t rely on words only; leverage emojis, exclamation points, even numbers, why not? Bespoke Post did it with their subject line. 
  3. Embrace colloquialism: In other words, write informally. Write as you speak. Doesn’t matter whether you’re a hip brand or not. Keep it cool. Save the formal style for the legal bit at the end.
  4. Be as concise as possible: That’s David Ogilvy’s advice, no one less. You can get there by trying this 15-minute exercise created by Eddie Shleyner, founder of Very Good Copy.
  5. Embrace persuasive design: Keep it simple, make it appealing, don’t forget visual hierarchy, and leverage white space. For more on persuasive design, read up on the process of persuasion.
  6. Break up with ChatGPT: We mean it! Do NOT use AI. AI can’t persuade. The best copy is created, not generated.
  7. Get acquainted with cognitive biases: The human mind is biased as hell. Read up on the different types of biases. Use them. Some of the well-known biases include the cognitive ease bias, the anchoring effect, the Von Restorff effect, the peak-end rule, etc.
  8. Exploit the Rule of Three: Here’s Pay: “Things in threes have a natural cadence and rhythm. They’re memorable, they flow easily in our minds, and they’re sticky. (See what I did there?)”
  9. Highlight the benefits: How will the would-be customer benefit from your product/service? Let them know. Apply social proof.
  10.  Be aware where the customer is: Before hurrying to write an email, consider at what stage the customer is. Are they exploring? Are they ready to buy? Expecting a post-purchase email? Be certain about the funnel, and craft copy accordingly. 

Copy that? Then Let’s Start Persuading Together!

Now you know what goes into making a persuasive email template. We’ll take a cue from our own book, and inform you that we deliver over 3,000 email templates per month. So far, we have successfully persuaded over 5,000 agencies in more than 60 countries. If you want a taste of it, get in touch with our email experts pronto!   

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