FREE EMAIL COPYWRITING TEMPLATES

How to write your own emails like a pro

According to Adobe’s Email Usage Study, consumers spend approximately 5 hours a day checking both work and personal email. But even with that much time spent in their inbox, and consumers saying they prefer to receive offers and promotions this way, only 1 in 4 email offers from brands are interesting or compelling enough to open. One of the biggest deterrents from opening is poorly written or wordy messages. And amid the WFH era—thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic—about one-third of consumers report feeling overwhelmed by digital fatigue according to Deloitte. Seems pretty dire, right?  Well don’t throw in the towel just yet. We can help you cut through the noise of busy inboxes and grab your contacts’ attention with some time-tested email copywriting templates below. 

What to put in your email

A great email copywriting template has 3 key components:

1. Subject line & preheader text (most templates miss this)
2. Email body
3. Call-to-action (CTA)

1. Subject line & Preheader Text

The subject line of your email gives your contact key insights into what you will be sharing in the body copy. It often determines whether an email is opened or trashed, and should be approximately 60 characters. That’s a whole lot of power for one line of text. But as we know, with great power comes great responsibility, so here are some ways to make sure you are standing out in your contacts inbox with limited space. 

1. Ask a curiosity-inducing question
2. Start a sequence of events, but don’t finish (e.g. an unfinished story)
3. Subvert expectations
4. Imply that you have information they don’t
5. Imply that they used to know something that they’ve since forgotten

Write out your best email subject line, add in at least 3 of the above (bonus points if you can hit all 5!) and you’re well on your way to an irresistible email subject line.   Now that we have covered how important the Subject line is you may be wondering… What’s an email preheader? An email preheader is the small line of text that follows the subject line in your subscriber’s inbox, for example: Most email marketing platforms will allow you to customize that text directly into your email settings before sending. If you don’t choose to add custom preheader content, the platform will automatically populate the preheader text with the first line of copy from your email. Sometimes, auto-generated preheaders are enough. But often, you’ll want to use your email preheader text as a “second subject line” to build curiosity and get more email opens. Here are some best practices to keep in mind when customizing your next subject line:

1. Add a call-to-action: Promise a benefit tied to the subject line that will help the subscriber understand the value of opening your email.
2. Don’t repeat the subject line: Most inboxes only show 30-75 characters of your subject, but adding preheader text gives you another 100 characters. No need to repeat yourself!
3. Make your subject line and preheader text work together: Some of the best preheaders continue the same sentence or thought process as the subject line for 1 cohesive message.
4. Use the preheader to build curiosity: Remember the 5 tips above to create curiosity in your subject line? If there was 1 you didn’t get to use, add it to your preheader.

2. Email body

Now that we know somebody will open the email, how do we retain their attention when we know the average time spent reading an email is down to 10 seconds? Quickly capturing your reader’s attention and building a relationship in such a short time is difficult, so here’s a simple 3-step tried-and-true format:

1. Hook: Use a hook to try and build on the curiosity that you’ve created with your subject and preheader text. This can create yet another open loop that will entice the subscriber to read through to the end.
2. Story: Everyone loves following along with a story. First, create a connection with the reader. Second, qualify yourself as someone who can help them navigate their current problem. Third, offer your solution and show them how you can help alleviate their pain points. 
3. Offer: The offer can be anything that will help them get closer to your goal of them reading your emails. It could be to purchase something, but could also be to take a specific action.

The hook, story, offer formula is extremely effective at building enough tension with the reader that they can’t wait to see the solution at the end of your email.

3. Call-to-Action

Your subscribers have opened your email, engaged with your story, and are ready to take the next step. But we have to do more than just put a big button at the end of our email. A strong call-to-action includes 3 things:

• Begin with an action verb  such as call, contact, click, download, or read.
• Imply urgency if there is reason to do so using words like “today” or “now.”
• Tell your audience WHY they should take the recommended action.

Want the plug-and-play version of this guide? Keep reading.

Get a sample email copywriting template

You shouldn’t have to feel like you’re gearing up for battle every time you try to write a new email. The pro’s don’t. And neither should you. As long as you’re including the right things in each email, the format really doesn’t matter.  Make sure you include everything that needs to be there with these email copywriting templates.