Selling your product or service to another business via email marketing? Never forget the person who’s reading is a human – and humans have personal motivations as well as professional ones! When you engage a copywriter, that’s something they never forget!
I’ll explain why in a moment.
But first, what are the components of email marketing that work perfectly when you engage a copywriter experienced in this kind of writing? The three main ones are:
1 Compelling subject lines – because if no one opens your email, it won’t matter whether they’re human or the AI machine that’s replaced them!
2 Enticing body copy – because if you don’t grab your reader’s “desperate for something interesting” brain cells, they chuck your email in spam two seconds later.
3 An effective CTA – and if you’ve flagged up enough desire to encourage action, you only need a final magic touch to get that click!
Let’s look at these in turn.
Engage a Copywriter For Eye-Popping Subject Lines
Warning: Your copywriter will never mislead readers just to get clicks! Business leaders are not stupid. So – some examples of misleading subject lines:
“Say hello to summer” is
- irrelevant (it’s an ad for an app to clean up your computer!) and
- clearly aimed at consumers who idly click!
“About the circular spiral notebooks you’re looking at” is a lie because
- the firm doesn’t make them. It’s click-bait, and
- even if the business prospect distributes innovative stationery lines, they’re in for a let-down they won’t forget!
In contrast, the copywriter you engage will instinctively use a subject line that
- offers a benefit for your prospect,
- arouses curiosity (which is not then thwarted!) and
- gives them some proof.
That’s a tall order and it takes skill and time to come up with several possible subject lines and assess the best for you as the client.
Actually, your business reader is slightly less interested in having their curiosity aroused, so it’s a judgment call on that part.
That’s because, when large amounts of money are at stake, benefits and proof can often trump curiosity and gain you an “open”. A good copywriter will learn about your brand and target audience and get the subject line right for your prospect.
Example: “Top industries use our cutting-edge threat detection” = proof, curiosity, benefit. With a decent bit of preview text, this will likely cause your B2B reader to click through.
Copywriters Write “Business-Yet-Human” Body Copy
Now we get to those personal motivations I mentioned up top!
Suppose your business prospect is in security, within an industry that needs new and assured threat detection? What are their motivations?
Your copywriter will aim to grab your reader – your intended buyer – with as many tentacles as possible in the body copy. Two of these tentacles are professional and personal motivations:
Professional motivation: “If I buy this cutting-edge threat detection, we’ll avoid the newest ransomware attacks that are causing other businesses to fail.”
Personal motivation: “This kind of purchase makes me look good and will improve my standing in the business when they see how well it protects us.”
Keeping these motivations in view is important. The idea that the potential buyer is both a professional and a human is used to pre-frame the whole email. That is, prepare them to be ready to answer the call to action!
Whenever you engage a copywriter, they’ll prepare copy with both factors in mind so that it
- flows logically (no human voluntarily reads stuff that’s hard to follow – and hard-pressed business pros hate doing so!)
- maintains interest with detail filtered in (the how and why of the threat detection tool, for example, so they warm to it humanly and professionally)
- appeals subtly to the human in the reader as well as the professional (“it’ll make life easier for your department, save you time” etc)
- offers not only benefits (immediate – see the difference for me next week) but core benefits (long term for my business)
- leads inexorably to the “yes” answer because there’s nothing much else to point out or prove at this stage!
Get an Effective CTA When Engaging a Professional Copywriter
By now, that body copy has appealed to all pain points and has provided solutions on a business and personal level for your prospect.
Obviously, as business owner or marketing chief, you’ll have decided what action you want the reader to take. But a weak CTA undermines everything that went before.
Weak CTAs say things like “Click to find out more” (more what? Haven’t I just read all this?) or “Buy now” (hang on… we need to discuss finance and warranties etc).
What the click button says is therefore crucial. Your copywriter will usually suggest some good wording.
However, that aside, your copywriter has been leading your reader to this point until it’s a natural reaction to click your CTA.
Whether you’re inviting your business reader to get a sales brochure, download a white paper or watch a video, they need to feel it’s worth doing.
So – when you engage a copywriter, they’ll ensure your reader (by this point) feels that what they’re going to get on the other side of the CTA click
- is different,
- provides value they won’t get elsewhere,
- specifically helps them meet their current need, and – importantly –
- is something they feel they must act on NOW.
Remember, your copywriter will have deliberately dropped in sentences all the way through that lead to an instinctive “this-is-the-right-thing-for-me” feeling.
Why Engage an Email Copywriter?
Maybe you don’t need to! If your marketing department has the time to come up with all these things, you don’t need a copywriter.
BUT if time is the last thing you have to spare, and you need to get that email right first time, it makes sense to engage a copywriter for your B2B email marketing who will definitely bring people into your sales funnel. It helps avoid mistakes too.
It’s therefore often the perfect solution:
- Your marketing department decides how and where to market.
- Your sales department can focus on selling to your overflowing funnel.
And in between marketing and sales sits that valuable but unnamed freelance copywriter who simply loves eating words for breakfast (their personal motivation!) and delights in seeing your success (professional motivation).
If you’d like me to write you some B2B emails, let’s talk! You can contact me at empatrick@aol.com.
Eleanor Patrick writing services 