The first marketing email sent in 1978 yielded $13 million in sales, kicking off the most effective digital marketing channel to date. 

Fast forward to 2022, email (35%) was the third top marketing channel behind social media (44%) and websites (36%). 

However, it remains one of the most effective channels to build an audience and promote your brand. 79% of marketers say email is one of their top three most effective channels.

That said, your emails need to engage your audience and offer valuable content to stand out in their inboxes. In this guide, we’ll show you how to successfully write and optimize your emails to grow your business and podcast.

The Evolution of Email

Email has evolved to become an integral part of most businesses and now yields a high ROI for companies that use it well. 

The channel can help you build customer relationships, boost brand awareness, promote content, market your products, and increase sales.   

The good news is that whatever your audience size or budget, there’s always an email marketing app that’s right for a business with a podcast attached to it.

With that in mind, let’s look at how to write great email messages to engage your subscriber list and promote your business.

How To Write a Good Email

The Podcast Host “podcaster cares” survey shares data where 40% of respondents said that any serious podcaster must have an email list. 

But having a mailing list isn’t sufficient enough to engage your audience. You need to know how to write great emails that offer valuable content to your readers consistently. That way, you’ll be able to grow your podcast and business.

Let’s cover three ways to write a good email.

1. Write a Strong Subject Line That Will Entice Recipients To Open the Email

Your subject line is the first thing your readers see before opening your email. About 65% of marketers believe that subject lines have the most significant impact on open rates. 

So, optimizing your subject lines will help you capture your audience’s attention and persuade them to open your emails and read more.

To achieve that, you must first understand your target audience and how you want to communicate with them to know which subject lines to write.

For example, subject line personalization tactics like “[firstname] Last week’s podcast episode is finally here” no longer resonate with readers. 

A 2022 Email Marketing Benchmarks Report by GetResponse shows that personalized subject lines performed worse than non-personalized subject lines regarding open, click-through, and unsubscribe rates. 

So, create personalized and relevant content tailored to your reader’s priorities. For instance, what information do you want to pass on that’ll help them decide to purchase your product or listen to your podcast? 

Crafting subject lines with a high conversion rate will be much easier if the content is relevant to your subscribers, so think of how personalization can add value to your customers rather than how it can improve your email marketing metrics.

Also, A/B test various subject lines often to see what works best for your audience. That will enable you to improve your email writing skills and campaigns and, eventually, boost your results over time. 

Here are some subject line examples you can draw inspiration from: 

Promotional subject lines — Example from Thrive Market: “Limited time only: Extra 25% off + FREE gift.”

Curious subject lines — Example from UX Collective: “Your fingerprints are all over the place.”

Funny subject lines — Example from Dollar Shave Club: “Open up and say wowie zowie!”

Pain point subject lines — Example from J.Crew: “Your summer outfit dilemmas SOLVED.”

Reengagement subject lines — Example from The Bouqs Company: “Can You Believe It’s Been a Month?”

Emoji subject lines — Example from Unsun Cosmetics: “Welcome to Unsun!.”

Social proof subject lines — Example from Instant Boss Club: “See what our clients are saying…”

The subject lines are highly personalized to their audiences, even though they don’t have the reader’s first name on them.

2. Write Email Copy That Is Interesting and Meaningful

As mentioned, you need to create relevant content tailored to your audience’s priorities to make it interesting and meaningful to the reader. 

To achieve this, ask for appropriate information when subscribers sign up for your email list so you can add them to the right segment and send relevant emails. Besides their name and email address, you can also ask them about their location, interests, birthday, or occupation.

Here’s an example of a relevant podcast announcement email from Chilli Sleep:

The email addresses Chilli Sleep’s audience, who may suffer from sleep insomnia. It subtly encourages them to click the call to action (CTA) button to listen to the podcast episode.

The brand also includes the product they promote in the podcast just below the email body and CTA button. That may eventually boost their conversions and sales as the product is relevant to the email.

With that in mind, apply the tips below when writing your emails to make them interesting and meaningful: 

Talk About the Benefits of Your Products

You already understand the value of your products. But what about your audience? 

Many emails only describe their product’s features rather than the benefits. But Chilli Sleep’s email briefly explains the benefit of its chilliPAD sleep system — find the missing piece of your sleep puzzle and get back to the restful night’s sleep you deserve.

So, always focus on telling your product’s benefits since you can sway most customers to buy items based on the benefits.

Keep Your Email Brief

People send over 300 billion emails daily. 

With that many emails sent all day, you’re facing a lot of competition in your reader’s inbox. Imagine your subscribers checking their phones and spotting your 800-word email. Do you think they’ll read it or skip to the next one? 

The shorter the content of the email, the better. Keep your emails brief, and get to the main point quickly. It’s your best chance to ensure your emails get read.

Stay on Brand

When you send emails, remember that your readers will be interacting with your brand. So your brand should be recognizable for the interaction to be meaningful. 

That means you should write in your brand’s voice, follow your brand guidelines, and feature your brand colors. For example, the colors and fonts you use on your emails should resemble your blog or website.

3. Craft a Clear and Action-Oriented Call to Action

Your audience usually does other things while listening to your podcast. Very few look at their phones or are in a position to click any links immediately.  

So sending emails can be an ideal complement to your episodes. And one of your top priorities after subscribers open your email is for them to take action. 

Therefore, tailor your calls to action (CTAs) to appeal to your specific audience. Let them focus on your product’s unique value and make them stand out from the rest of the email.

For example, Chilli Sleep’s email has a compelling CTA with contrasting colors that make it stand out. It’s also clear, concise, and action-oriented.

You can use your CTAs to share links to resources such as articles, blog posts, ebooks, or podcast episodes. You can also link to your landing page with sales you’re currently running.

How To Write a Professional Email

One of the main tasks behind hosting an interview podcast is constantly finding podcast guests. But after doing your research and getting the right guest, how do you contact them?

Social media can be a convenient and easy way to reach out to them. However, because of how personalized email is, it remains the best way.

Writing an email to your podcast guest will differ from how you write to your audience. You can use informal emails (like Chilli Sleep’s email) for your subscribers. But in this scenario, you need to send a formal email.

Start with a salutation and the opening sentence to kick off the email.

For the salutation, use a “Hello [Name]” or “Hi [Name]” since you’ll be sending the email to someone you may be familiar with. It also shows you’ve done your homework and are genuinely interested in what they offer.

Avoid non-inclusive or gendered terms such as Dear sir, Dear madam, Dear Mr., Dear Mrs., or To Whom It May Concern. Such business communication is meant for government institutions or banks.

Once you finish writing the email, sign off with a short closing, such as best wishes or best regards. But before you press the send button, proofread the email or use free grammar checkers like Grammarly to rid your email of grammar and spelling errors.

Here’s a rough email template you can use to write your professional or business emails:

Hi [name], how are you doing?

I’m [full name] from the [podcast], and I’d love to have you on our show to talk about [topic]. I believe it will be helpful for our audience interested in [subject].

I recently heard you on the [podcast show] and really liked your perspective on [topic].

If you’re up for it, here’s a link to my calendar [link] where you can schedule a time that works for you.

Best regards,

[Full name]

Email signature.

After sending the email, wait a day or two for a response. If you don’t get any answer, send a follow-up email to remind the guest. Many people who miss the first email often respond to the follow-up email.

Write Relevant and Effective Emails Today

Hopefully, we’ve given you plenty of actionable advice on writing better emails to engage your audience and persuade them to click that CTA button.

Email is an excellent way to connect with your target audience and promote your business. However, different audiences have different email etiquette rules. So study your subscribers, segment them, and send them personalized emails tailored to their priorities.

If you also want to learn more about other aspects of podcasting, you can join the Podcraft Academy. You’ll find downloadable resources, courses, videos and many tools to help you improve or start your podcast.

Originally posted on April 17, 2023 @ 1:24 am