Vol. 1 Issue 18 - September 1, 2002 - Writing Persuasive E-mails


In this Issue...


* Writing Persuasive E-mails
* Selling the Opportunity
* Fundamentals of Successful E-mail Campaigns


FLASH COMMUNIQUE

JobMachine, Inc. is proud to announce that we have merged with the premier recruiter training organization in the human capital industry, Breckenridge Group. Together, we have expanded our training curriculum and designed cutting-edge Internet and recruitment software tools. We will soon release a new online resource/information portal you won't want to be without.

This will not affect your subscription to CyberSleuthing! Our Newsletter will continue to be published with the same quality content and standards that you are familiar with, but it will have a new look and feel to match our new portal. Your subscription will not be affected in any way and our privacy policy remains the same.


WRITING PERSUASIVE E-MAILS

You learned last time that successful e-mail campaigns begin with attention-grabbing subject lines. It does not end there, though.

They must be accompanied with persuasive content. Well-written letters close the deal. That's the secret weapon, and as simple as that may sound, it's not that easy to do. The objective is to receive a response. Why? Because interest is reflected in user responses that can become sales opportunities.

To write killer recruitment material that sells as well as ice cream on a hot summer day, takes practice.

Most e-mail campaign writers make the mistake of competing with everyone else when trying to market an opportunity. They write the same type of messages: "This is an incredible opportunity, top pay, great benefits, fun environment, blah, blah, blah", "We are the preferred vendor" or "The top company in the industry", etc. Isn't that what you see all the time? Readers who respond to this method don't last over the long run and will easily move on to the next company.

What sets you apart from the rest with that type of marketing? Even if the campaign does generate responses many of them will be from people with exaggerated expectations who will get frustrated and soon give up. They'll either expect too much from you or think they need to do very little in return and become disinterested.


GIVING AWAY STUFF

Keep their attention by enticing and drawing the reader in to want more and more. A good way to do this is by using either an interactive or an alluring format or both. An alluring format is one in which you intend to give away something in exchange for their attention. The interactive approach uses a casual, conversational tone and elicits a response. The following is an example which uses both the interactive and alluring formats:

I came upon your website (resume, company, etc.)

It looks great, I really like the design!

How are you doing with the job hunt (staffing, hiring)? Have you made any decisions? If so, what did you decide?

You may be interested to know... I have some free software (articles, information) that will show you how to triple your leads in just 30 days. There is no cost whatsoever and it will help you market yourself and your company more effectively.

Just let me know if you are interested and I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,
The initial message elicits a response. By offering something free you begin to break down their defenses and peak their interest. When you deliver something of value for free, no strings attached, you get on the reader's good side. This way you establish trust and gain the reader's confidence, creating an advantage over your competition.
Many competitors in the e-mail marketing world do not give anything away. There is truth in the old saying "You must give to receive." Offering special reports, eBooks, software and other valued items dramatically increases responses.

When including a price in the message, place your free bonuses below your pricing. This adds more value to the stated offer.


SELLING THE OPPORTUNITY

The only challenge when giving away value is removing skepticism. If an offer sounds too good to be true, readers will not believe it. In your letters justify how you can offer so much for so little. If readers find it hard to believe you can deliver what you say, then you either increase the price or decrease what you promise. This balance is the key to obtaining good results with a campaign. Once that challenge is overcome, the rest is up to writing good letters and making the "sizzle" look good. Here are some tips on selling the opportunity:

It's the benefits, not the features. Benefits create interest. A good sales message sells an opportunity not a concept. For example: "Our company will save you time and money" is not as compelling as saying "Think of all the time, effort and energy we will save you by making the right match." Sell the sizzle, not the steak.

Stress the benefit to the reader. The words "you" and "your" have impact. The reader should clearly see how they will benefit, that's all they care about. Use "you" and "your" at least five times more than "we," "us," or "our" in your sales message.

Always include full contact information. Never leave out your name, title, address (city, state and zip), phone number and e-mail address. P.O. Boxes give off a negative impression because they're interpreted as "trying to hide."


FUNDAMENTALS OF SUCCESSFUL E-MAIL CAMPAIGNS

The art of writing persuasive e-mail can be perfected only with practice. Try to improve your results and increase responses with each campaign. Here are some fundamentals that help make the difference between successes or failures.

Each point needs to flow smoothly to the next. This is very important otherwise readers lose interest. Correctly written, people will follow the sales pitch all the way through. If they lose interest, you will get added to the "Delete" list.

Placing testimonials into the message builds credibility. Use positive feedback received from candidates or clients. A direct quote of positive feedback is very convincing.

Errors turn people away. Just one misspelling or incomplete thought is enough to instantly add us to the "Always Delete" list. Of course, use the spell check, but that doesn't catch many of the obvious errors. It's best to have three or more friends or co-workers look over the e-mail before you send it out.

Honest feedback is hard to get, but it is the single most important part of the process. Ask your friends to pretend they hired you to write this for them for $20,000. If they feel they got their money's worth, that's a good indication that the letter works.

Concise, thorough messages are convincing. Any kind of vagueness will lose the reader and the sale. You can quickly determine whether the message is vague because people will have questions. When you get the same question more than once you know what to fix.

Effective recruitment and sales letters don't happen on the first attempt. Write your message one day and go back to it the next. After you read it to yourself out loud, you will frequently discover there's more work to be done. When you get it right, it should sounds as if you just wrote it. Measure your effectiveness by keeping track of what percentage of people respond.

Initial response rates of 5% to 10% mean you've created a good message, however, your goal is to obtain at least 50% responses from a new campaign.

Short sentences and paragraphs make it easier for the reader. Many people have a tendency to scroll down the page before reading a letter. If they do and the writing is tight and concise, it won't look like such a bad thing to read through.