How to write a sales email: use this trick to keep them reading!

Below is a transcript of the video.

Here’s a tip for writing sales emails that actually get read: 

Make your message look like a poem on the page. 

In other words, lay it out line by line. Make it easy on the eye by including lots of white space. Don’t hold back on those paragraph returns.

At school, you may have been taught to write in full paragraphs made up of three or more sentences. And that was true of an essay, but it doesn’t work in this context. For two reasons:

One: your reader has much less time than your teacher - and far less reason to give you their attention.

and

Two: They’re going to be reading your message on a screen - which is much more tiring on the eyes - especially if you have long blocks of text. 

Now, researchers have done studies into how people read online - and long blocks of text interfere with their ability to grab your message quickly.

But before I show you the results of that research, if you’re enjoying this video, I’d love it if you’d hit that like button - it really helps the channel get noticed.

But back to that research - what’s been found is that: 

If you track people’s eye movements when they’re reading online - you’ll see that a typical reader will run their eyes down the left-hand side of the screen, making brief forays deeper into the line. 

As they progress down the screen, the reader steadily reads less of each line before proceeding to the next. The result is an F-pattern.

In other words, as busy readers, we all tend to skim and scan text - especially when we’re reading online. 

And if you use long paragraphs, there’s a much higher chance that your reader’s eye won’t even land on many of your important points. 

Compare this…

With this…

So the more you can do to make your message as easy on the eye as possible, the more likely you’ll get that message across to your reader. 

Doubly so if they’re reading your message on a cell-phone, where the tiny screen makes long blocks of text look even more unfriendly and indigestible. 

Like this…

So, I have a challenge for you!

If you have a sales message you’re sending out to people, try sending it to yourself - and read it on your cellphone.

How does it look?

Are there any opportunities to insert white space in the text?

If so, put in some paragraph returns. And send this new poetic version of the message to yourself too - and see how much easier to read it looks.

But getting your reader to respond isn’t just about how your email looks. Crucially, it’s also about what you say. 

So before you hit send to anyone else, be sure to check out this video, where I show you how to win your reader over with your words.

For more writing advice, enrol in my online course, Writing With Confidence, available at the Doris and Bertie Writing School.

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