4 Principles for Good Email Copy

101 years ago, Claude Hopkins wrote Scientific Advertising. Now, more than 100 years later, his advice on creating great sales copy still holds true today. 

Why?

Because, as Justin Michael says, the core principles of sales and communication haven’t changed. Only the channels have. 

In 1923, when Scientific Advertising came out, ads appeared in newspapers and posters. Then there was radio and television. Today, we see emails, social media, and other digital formats. Yet the foundation of good copy has remained the same.

Here’s a closer look at 4 key principles from Hopkins, and how they apply to good email copy.

TLDR:

• The goal: Write effective copy for sales emails
• The tactic: Follow 4 key principles of good copy
• The result: Better sales emails and the ability to train AI

Principle #1: Be specific

Get specific and create a unique pitch for each person. For large audiences, you can segment the audience into smaller, targeted groups before personalizing the pain points in each email.

Broad, general claims like “We boost revenue” or “We book meetings on auto-pilot” are overly broad and lack credibility. 

Specificity not only makes your message more relevant and engaging, it also helps you build trust. More importantly, it adds weight and gravitas to the message. That’s why you want to provide concrete examples, numbers, or testimonials.

Principle #2: Offer a clear benefit

Always answer the question that every lead is silently asking: “What’s in it for me?”

The core of your email should focus on how you solve their problem or improve their situation in a meaningful way.

After all, people are driven by their own interests, so your emails must make the benefits tangible. This means avoiding abstract or vague claims like “save time” or “streamline work”. 

Instead, say what outcomes to expect, like “reduce the time to write emails by 96%” or “reduce lead research to less than 5 minutes”.

For a bigger impact, you can appeal to a person’s emotions and desires. However, you’ll want to keep your message grounded in rational benefits, like “Free up 11 hours a week so you can focus on tasks with a higher reward.”

Principle #3: Speak to the person as you tell the full story 

Your goal is to answer a person’s most pressing question: “Why should I care?” So while creating an email, write like you’re speaking to one person, not a crowd. 

Throughout your back-and-forth, keep your tone personal and conversational. Using generic or overly formal language can seem empty or disconnected.

And keep in mind that every word or image should contribute to your goal. If it doesn’t add value, leave it out.

Principle #4: Test and measure everything

The secret to great emails is ongoing testing and refinement.

Everything is up for experimentation: headlines, sign-offs, offers, copy, email framework… You name it, it can be tested. (Even where and how you write your name 🙃)

Run A/B tests as frequently as you can manage. Try different subject lines to see which grabs attention, or test two versions of your call-to-action to find out which drives action.

If you’re just starting out and lack data, it’s okay to rely on assumptions. Start small, and let the results guide you. Over time, the more tests you run, the more data you’ll gather, and the better your position for making decisions.

Testing isn’t a one-time task. It’s an ongoing process, and by analyzing and iterating your sales copy, you’ll sharpen your messaging and improve results.

Result

I always used to take these principles with a grain of salt. I felt that as the times changed, people changed too.

But after several months of testing, reading, experimenting, and re-testing (Principle #4 in action), I’ve become a full believer.

By following these principles (if you aren’t doing so already), you’ll see that your sales emails yield better results. 

I also think that these 4 principles give us 3 interesting insights:

1. Principles are like rules, and if rules can be programmed, then it’s possible to create the perfect AI sales email. Admittedly, “perfect” is a subjective term, which is why you’ll need to test and re-test.
2. The challenge of creating perfect AI emails is making sure AI follows all your instructions and avoids hallucinations, similar to the experience of onboarding a rookie SDR. Like a new SDR, AI needs proper guidance and monitoring in the early days.
3. AI needs a ton of high-quality sales data to create contextually relevant emails.