Ivan Levison —
Direct Mail, E-mail and Advertising Copywriting

What is the secret of email copywriting? How can you make your next email a winner?

Here are some thoughts from Ivan Levison, a leading email copywriter.

Know your email copywriting facts:

"Emails with the word 'alert' in their subject lines have a 38.1% higher-than-average open rate."

"The keywords 'free delivery' has a +50.7% higher open rate."

"The keyword 'bulletin' has a +15.8% higher open rate."

"On the other hand 'report' has a -23.7% average lower open rate."

And "the keyword 'learn' has a -35.5% average lower open rate."

What is the function of an email headline?

When email copywriting, should you entertain, tease, or amuse? I don't think so.

An email's headline or subject line's job is to get the prospect to read the body copy.

The body copy is where all the hard work gets done. That's where the email copywriter does the selling and calls for immediate action. A headline stops prospects from turning the page and motivates them to keep reading.

There are basically two kinds of headlines:

1. The teaser headline which tries to pique the reader's curiosity. The teaser headline serves as an intriguing puzzle that can only be solved by reading the body copy.

2. The benefit headline which instantly promises a solution to a real problem that the reader faces.

I'm a fan of the benefit headline! When you're email copywriting, remember this!

When email copywriting, be specific!

I got my first copywriting job, back in the late 70s, at a terrific agency in San Francisco called Botsford Ketchum.

One of the first accounts I ever worked on was Mother's Cookies. My boss started me off by having me work on a little ad.

I went to my cubicle, wrote the piece, and took it to him for his comments.

He looked it over and said, "I see you wrote 'more chocolate chips in every cookie.' That's O.K., but it would be better if you had said something like 'two tablespoons of rich chocolate chips in every single cookie.' It's always better to be specific. It adds credibility."

He was absolutely right and I've never forgotten the lesson. When your writing is filled with specific detail, it has a lot more impact.

When email copywriting, try to boost your Google ranking. Here's how:

If you want to improve your Google ranking, here's some great advice:

Don't listen to me . . .

Don't listen to search engine optimization "experts" . . .

Listen to Google!

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