How to Get Hyper-Focused Email Content (With a Purpose)

Sometimes creating the best email content requires a bit of empathy. After all, you and I are both consumers. And we can get bombarded with email much like the kind of we’re sending out to our audience, right?

So let’s be honest with ourselves: we don’t have unlimited attention spans.

We can only focus on so much.

We can only consume so much.

We want to get to the punchline, the moral of the story or the next step — clearly and efficiently.

When you sit down to write an email for your audience, whether a broadcast or a whole sequence automation, do you ever think to yourself…

• There’s so much to say, but I don’t know where to start?

• I want to get my point across but worry I’ll only confuse people?

• How do I know if this will be helpful?

• Is this email going to do what I hope it will do?

I hear you. Everyone has those thoughts at least once (usually several times!) when creating email content.

What can you do?

Related: 3 Fears You May Have About Email Marketing — and What to do About it

2 questions to ask yourself before you write your next email

If you want to write clear emails — and make it easy for your readers to act — before you write your next email, ask yourself:

“What is the One Big Idea of this email?”

“What do I want someone to do, think or feel at the end of this email (or email sequence)?”

These questions force us to clarify our message and get to the point. This doesn’t mean we can’t share multiple stories or examples within one email, but it helps make sure that they all add up and give further impact to the One Big Idea.

Because if you share too many ideas in ONE email, your reader won’t remember what’s most important.

Related: How to Use a Content Bank to Organize Your Email Marketing Content and Streamline Your Message

5 Examples of One Big Ideas when you write emails

To get those creative juices flowing, here are some “one big ideas” that I use when I sit down to craft my next email for my email list:

• Explain how using this one tool will help improve the writing process

• Add value to my readers’ inbox by sharing a new resource that’s available on my site

• Introduce my private Facebook group and encourage my readers to join, so they can benefit fromthe community of like-minded people

• Share some of my personal stories, so I can build credibility with new readers

• Address a common objection my audience has (that’s holding them back!) and coach them through it with stories and application

In this post you’re reading…

My One Big Idea is to encourage you that you don’t have to answer EVERY question or relay ALL of your wisdom in one email. You can have a memorable impact on readers by focusing your email content on One Big Idea.

Leave a comment and let me know: What One Big Idea will you use for your next email? What do you want your subscribers to think, do or feel?