Passed on 22 May, 2025

3. Creating email content

Your email marketing campaigns will change over time, but the goal remains the same. You want to craft attention-grabbing emails that encourage action. In this lesson, we’ll explore how to write compelling subject lines and craft concise content with strong calls to action and useful links.

✅ Learning objectivesBy the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to:Use email subject lines to make a good first impression.Write concise content with strong calls to action.Understand the importance of including helpful links for customers.

Learning objectives

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to:

Use email subject lines to make a good first impression.

Write concise content with strong calls to action.

Understand the importance of including helpful links for customers.

Crafting great marketing emails

Once you’ve researched and chosen an email marketing service, you’re ready to start your first campaign. Now, let’s focus on grabbing your customers’ attention with strong subject lines, keeping their attention with concise and relevant content, and offering links for more information.

Starting out

Imagine you own a pet supply shop. You’ve been collecting names, emails and ‘pet types’ of both prospective and loyal customers. You’re ready to launch your first email marketing campaign.

Sharing a message

You want to send an email aimed at dog and cat owners, telling them about the latest and greatest all-natural pet foods you offer. In order to get customers to read your newsletter, you first have to get them to open the email.

First impression

It’s all about making a good first impression here. Think about what customers see when they glance at their inboxes. Will your email make them want to open it?

Personalising emails using tags

Tags are data points used to personalise emails by adding specific details about your subscribers. They help create tailored emails that engage your audience and build trust. These tags pull information from your database, like an email recipient list or customer relationship management (CRM) system if you have one, and insert it into your email dynamically.

For example

You can use tags like:[First Name]: Personalise greetings (e.g., ‘Hi Jane!’).[City/Region]: Add location-specific references (e.g., ‘Exclusive offers for London customers!’).[Product Purchased]: Send relevant follow-ups or offers (e.g., ‘How are you finding your flea treatment?’).

[First Name]: Personalise greetings (e.g., ‘Hi Jane!’).

[City/Region]: Add location-specific references (e.g., ‘Exclusive offers for London customers!’).

[Product Purchased]: Send relevant follow-ups or offers (e.g., ‘How are you finding your flea treatment?’).

Compliance

Ensure that all tags support GDPR compliance by meeting criteria like collecting only the data you need, gaining explicit consent, and allowing users to update or remove their information, to name just a few.

A good first impression

A customer's first two impressions are your business name in the ‘From’ field, and the subject line of your email.

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Concise content

You’ve successfully captured your audience’s attention, and they’ve opened your email. That’s a great achievement. At this point, remember how busy your audience is, and how many other emails they get every day.

To the point

Even if you’ve crafted the most intriguing message possible, they’ll likely just scan it. So keep your content concise, and get right to the point.

Put the most compelling content at the top to grab their attention immediately.

Paragraphs should be short, one to three sentences, and focused on a single idea.

For longer articles and additional information, add a link to your website.

Keep audiences engaged

Make your writing as persuasive and engaging as possible by using the right tone of voice for your audience.

Tone

You want to have consistency across your brand, but email newsletters offer opportunities to be a bit more casual and friendly in tone.A formal tone can feel impersonal or cold. A casual tone helps customers feel more included.

A formal tone can feel impersonal or cold. A casual tone helps customers feel more included.

A formal tone can feel impersonal or cold. A casual tone helps customers feel more included.

Links

Use links to encourage recipients to take action, like clicking through to offers on your website.Include general links as well, such as linking your logo to your homepage or adding social media icons, to make it easy for audiences to explore and stay connected.

Include general links as well, such as linking your logo to your homepage or adding social media icons, to make it easy for audiences to explore and stay connected.

Include general links as well, such as linking your logo to your homepage or adding social media icons, to make it easy for audiences to explore and stay connected.

Examples

Links could say something like:Get 25% off nowLearn moreSubscribe and saveUse bold text and design, to highlight important offers or content. Use buttons if you can instead of linking in text.

Get 25% off nowLearn moreSubscribe and saveUse bold text and design, to highlight important offers or content. Use buttons if you can instead of linking in text.

Get 25% off now

Learn more

Subscribe and save

Use bold text and design, to highlight important offers or content. Use buttons if you can instead of linking in text.

Use bold text and design, to highlight important offers or content. Use buttons if you can instead of linking in text.

Visually appealing

No matter how good your copy is, adding appealing images can make it even more engaging. Choose visuals that complement your message to capture attention and keep readers interested. Avoid overloading emails with too many graphics, as this can trigger spam filters or slow download times.

60:40 ratio

Aim for a 60:40 text-to-image ratio to avoid landing in spam folders.2Too many images can trigger spam filters and lead to long loading times. Too little text can also trigger spam filters. While a 50:50 split can work, having slightly more text than images is a safer choice.

Too many images can trigger spam filters and lead to long loading times. Too little text can also trigger spam filters. While a 50:50 split can work, having slightly more text than images is a safer choice.

Too many images can trigger spam filters and lead to long loading times. Too little text can also trigger spam filters. While a 50:50 split can work, having slightly more text than images is a safer choice.

Optimise for mobile

Make sure the images you use can scale for mobile and other devices.Images with widths around 320-480 pixels and corresponding heights usually work well. Compress files to keep sizes small (under 1MB) to avoid long load times. Most email tools let you preview and send test emails to check how everything looks on smaller screens.

Images with widths around 320-480 pixels and corresponding heights usually work well. Compress files to keep sizes small (under 1MB) to avoid long load times. Most email tools let you preview and send test emails to check how everything looks on smaller screens.

Images with widths around 320-480 pixels and corresponding heights usually work well. Compress files to keep sizes small (under 1MB) to avoid long load times. Most email tools let you preview and send test emails to check how everything looks on smaller screens.

Alt text

Add alt text to your images to describe their content for visually impaired users and ensure accessibility. Keep descriptions clear, relevant, and concise.

Dark/Light theme

It's important to check that emails are readable on both light and dark theme setups. Otherwise, user experience can be affected negatively, like having a black text on a dark grey background.

AI and emails

Email marketing is a cost-effective way to stay connected with your audience, driving engagement and boosting sales. Writing compelling email copy, however, can be time-consuming. Let’s explore how AI assistants can make creating effective emails faster and easier.

Follow the T.C.R.E.I. framework

Remember the T.C.R.E.I. framework? It stands for Task, Context, References, Evaluate, and Iterate. Let’s explore how you can use it to help you improve your emails. If you need a refresher, check out theUsing AIlesson.

Task

Start by telling the AI assistant what you need. Think of it in two parts:Persona: Say who it’s for or the role AI should take, like ‘You’re a marketing executive…’Format: Be clear about the output, like ‘Write a subject line’ or ‘Two short sentences.’

Persona: Say who it’s for or the role AI should take, like ‘You’re a marketing executive…’Format: Be clear about the output, like ‘Write a subject line’ or ‘Two short sentences.’

Persona: Say who it’s for or the role AI should take, like ‘You’re a marketing executive…’

AI with a human touch

As we explore how to use AI assistants in emails, keep in mind that AI works best when used as a complement to our uniquely human skills and abilities.In practical terms, this means being mindful of the information you provide an AI assistant or tool and always evaluating and verifying what comes out.

In practical terms, this means being mindful of the information you provide an AI assistant or tool and always evaluating and verifying what comes out.

In practical terms, this means being mindful of the information you provide an AI assistant or tool and always evaluating and verifying what comes out.

You should always use AI responsibly by applying a human approach.

No AI tool has the depth of experience, practical knowledge, and interactive skills that we do.

That's why a human approach is key to using AI responsibly. We call it ‘human in the loop’.

Top tips for using AI in emails

When evaluating the output from an AI assistant, keep these top tips in mind.

Be specific

Did the output align with your expectations? If not, provide the AI assistant with more guidance and break your instructions into short sentences.AI assistants give results on what you tell them. Ensure your prompt is detailed enough to receive a valuable response, while maintaining confidentiality when promoting information.

AI assistants give results on what you tell them. Ensure your prompt is detailed enough to receive a valuable response, while maintaining confidentiality when promoting information.

AI assistants give results on what you tell them. Ensure your prompt is detailed enough to receive a valuable response, while maintaining confidentiality when promoting information.

Give examples

Give an example of what you were expecting.Including specific formats or types of analysis in your prompts helps the AI assistant better understand what you need.

Including specific formats or types of analysis in your prompts helps the AI assistant better understand what you need.

Including specific formats or types of analysis in your prompts helps the AI assistant better understand what you need.

Keep the good

Think about what parts of the output worked well.For example, if the AI assistant gave you five ideas and you liked two, use your next prompt to explain why those two stood out. Then ask the AI assistant to build on them or suggest more ideas in a similar direction.

For example, if the AI assistant gave you five ideas and you liked two, use your next prompt to explain why those two stood out. Then ask the AI assistant to build on them or suggest more ideas in a similar direction.

For example, if the AI assistant gave you five ideas and you liked two, use your next prompt to explain why those two stood out. Then ask the AI assistant to build on them or suggest more ideas in a similar direction.

Helping out

An AI assistant can do more than simply draft content. Use it to help you brainstorm creative ideas, refine your tone, or suggest ways to structure your message for maximum impact.Once your draft is ready, AI assistants can also help with editing and proofreading to polish your email.

Once your draft is ready, AI assistants can also help with editing and proofreading to polish your email.

Once your draft is ready, AI assistants can also help with editing and proofreading to polish your email.

Email essentials

The bottom of your email, known as the footer, is a great place to include important details that build trust, support legal requirements, and make it easy for people to connect with your brand.Think of the footer as a helpful toolkit for your audience—whether it’s letting them manage their preferences, find your contact info, or explore your social media.

Think of the footer as a helpful toolkit for your audience—whether it’s letting them manage their preferences, find your contact info, or explore your social media.

Think of the footer as a helpful toolkit for your audience—whether it’s letting them manage their preferences, find your contact info, or explore your social media.

Unsubscribe link

Make it easy for recipients to opt out of your emails. This helps support compliance with email regulations and builds trust by showing respect for their preferences.

✅ ActivityTake a couple of minutes to come up with what you’d like to include in one of your own emails. You don’t need the full text—just a short list of content starting points. You can use a real example from your business or makeup one to start planning.Check the items off as you go.Your email needs a topic, and a targeted message. This will make crafting your subject line easier later.Think of one or two products or services that you’d like to include in your email. How do these products relate to each other and to your email topic?Are there any helpful links you could include in your email? Think about a link to the product you mention in your email. You could also include a link in the email to your website if you have a relevant blog post.

Activity

Take a couple of minutes to come up with what you’d like to include in one of your own emails. You don’t need the full text—just a short list of content starting points. You can use a real example from your business or makeup one to start planning.

Your email needs a topic, and a targeted message. This will make crafting your subject line easier later.

Think of one or two products or services that you’d like to include in your email. How do these products relate to each other and to your email topic?

Are there any helpful links you could include in your email? Think about a link to the product you mention in your email. You could also include a link in the email to your website if you have a relevant blog post.

Download PDF

Download PDF

Check your knowledge

It’s time to find out what you’ve learned so far.You must complete the knowledge check to move to the next lesson.

You must complete the knowledge check to move to the next lesson.

You must complete the knowledge check to move to the next lesson.

It’s time to find out what you’ve learned so far.

Question 1 of 1

Lupita is writing a marketing email to send out to customers who have bought puppy food and toys from her online shop.Which of the following options should she use in the subject line of her email?

Which of the following options should she use in the subject line of her email?

Which of the following options should she use in the subject line of her email?

Do you think new puppies deserve new treats?

Massive savings on puppy food

Save €€€ on pup food!!!

MEGASALE on food for PUPS!

Submit

Submit

Yes.The best option uses an engaging question or intriguing statement to get their attention. It’s also between 30 to 50 characters long which is ideal.The less effective options aren’t very appealing. Using lots of currency symbols and exclamation marks can come across as unprofessional and lots of email providers will automatically filter those emails into a spam folder.

The best option uses an engaging question or intriguing statement to get their attention. It’s also between 30 to 50 characters long which is ideal.The less effective options aren’t very appealing. Using lots of currency symbols and exclamation marks can come across as unprofessional and lots of email providers will automatically filter those emails into a spam folder.

The less effective options aren’t very appealing. Using lots of currency symbols and exclamation marks can come across as unprofessional and lots of email providers will automatically filter those emails into a spam folder.

The less effective options aren’t very appealing. Using lots of currency symbols and exclamation marks can come across as unprofessional and lots of email providers will automatically filter those emails into a spam folder.

Lesson complete

Great job!Well done on completing the lesson! You now have a solid understanding of how to create email content.Up next, we’ll check out how to manage successful email campaigns. Let’s keep the momentum going!

Well done on completing the lesson! You now have a solid understanding of how to create email content.Up next, we’ll check out how to manage successful email campaigns. Let’s keep the momentum going!

Up next, we’ll check out how to manage successful email campaigns. Let’s keep the momentum going!

Up next, we’ll check out how to manage successful email campaigns. Let’s keep the momentum going!

1Source:https://www.zippia.com/advice/email-subject-line-statistics/2Omnisend:Best practices for email images: Sizes, formats, and embed

1Source:

https://www.zippia.com/advice/email-subject-line-statistics/

2Omnisend:Best practices for email images: Sizes, formats, and embed

2Omnisend:Best practices for email images: Sizes, formats, and embed