📈 How to Increase Your Email Open Rates

Welcome to BetterLetter 📧

In past issues, I’ve written about:

• Crafting a killer value proposition (link)

• The business model of newsletters (link)

• Simple ad creative that converts (images + videos)

• When you should run paid ads to grow your newsletter (link)

• Ad copy anyone can write to turn strangers into subscribers (link)

Today, I’m teaching you the underlying writing principles behind the stats for the newsletter you’re reading right now 👇️

(spoiler: it’s not clever subject lines)

In today’s email, you’ll learn:

• 🎯 The primary goal of your newsletter (it’s not what you think it is)

• 📈 How to write like the best copywriters in the world (and increase your open rates)

• ♻️ The habits you need to form to become a better writer

Let’s dive in 👇️

Helpful Links 🔗 

• 🧵 Subject line tips from The Hustle (link)

• 💻️ Beehiiv acquired my favorite web building platform Typedream (link)

• 💀 RIP to video editing businesses (link)

• 🛠️ Our favorite newsletter tools: beehiiv (ESP), Descript (video editing), Sparkloop (growth & monetization), Typedream (custom landing pages)*

_{*These are affiliate links}

I Can’t Say It Enough..

I promise I won’t harp on my most repeated refrain, but it does need to be said:

Your value proposition is the most important thing underlying your email engagement.

If your newsletter is about something people don’t want (or want badly enough), they won’t open your emails.

No matter how clever your subject lines are.

(You can read my full manifesto on crafting a killer value proposition here.)

Now let’s get into the core principles that will improve your social media content, newsletter writing, ad copy and sales pages 👇️ 

Writing 101 ✍️ 

People think the first goal of a newsletter is to:

• deliver value

• make money

• drive clicks

But it’s not.

Those are important goals, but they’re secondary. They’re downstream goals.

There’s something foundational that underlies all other goals.

And it’s so obvious that most people miss it.

The purpose of a newsletter is…

The primary purpose of a newsletter is to get people to actually read it.

Now before you roll your eyes and close out this email, let me unpack the genius behind this simple idea 👇️

As a growth agency, we obsess over every step in the process of acquiring our clients newsletter subscribers..

Each part of the process has 1 job: to help someone take the next step.

• The ad (get them to click to the landing page)

• Landing page (get them to subscribe)

• Subscribe (get them to the thank you page)

• Thank you page (get them to open the welcome email)

• Welcome email (get them to be eager to open the next email)

This exact same logic applies to every individual newsletter you send:

• Subject line + sender name (get them to open the email)

• Above the fold (get them to read the intro + scroll down)

• The intro (get them to read the next section of the email)

• The first sentence (get them to read the next sentence)

and so on and so forth…

The best copywriters in the world combine these 2 basic principles:

1. Slippery slope writing

2. The laziness bias

Let’s break these down and give you specific ways to put them into practice.

The Slippery Slope 🤔

Every sentence is meant to get someone to read the next sentence.

I’m sure there’s a formal name for this, but I call it slippery slope writing.

Have you ever started reading a tweet or an email and found yourself thinking I’ll just read one more sentence..

And before you know it, you’re locked in?

Each sentence makes you want to read the next one.

And you reach a point where you’ve read enough that you’re invested in reading until the end.

That’s slippery slope writing.

And it’s part of why James Clear’s book (Atomic Habits) is one of the most read works of our generation.

Which leads me to the second principle…

The Laziness Bias 😴

Slippery slope writing borrows from the very principle James Clear talks about in his book:

things that require less effort are more likely to occur

Translation: Sentences that require less effort to read (shorter + simpler), the more likely people are to read it.

How To Put These 2 Principles Into Practice 👇️ 

Tactically, here’s how to do it:

1 | Write choppy copy.

• Short sentences

• Short paragraphs (aka whitespace > large blocks of text)

• Simple words

• Full stops instead of commas

• Start sentences with conjunctions

2 | Spark curiosity.

• Each sentence or paragraph is a mini cliffhanger

• Open a loop people will want to close (ask a question or say something unexpected that requires explanation)

3 | Less is more.

• After writing, go back with the goal of eliminating words.

• Edit with this in mind: How can I communicate the same thing in fewer words?

Here are 3 habits to form to get better at writing on the internet:

1. Learn through osmosis: Read good copywriting regularly (good examples in the entrepreneurship niche are Greg Isenberg, Justin Welsh, and Matt Gray)

2. Use tech: Use Hemingway (free) to identify and remove unclear writing

3. Write more: It’s a muscle you only build through doing. Post regularly on X or LI.

👉️ Here’s a summary of the takeaways:

The big ideas:

• Purpose: The primary purpose of your newsletter is to get people to read it.

• Slippery Slope: Every sentence should usher the reader to the next sentence

• Laziness bias: Sentences that require less effort to read (shorter + simpler), the more likely people are to read it.

Tactics:

• Choppy copy: Short, simple sentences. Fewer commas. More paragraph breaks

• Curiosity: Write to spark curiosity, especially at the beginning of any piece of content to help readers build momentum

• Spacing: Use paragraph spacing to keep the perceived cost (time + effort) of reading low. Whitespace > large blocks of text

• Habits: Read good writing, use Hemingway, and write more.

Lastly..

None of this works if you’re not solving a real problem for people with your content.

But if you ARE solving a problem they care about AND you apply these principles, your engagement will improve.

There you have it. Get writing 🫡 

Until next time,

Isaac + Kieran

P.S. When you’re ready to grow your newsletter…

Let us do it for you. We help creators, brands and ministries grow their newsletters so they can drive more sales and donations. If you want us to grow your newsletter for you and are ready to invest at least $2k/month on ads, book a call with us here.