Email Marketing for Funeral Homes 3: Tips for Successful Email Campaigns

The first posts in our April funeral home marketing email series covered subject lines and best length for emails. But how can you pack a persuasive punch into around 200 words even if your subject line has people opening your message?

Here are three tips for writing successful marketing emails.

1. Write for the F-shaped scan.

A study by the Nielsen Norman Group tracked eye movements while people read digital content. The conclusion was that most people scan content in an F-shaped pattern:

• At the top of the page or email, they read from left to right far across the page. That covers your subject line and one or two short paragraphs or sentences in the beginning. Many people will skip the introduction, though, and jump right into the meat of the message.
• Next, people jump down the page vertically and read again from left to right. It’s not always as much or as far into the page at this point, so keep the important stuff in the middle of your email close to the left margin.
• Finally, readers scan the rest of the content quickly, moving vertically down the page.

Create emails with this in mind by putting the most important information in the beginning. Then, write scannable points for the rest of the email, leading the person into a hard-hitting CTA.

2. Talk about the reader not the firm.

Use “you” more than “we.” Strong marketing copy tends to be about how your firm can help the reader. Yes, it’s your services, goods, and experts. But the story you’re weaving in marketing copy should always be more about the potential clientele and family than your funeral home.

3. Keep it simple and singular.

With a few hundred words and literally seconds of your reader’s time, you don’t have time for complex messaging. Keep email marketing simple and only attempt one thing at a time in each message.

You might have multiple offers, service levels, or important facts to share. But you must prioritize in email, so test each of these in separate messages and consider drip campaigns that slowly send out your various messages over time instead of shoving everything into a single ineffective email.

In other words, don’t market cremation, preplanning, luxury memorials, and casket options all in the same message!

Once you hit your prospect with effective funeral home marketing content in an email, it’s time to close it out with a strong CTA. We’ll cover calls to action in our final post in this April series, so check back next week.