Here's a sobering fact: The average person gets 121 emails per day.
Yours is one of them.
Here's an even more sobering fact: 99% of those emails get deleted, ignored, or mentally filed under "corporate spam I didn't ask for."
So the real question isn't "What is email copywriting?"
The real question is: "How do you write the 1% that people actually want to read?"
Right now, someone on your email list is hovering their finger over the "unsubscribe" button.
Not because they don't need what you sell. Not because they don't like you.
Because your emails are boring.
They sound like every other business email that landed in their inbox today. Generic subject lines. Corporate speak. No personality. No story. No reason to care.
Result? Your carefully crafted marketing messages get the same treatment as Nigerian prince scams.
Email copywriting is the art of starting conversations that end in sales.
Not writing newsletters that nobody reads. Not sending promotional blasts that scream "DELETE ME."
Real email copywriting is:
Psychology in your subject line - Making them curious enough to click
Personality in your opening - Sounding human in a world of bots
Purpose in every paragraph - Each sentence moving them toward action
Persuasion without pushiness - Selling by serving first
Think of it this way: If regular marketing emails are billboards, email copy is a personal conversation.
Bad email copy: "Check out our latest products and services!"
Good email copy: "The mistake that's costing you customers every day (and how to fix it in 10 minutes)"
See the difference?
One sounds like every other business desperately shouting for attention.
The other makes you lean forward and think, "Tell me more."
Your website waits for people to find it.
Your emails go find people.
Every subscriber gave you permission to show up in their most personal space: their inbox. That's not a privilege you waste with boring corporate speak.
When done right, email copywriting:
Turns cold subscribers into warm prospects
Transforms one-time buyers into repeat customers
Builds relationships that survive economic downturns
Creates a direct line to revenue that no algorithm can shut down
People don't buy products. They buy better versions of themselves.
Your plumbing service? You're not selling pipe repair. You're selling peace of mind.
Your consulting business? You're not selling advice. You're selling confidence.
Your restaurant? You're not selling food. You're selling the experience of feeling cared for.
Email copywriting translates what you do into what they get.
Instead of 2% open rates, you get 40%.
Instead of zero replies, you get responses like: "This is exactly what I needed to hear today."
Instead of unsubscribes, you get people forwarding your emails to friends.
Instead of crickets, you get customers.
Because when you master email copywriting, you're not just sending emails.
You're starting relationships.