5 Books That Transformed My Email Marketing
I still remember how sweaty I was when I wrote my first marketing email. I was in high school, applying for a scholarship that required me to list my business experience and portfolio. I needed this scholarship. At the time, it felt like the key to affording a college education and pursuing a career in marketing.
I wrote, rewrote, and rewrote over and over again. Looking back now, I am convinced the email I sent for that scholarship, after hours of rewriting, only ended up being okay because of what I know now. (The story is continued below.)
The purpose of this blog is to give you the keys to what I know now.
The next 5 books are what I reference every single time I need to write a marketing email, and they are worth the purchase.
Book 1: DotCom Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Growing Your Company Online with Sales Funnels by Russell Brunson
Dotcom Secrets by Russell Brunson is one of my all-time favorite books on digital marketing. The book is a comprehensive guide to building and optimizing sales funnels to grow an online business. It provides step-by-step strategies and actionable advice to help entrepreneurs attract more leads, convert them into customers, and maximize their revenue. Here is a link to my review: Link.
Key Concepts
Sales Funnels: Brunson’s main message is the importance of sales funnels in driving online sales. He explains how to structure and optimize funnels to guide potential customers through many different buying processes.
Value Ladder: The concept of the Value Ladder involves offering products and services that increase in perceived value and price. A great example of a company that does this to perfection is Apple. Think about the process you go through to decide on an iPad, you look at the lowest-priced product, and you think this is pretty good but it’s missing x, well the next lowest-priced iPad has x better but it’s missing… so on until you reach a higher priced item.
Attractive Character: How to create an “Attractive Character.” This concept is about developing a relatable and engaging persona that connects with the audience. I use the concepts talked about in this section a lot while writing content. The first two paragraphs of this blog post are based on my “attractive character.”
Hook, Story, Offer: If there is one thing that will transform your marketing emails, it is the Hook, Story, Offer framework. This could be its own blog post. If you are interested in the book so far, I would highly recommend you pick it up ASAP: Amazon or Bookshop.org
Book 2: Oversubscribed: How to Get People Lining Up to Do Business with You by Daniel Priestley
Oversubscribed by Daniel Priestley isn’t exactly an email-focused book, but the concepts pair nicely with high-performing emails and it offers additional marketing insights. The book provides a strategic approach to creating a business in high demand, often leading to waitlists and high demand for your products or services. Think of this book as a good reference guide for using email to test interest and knowing when to send good emails.
Here is a link to my review: Link
Key Concepts
The Oversubscribed Model: The concept of becoming oversubscribed, where demand for your product or service exceeds your capacity to supply. This creates a sense of scarcity and urgency among customers, effectively creating real FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).
Campaign-Driven Marketing Efforts: Think of this as a section as a guide to running marketing campaigns that generate bursts of activity and excitement. They are designed to grab attention, generate leads, and convert them into customers.
Positioning: Priestley explains how to position your business as a market leader and create a compelling value proposition that resonates with your target audience. All things that will help you write compelling emails.
This book is worth the read if you are interested in it: Amazon or Bookshop.org
Book 3: Copywriting Secrets: How Everyone Can Use The Power Of Words To Get More Clicks, Sales and Profits . . . No Matter What You Sell Or Who You Sell It To! by Jim Edwards
Copywriting Secrets by Jim Edwards is an excellent book on ALL things that involve writing for selling purposes. I actually own a physical copy and a digital copy (because I reference this book so often that I needed the search functionality of a digital one. The physical one simply wasn’t fast enough).
Although I love referencing this book for my work, I haven’t yet reviewed it. I am waiting for more data to come in so I can give it a proper review.
Copywriting Secrets is a comprehensive guide that gives techniques and strategies for effective copywriting. The book is designed to help anyone, regardless of their background or product, use the power of words to increase engagement, conversions, and profits.
Key Concepts
The Power of Copywriting: Edwards teaches and shows how great copywriting is crucial for successful marketing. He teaches you how to craft messages that capture attention, generate interest, and drive action.
Understanding Your Audience: One of the principles in the book is knowing your audience. Understanding their needs, desires, pain points, and language allows you to write compelling copy that resonates with them. Edwards teaches you how to get into their minds in order to write effective copy.
I have learned a ton from this book, and it is my first stop when I go to write an email. You can buy yourself a copy here: Amazon or Bookshop.org
Book 4: Email Marketing Demystified: Build a Massive Mailing List, Write Copy that Converts, and Generate More Sales by Mathew Paulson
Email Marketing Demystified by Mathew Paulson is the first email marketing-specific book on this list. While the other books are great for general marketing, and arguably should be read before this one, this book will take the concepts from the others and elevate your prowess for email marketing to another level.
This is also one of the few books that I have treated more as a reference guide than a book to read all the way through. Therefore, I don’t plan on writing a full review, especially because the book is so specific to the audience that would read this blog.
Key Concepts
Build a list: Paulson has 15 different techniques for building a mailing list.
Write Compelling Copy: This has been my favorite part of the book. It is a great resource for writing copy that engages readers all while driving them to take action.
The Importance of Email Marketing: The book emphasizes the power and effectiveness of email marketing and boasts of creating six new revenue streams for your business using email marketing.
Forewarning: I would highly suggest that if you are new to digital marketing, you read the other three books in this blog first before this one, or at the very least read Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion before reading Email Marketing Demystified. Here is a link to my review for Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion: Link
If you are an experienced digital marketer or understand the key concepts of the other books, this book is a great reference for email writing. You can get it here on Amazon or Bookshop.org
Book 5: Email Persuasion: Captivate and Engage Your Audience, Build Authority, and Generate More Sales With Email Marketing by Ian Brodie
Email Persuasion by Ian Brodie is an excellent resource for email marketers who are beginners or almost at the intermediate level. The book is fairly out of date, in all fairness, but it makes up for it by being a really quick read with useful tips, and it is a great place to start. I recommend picking this book up if you have no idea where to start and need some quick answers.
Key Concepts
Power of Email Marketing: Brodie shows the advantages of email marketing, like creating personal connections, delivering targeted messages, and providing meaningful data. In the book, he also teaches you how to understand metrics, use them, and conduct A/B tests.
Building a Quality Email List: The book argues for the benefits of a high-quality list that you send your emails to. It covers methods for attracting and retaining subscribers who are genuinely interested in your content.
Craft Compelling Content: This is where you can get a jump start on your email marketing tactics. Brodie provides helpful tips for writing engaging subject lines, crafting valuable content (that builds trust and converts customers), and storytelling.
you can pick the book up here: Amazon or Bookshop.org
Honorable Mentions (The Story Continues Here)
So, how did I come up with my finalized email for the scholarship? Well, this was before I realized how powerful reading is, so I Googled email examples. That’s when I stumbled across a blog from Tim Ferriss called 5 Tips for E-mailing Busy People. Little did I know that I would end up reading and loving one of his books. The book was one of my favorite reads of 2022, The 4-Hour Workweek. That blog ended up being a sort of blueprint for the email.
Luckily for me, the email, or perhaps the rest of my portfolio, was good enough to win the Sterling Scholar Award for my school, which helped immensely with my tuition payments. Plus, I still see it as so valuable that I often go to that blog or book for insights, or even to simply help me get started.
I also want to mention a book that completely changed the way I thought about interacting with an audience and significantly helped me write better emails. The book is Growth Hacker Marketing by Ryan Holiday, and it is one of my favorites and worth a read.
I would highly recommend you read The 4-Hour Workweek and Growth Hacker Marketing. You can get The 4-Hour Workweek on Amazon or Bookshop.org here. Growth Hacker Marketing you can get here on Amazon or Bookshop.org.
One Last thing
Email marketing is not simple, and it takes a ton of practice to be good at it. Every audience is different, and there is unfortunately no “silver bullet” that works on everyone. If you are serious about improving your email marketing or want to start email marketing, I would highly suggest you use an email marketing platform. There are a ton to choose from, but my favorite is Mailchimp. Mailchimp has templates, data-backed recommendations, and more so that you can write a lot of emails, improve them, and ultimately convert customers. You can sign up today here through my affiliate link: Mailchimp.com
