WEBVTT

00:00:00.130 --> 00:00:00.630
All right.

00:00:00.630 --> 00:00:03.225
Are we ready to talk about Saas? [MUSIC

00:00:03.225 --> 00:00:08.290
PLAYING]

00:00:09.700 --> 00:00:12.220
The reason that I decided
that we should talk about this

00:00:12.220 --> 00:00:15.580
is we write a lot
of emails and have

00:00:15.580 --> 00:00:19.630
for a long time for Software
as a service or SaaS.

00:00:19.630 --> 00:00:25.330
Companies-- and when we bring
freelancers in or new hires

00:00:25.330 --> 00:00:28.880
in to help us with that,
typically there's a period

00:00:28.880 --> 00:00:33.830
there in which I have to break
some habits for those folks

00:00:33.830 --> 00:00:38.540
in order to get them to write
SaaS emails differently from

00:00:38.540 --> 00:00:42.020
how you might be used to
writing all other emails--

00:00:42.020 --> 00:00:46.670
e-commerce, anything for
services, even win-back emails,

00:00:46.670 --> 00:00:48.290
and things like that.

00:00:48.290 --> 00:00:51.530
SaaS emails are a
different beast,

00:00:51.530 --> 00:00:55.130
largely because SaaS
and SaaS marketers,

00:00:55.130 --> 00:00:57.970
where we have product
marketers, et cetera, involved--

00:00:57.970 --> 00:01:00.940
they're a little bit of
a different beast too.

00:01:00.940 --> 00:01:02.497
And I mean that
fully in a good way.

00:01:02.497 --> 00:01:03.580
It's a good kind of beast.

00:01:03.580 --> 00:01:04.980
I love all animals.

00:01:04.980 --> 00:01:06.740
But let me share my
screen, and we're

00:01:06.740 --> 00:01:12.050
going to walk through the things
that I recommend to the newer

00:01:12.050 --> 00:01:15.350
copywriters that work with us.

00:01:15.350 --> 00:01:20.360
And that every time we get
feedback from a SaaS clients--

00:01:20.360 --> 00:01:21.860
and it's not like,
that was awesome!

00:01:21.860 --> 00:01:22.340
Thanks!

00:01:22.340 --> 00:01:23.060
We're good to go!

00:01:23.060 --> 00:01:25.670
Every time that
happens, it's typically

00:01:25.670 --> 00:01:27.680
because we're breaking
some of these rules.

00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:31.970
And some conversion
copywriting techniques

00:01:31.970 --> 00:01:33.750
do you break these rules.

00:01:33.750 --> 00:01:36.770
So yes, we're going
to dive into those.

00:01:36.770 --> 00:01:38.990
I wanted to show Lily and Puff.

00:01:38.990 --> 00:01:40.940
This is Lily-- big picture.

00:01:40.940 --> 00:01:42.740
Puff is little tiny picture.

00:01:42.740 --> 00:01:45.850
My normal photos that are in
here just weren't working.

00:01:45.850 --> 00:01:48.950
So somehow they weren't
loading in Google Slides.

00:01:48.950 --> 00:01:50.780
So I was like, all
right, it's time

00:01:50.780 --> 00:01:54.020
to sub in two
adorable little cats.

00:01:54.020 --> 00:01:56.900
Like really they're sitting
on the kitchen table--

00:01:56.900 --> 00:01:57.710
not allowed.

00:01:57.710 --> 00:02:00.000
And I'm taking
pictures of them on it.

00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:02.360
That's how much they own me.

00:02:02.360 --> 00:02:04.770
All right, let us
write a SaaS email.

00:02:04.770 --> 00:02:08.449
How to write a SaaS email?

00:02:08.449 --> 00:02:10.139
Now I've kind of
alluded to this.

00:02:10.139 --> 00:02:11.330
But the reason that--

00:02:11.330 --> 00:02:14.180
one of the primary reasons
that we write SaaS emails

00:02:14.180 --> 00:02:16.790
differently from
other emails is not

00:02:16.790 --> 00:02:20.660
because SaaS buyers or
customers are necessarily

00:02:20.660 --> 00:02:22.910
different from other people.

00:02:22.910 --> 00:02:25.370
It's because the first
approver, which we always

00:02:25.370 --> 00:02:28.550
think about as copywriters,
is not the customer.

00:02:28.550 --> 00:02:32.900
We need to always get our
client or our team onboard,

00:02:32.900 --> 00:02:35.990
so that our email
actually gets sent.

00:02:35.990 --> 00:02:40.760
Or AB test actually gets set
up, launched, and run properly.

00:02:40.760 --> 00:02:44.090
We need to make sure that we're
satisfying that first approver,

00:02:44.090 --> 00:02:46.370
which is the person
who asked you

00:02:46.370 --> 00:02:51.113
to do the thing in the
first place and their team.

00:02:51.113 --> 00:02:52.780
Sometimes, it means
you're going to have

00:02:52.780 --> 00:02:55.690
to make a strong case for your
new conversion copywriting

00:02:55.690 --> 00:02:58.450
principles that you might be
bringing into the organization.

00:02:58.450 --> 00:03:01.630
Typically, that doesn't
work as well with SaaS.

00:03:01.630 --> 00:03:02.850
They want great results.

00:03:02.850 --> 00:03:04.690
They're very
data-driven, but it still

00:03:04.690 --> 00:03:07.480
does come down to
certain conventions that

00:03:07.480 --> 00:03:10.180
need to be in place in
order for that SaaS marketer

00:03:10.180 --> 00:03:13.000
to feel really good about
going forward with your email.

00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:15.250
So we're going to talk about
what some of those things

00:03:15.250 --> 00:03:15.750
are now. This

00:03:15.750 --> 00:03:18.550
is really how to get a SaaS
email approved-- email that

00:03:18.550 --> 00:03:20.710
will outperform every
SaaS email ever,

00:03:20.710 --> 00:03:23.110
which is not to say
that this won't work.

00:03:23.110 --> 00:03:25.600
Because typically what
you're going to do is you're

00:03:25.600 --> 00:03:28.120
going to write this SaaS email.

00:03:28.120 --> 00:03:31.030
It will go be tested
against the control, which

00:03:31.030 --> 00:03:34.450
also has the same conventions
that we're seeing here,

00:03:34.450 --> 00:03:37.078
except yours will also
have conversion copywriting

00:03:37.078 --> 00:03:37.870
principles in play.

00:03:37.870 --> 00:03:40.330
You'll have a framework in
mind when you're writing it.

00:03:40.330 --> 00:03:42.070
You'll be using voice
of customer data.

00:03:42.070 --> 00:03:45.350
You'll be using other
data to drive that email.

00:03:45.350 --> 00:03:48.465
So you will still likely
outperform the control,

00:03:48.465 --> 00:03:49.840
but you're both
going to-- you're

00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:52.150
at least going to have
the same things in common

00:03:52.150 --> 00:03:52.970
with the control.

00:03:52.970 --> 00:03:55.280
And that's really what we're
going to talk about here.

00:03:55.280 --> 00:03:59.950
First things first--
and this is like major--

00:03:59.950 --> 00:04:03.700
writing a SaaS email is
different from writing

00:04:03.700 --> 00:04:04.600
other emails.

00:04:04.600 --> 00:04:06.280
Just like writing
an e-commerce email

00:04:06.280 --> 00:04:09.100
is different from writing
an email to sell a plumber

00:04:09.100 --> 00:04:11.830
services or a
dermatologist services.

00:04:11.830 --> 00:04:13.290
It's different.

00:04:13.290 --> 00:04:15.340
Accept it, and this is
one of the biggest things

00:04:15.340 --> 00:04:17.360
that copywriters need to know.

00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:20.890
You will have to sound different
from how you normally sound.

00:04:20.890 --> 00:04:23.260
If you're used to writing
long-form emails that

00:04:23.260 --> 00:04:27.540
are very one-to-one
personal feeling, that

00:04:27.540 --> 00:04:31.650
would be a very big stretch for
a SaaS marker and say, cool.

00:04:31.650 --> 00:04:33.120
Let's go with that.

00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:35.370
You could maybe run
that after this--

00:04:35.370 --> 00:04:37.200
after you first
do a set of emails

00:04:37.200 --> 00:04:41.020
that follow these basic
principles or conventions.

00:04:41.020 --> 00:04:44.890
Get a win out of this, and
then start nudging that SaaS

00:04:44.890 --> 00:04:48.160
marketer away from
things that are the norm

00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:49.580
or that are
comfortable for them.

00:04:49.580 --> 00:04:52.535
So really nothing
that follows will

00:04:52.535 --> 00:04:54.160
matter if you don't
have the discipline

00:04:54.160 --> 00:04:58.210
to recognize that a SaaS email
has to be written differently

00:04:58.210 --> 00:05:01.270
from how you might write other
emails like launch emails.

00:05:01.270 --> 00:05:03.490
It needs the right
voice and tone.

00:05:03.490 --> 00:05:05.020
So voice and tone
is always going

00:05:05.020 --> 00:05:07.438
to come up when you're
talking to SaaS marketers.

00:05:07.438 --> 00:05:09.730
They typically conflate the
two-- voice and tone, voice

00:05:09.730 --> 00:05:10.967
and tone, like it's one word.

00:05:10.967 --> 00:05:13.300
You don't have to worry too
much about what's your voice

00:05:13.300 --> 00:05:14.290
and what's the tone.

00:05:14.290 --> 00:05:16.540
It's just that it's really
a matter of voice and tone.

00:05:16.540 --> 00:05:17.980
You'll know the difference.

00:05:17.980 --> 00:05:20.937
But just know that it's not
that a SaaS marketers don't

00:05:20.937 --> 00:05:21.770
know the difference.

00:05:21.770 --> 00:05:25.840
It's just it gets conflated into
a single idea, rather than here

00:05:25.840 --> 00:05:26.800
is your voice.

00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:29.290
This extends across your brand.

00:05:29.290 --> 00:05:31.550
And here's the
tone of the piece,

00:05:31.550 --> 00:05:34.450
which is what most copywriters
are thinking about.

00:05:34.450 --> 00:05:36.910
But just know that you need
to basically be on voice,

00:05:36.910 --> 00:05:40.690
and there's a tone typically
packed into that voice.

00:05:40.690 --> 00:05:42.370
And we'll talk
about all of these.

00:05:42.370 --> 00:05:45.380
It needs to work in the
designed layout or template.

00:05:45.380 --> 00:05:46.970
So what does that actually mean?

00:05:46.970 --> 00:05:51.040
It means you're typically going
to have a standard template,

00:05:51.040 --> 00:05:54.670
where your client may have five,
six, seven different templates

00:05:54.670 --> 00:05:57.370
that they have built
internally, that

00:05:57.370 --> 00:05:59.260
were designed intentionally.

00:05:59.260 --> 00:06:02.500
Maybe it's in their CRM already
or they get custom coded.

00:06:02.500 --> 00:06:06.190
That still happens, which
is always surprising to me

00:06:06.190 --> 00:06:09.880
that people are custom
coding emails one by one

00:06:09.880 --> 00:06:12.020
but does still happen.

00:06:12.020 --> 00:06:14.230
So it's likely to
have the logo up

00:06:14.230 --> 00:06:16.960
at the top, possibly
a picture, definitely

00:06:16.960 --> 00:06:18.850
footer that feels designed.

00:06:18.850 --> 00:06:22.060
It's not going to be written
like a Copyhackers email

00:06:22.060 --> 00:06:26.260
or like a Ramit Sethi email or
any of those sorts of marketers

00:06:26.260 --> 00:06:28.870
who aren't writing for SaaS.

00:06:28.870 --> 00:06:31.060
So it has to-- again,
this is one more

00:06:31.060 --> 00:06:33.460
mentioned that you
need to be aware of.

00:06:33.460 --> 00:06:34.790
It cannot be very long.

00:06:34.790 --> 00:06:36.630
It just can't.

00:06:36.630 --> 00:06:37.870
It just can't.

00:06:37.870 --> 00:06:38.860
It just can't.

00:06:38.860 --> 00:06:39.450
It just can't.

00:06:39.450 --> 00:06:40.690
It just can't.

00:06:40.690 --> 00:06:41.320
There.

00:06:41.320 --> 00:06:42.820
Is that clear?

00:06:42.820 --> 00:06:45.230
It can't be very long.

00:06:45.230 --> 00:06:47.320
It doesn't mean it can't
have a little more length

00:06:47.320 --> 00:06:49.910
than your client is
comfortable with.

00:06:49.910 --> 00:06:52.990
But once you get into, oh, we're
going to write a long email,

00:06:52.990 --> 00:06:57.410
I would be shocked if you
got that approved to go out.

00:06:57.410 --> 00:07:01.180
Chances are very good, it will
get edited by the designer,

00:07:01.180 --> 00:07:04.870
by the marketer,
by the CMO even,

00:07:04.870 --> 00:07:06.670
before it ever gets sent out.

00:07:06.670 --> 00:07:08.630
And that's what
we want to avoid.

00:07:08.630 --> 00:07:14.020
So lean away from long copy
when you're writing SaaS emails.

00:07:14.020 --> 00:07:15.580
It needs to sound good as well.

00:07:15.580 --> 00:07:17.530
Like sound good--
does it "sound good"

00:07:17.530 --> 00:07:20.770
is a big filter for
writing SaaS emails.

00:07:20.770 --> 00:07:22.900
It's basically
true for all emails

00:07:22.900 --> 00:07:26.610
you write, except a
launch email for a course,

00:07:26.610 --> 00:07:28.900
for example, doesn't
need to sound good.

00:07:28.900 --> 00:07:33.200
It doesn't need to have any
sort of wordsmithery going on

00:07:33.200 --> 00:07:33.700
at all.

00:07:33.700 --> 00:07:35.950
And I don't believe
copywriters are, quote unquote,

00:07:35.950 --> 00:07:38.110
"wordsmiths," and hopefully
everybody attending

00:07:38.110 --> 00:07:40.690
this or who has heard
anything from Copyhackers

00:07:40.690 --> 00:07:42.970
ever know is that that is
not what we're here to do.

00:07:42.970 --> 00:07:45.370
However, you have
the first customer

00:07:45.370 --> 00:07:46.960
that you have to
get to approve it.

00:07:46.960 --> 00:07:50.260
That first customer is the
person who brought you in,

00:07:50.260 --> 00:07:52.090
and they want it to sound good.

00:07:52.090 --> 00:07:54.880
So we're going to talk about
ways to make that happen too.

00:07:54.880 --> 00:07:57.160
Voice and tone-- let us dive in.

00:07:57.160 --> 00:08:00.170
Very, very, very, very often--

00:08:00.170 --> 00:08:03.070
and this just happened
yesterday in a new lead call.

00:08:03.070 --> 00:08:07.810
I was talking to a software
company out of San Francisco,

00:08:07.810 --> 00:08:11.950
and they wanted to bring
us-- to work with us.

00:08:11.950 --> 00:08:14.230
They're re-doing a bunch
of different things.

00:08:14.230 --> 00:08:17.603
And they brought up that they're
redoing their voice and tone.

00:08:17.603 --> 00:08:19.270
And I said, oh, what
does it sound like?

00:08:19.270 --> 00:08:21.670
The very first word, and I
knew it before they said it,

00:08:21.670 --> 00:08:22.690
was friendly.

00:08:22.690 --> 00:08:24.730
It's always going to
start with friendly,

00:08:24.730 --> 00:08:26.680
and then there will
be other words that

00:08:26.680 --> 00:08:29.380
follow it-- friendly
but whatever,

00:08:29.380 --> 00:08:31.360
friendly and whatever.

00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:33.640
And a common one
as well is, I mean,

00:08:33.640 --> 00:08:37.700
when you're talking about their
voice and tone is this idea of,

00:08:37.700 --> 00:08:40.570
oh, we take the work
seriously but not ourselves.

00:08:40.570 --> 00:08:41.140
That happens.

00:08:41.140 --> 00:08:44.210
That's a common sort of thing
that a lot of SaaS marketers

00:08:44.210 --> 00:08:44.710
think.

00:08:44.710 --> 00:08:45.293
And it's good. It's

00:08:45.293 --> 00:08:46.090
a good thing.

00:08:46.090 --> 00:08:47.530
None of what I'm saying
is meant to be like,

00:08:47.530 --> 00:08:48.820
that's a bad convention.

00:08:48.820 --> 00:08:51.492
This is like insights
into what these SaaS

00:08:51.492 --> 00:08:52.450
marketers are thinking.

00:08:52.450 --> 00:08:55.480
So make sure it sounds
friendly, and that there's

00:08:55.480 --> 00:08:57.490
a sense of taking
the work seriously,

00:08:57.490 --> 00:09:01.150
not yourself, not
the brand seriously.

00:09:01.150 --> 00:09:04.210
So those often turn
into, oh, that sounds

00:09:04.210 --> 00:09:06.810
like my favorite professor
during office hours.

00:09:06.810 --> 00:09:10.390
OK, so imagine who that is and
that moment in office hours.

00:09:10.390 --> 00:09:14.710
Your favorite uncle-- maybe he's
your favorite Harvard-educated

00:09:14.710 --> 00:09:17.140
uncle in some cases.

00:09:17.140 --> 00:09:19.480
Our Jamie from Project
Management-- someone else

00:09:19.480 --> 00:09:23.230
internally who really embodies
what they think their brand

00:09:23.230 --> 00:09:24.200
stands for.

00:09:24.200 --> 00:09:27.070
And so like interviewing that
person can go a long way.

00:09:27.070 --> 00:09:28.840
And another one--
it used to be, we

00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:30.250
want to sound like Mailchimp.

00:09:30.250 --> 00:09:33.010
And increasingly, it's, we
want to sound like Drift.

00:09:33.010 --> 00:09:37.640
We hear this a lot,
like a lot a lot,

00:09:37.640 --> 00:09:39.790
which is really
interesting to me that

00:09:39.790 --> 00:09:40.960
shift that people have made.

00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:43.335
Not that they don't want to
sound like Mailchimp anymore, it's just that

00:09:43.335 --> 00:09:44.860
we hear more commonly

00:09:44.860 --> 00:09:47.200
I want to sound like Drift.

00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:49.587
So voice and tone,
it's likely to fall

00:09:49.587 --> 00:09:50.670
into a category like this.

00:09:50.670 --> 00:09:52.820
Basically, you're pretty safe.

00:09:52.820 --> 00:09:56.462
If you are friendly, if
it doesn't sound like

00:09:56.462 --> 00:09:58.420
you take yourself too
seriously, but you definitely

00:09:58.420 --> 00:09:59.860
take the work seriously.

00:09:59.860 --> 00:10:02.320
As in, if you're
writing for software,

00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:04.600
the actual work that
the software does

00:10:04.600 --> 00:10:06.160
is taking seriously.

00:10:06.160 --> 00:10:09.610
The way you get people into it,
talking about it is not taking

00:10:09.610 --> 00:10:11.440
so, quote unquote, "seriously."

00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:16.230
OK, this is the actual
template itself.

00:10:16.230 --> 00:10:18.870
This wide-- like, there
is a width to this.

00:10:18.870 --> 00:10:21.360
You're not going to
have a full page,

00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:24.450
like a full width, when
you think about how

00:10:24.450 --> 00:10:26.010
wide an email can get.

00:10:26.010 --> 00:10:29.670
We're talking about a narrow,
but not too narrow, email.

00:10:29.670 --> 00:10:32.310
Basically like this, when you're
writing this in a copy dock,

00:10:32.310 --> 00:10:35.700
you'll want to bring that
margin, the right margin

00:10:35.700 --> 00:10:37.500
in to about-- you'll
see the ruler up

00:10:37.500 --> 00:10:39.210
at the top-- it's about 4.5.

00:10:39.210 --> 00:10:40.800
That's where we typically write.

00:10:40.800 --> 00:10:44.340
Sometimes a little narrower
and increase the size of that

00:10:44.340 --> 00:10:45.460
font as well.

00:10:45.460 --> 00:10:49.712
So it better reflects like
this chunky sort of email.

00:10:49.712 --> 00:10:52.170
You have a standard headline
that's a maximum of two lines.

00:10:52.170 --> 00:10:53.940
Three lines is a stretch.

00:10:53.940 --> 00:10:56.670
One line is very
safe, and comfortable,

00:10:56.670 --> 00:11:00.390
and more likely to get
that stamp of approval.

00:11:00.390 --> 00:11:03.420
Open with a single-sentence
hook, so we want one line--

00:11:03.420 --> 00:11:07.580
well, one sentence, at least,
and not a long sentence.

00:11:07.580 --> 00:11:09.870
This is going to be
typically a question.

00:11:09.870 --> 00:11:13.260
Honestly, if you want
to play it safe in order

00:11:13.260 --> 00:11:18.240
to get your client to say yes,
opening with a question, a data

00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:21.120
point, or something
from a customer's story

00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:24.590
really quickly goes a long way.

00:11:24.590 --> 00:11:27.030
So start there.

00:11:27.030 --> 00:11:29.760
Then there is a standalone line
that builds on the last line

00:11:29.760 --> 00:11:31.150
and makes you
think a little bit.

00:11:31.150 --> 00:11:33.780
So if you asked a question
in that first line,

00:11:33.780 --> 00:11:36.330
you're going to answer that
question but in a way that

00:11:36.330 --> 00:11:38.520
makes the reader go, huh!

00:11:38.520 --> 00:11:40.710
And keeps them paying attention.

00:11:40.710 --> 00:11:43.140
Then you have a
payoff for that line,

00:11:43.140 --> 00:11:44.940
and that then
introduces the features.

00:11:44.940 --> 00:11:46.680
You typically have,
here's my hook.

00:11:46.680 --> 00:11:49.050
Here's a quick one liner
to make you kind of build

00:11:49.050 --> 00:11:52.650
on that hook, payoff
for that line, and then

00:11:52.650 --> 00:11:55.990
introduction of the feature
that satisfies the payoff.

00:11:55.990 --> 00:11:59.310
So this is basically where we
start getting into the how.

00:11:59.310 --> 00:12:01.650
We typically don't
open with a feature.

00:12:01.650 --> 00:12:03.810
You don't start by
talking about a feature.

00:12:03.810 --> 00:12:06.120
You start by talking about
again the question, the data

00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:08.180
point, the customer story.

00:12:08.180 --> 00:12:10.740
Introduce the feature,
then have, typically,

00:12:10.740 --> 00:12:14.160
an image or product
GIF, "jif," wherever,

00:12:14.160 --> 00:12:15.910
whatever you want to call it.

00:12:15.910 --> 00:12:18.480
Sometimes that image can go
right below the headline.

00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:22.080
But very typically, we'll
see SaaS marketers approve

00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:24.030
an image that's in line.

00:12:24.030 --> 00:12:27.390
Going above the copy tends to
be kind of an e-commerce sort

00:12:27.390 --> 00:12:28.020
of thing to do.

00:12:28.020 --> 00:12:31.590
But an inline image
tends to be approved.

00:12:31.590 --> 00:12:33.573
You've just told them
what the feature is

00:12:33.573 --> 00:12:35.490
or a cool way that it
solves a problem or more

00:12:35.490 --> 00:12:38.892
like is the payoff for
what's been discussed so far.

00:12:38.892 --> 00:12:41.350
And then you want to show them
that in actions that, again,

00:12:41.350 --> 00:12:42.360
might be a GIF.

00:12:42.360 --> 00:12:45.510
Videos-- I think are
still difficult to embed--

00:12:45.510 --> 00:12:47.310
you can embed them
but playing requires

00:12:47.310 --> 00:12:49.830
that you go to a new spot.

00:12:49.830 --> 00:12:53.160
So it's just a GIF, is what we
typically recommend in there.

00:12:53.160 --> 00:12:55.380
And then you talk
about the feature now

00:12:55.380 --> 00:12:57.210
you get to get into it.

00:12:57.210 --> 00:13:00.450
Typically, you can phrase
that as with X feature.

00:13:00.450 --> 00:13:02.340
So put that feature
name in there.

00:13:02.340 --> 00:13:04.110
You can-- and then
tell them what

00:13:04.110 --> 00:13:07.860
they can achieve, what they
can get done, what they can do.

00:13:07.860 --> 00:13:09.510
And then you have
the Rule of Three.

00:13:09.510 --> 00:13:13.420
So you can do this,
do this, do this.

00:13:13.420 --> 00:13:16.260
That's really a
really safe format

00:13:16.260 --> 00:13:18.600
for writing a SaaS email.

00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:21.840
You can have bullets that
follow that expand on it.

00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:22.960
Those are optional.

00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:24.150
They don't have to happen.

00:13:24.150 --> 00:13:25.860
If you don't have
those buttons, then

00:13:25.860 --> 00:13:28.800
that quick clever final
line down at the bottom

00:13:28.800 --> 00:13:33.330
will typically end in the
same paragraph as the, with X

00:13:33.330 --> 00:13:34.085
feature, you can.

00:13:34.085 --> 00:13:35.460
So if you take
those bullets out,

00:13:35.460 --> 00:13:38.010
then that final
clever quick line

00:13:38.010 --> 00:13:41.320
will move up to finish
off the paragraph.

00:13:41.320 --> 00:13:43.260
And then we have a button.

00:13:43.260 --> 00:13:47.520
This may seem like
obvious, but it's not.

00:13:47.520 --> 00:13:49.200
It's definitely
not obvious, and it

00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:52.950
is the shortest path
following this, quote unquote,

00:13:52.950 --> 00:13:56.610
"template" is the shortest path
to getting your email approved

00:13:56.610 --> 00:13:57.840
by that SaaS marketer.

00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:00.390
This is a very safe
starting place.

00:14:00.390 --> 00:14:03.840
Your job is to make sure the
hook is a really good one,

00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:07.020
that the standalone line is
really good, that the headline

00:14:07.020 --> 00:14:07.930
is really good.

00:14:07.930 --> 00:14:10.500
Even if it has to be a little
shorter to get approved,

00:14:10.500 --> 00:14:11.640
that's really solid.

00:14:11.640 --> 00:14:13.650
Everything that goes
into this template

00:14:13.650 --> 00:14:16.050
is your job to make awesome.

00:14:16.050 --> 00:14:18.030
And that can be, of
course, how you actually

00:14:18.030 --> 00:14:23.070
get it to beat the control which
looks exactly the same as this,

00:14:23.070 --> 00:14:24.820
in most cases.

00:14:24.820 --> 00:14:26.113
So here's an example.

00:14:26.113 --> 00:14:27.030
This is a little long.

00:14:27.030 --> 00:14:30.510
All of my emails for Wistia were
uncomfortably long for them.

00:14:30.510 --> 00:14:32.850
And it would have
been very difficult

00:14:32.850 --> 00:14:37.320
for them to approve these
emails if there wasn't already

00:14:37.320 --> 00:14:39.030
somebody internally
who was like, we're

00:14:39.030 --> 00:14:40.900
doing what Joe says.

00:14:40.900 --> 00:14:42.150
We're just going to do it.

00:14:42.150 --> 00:14:42.900
That's the test.

00:14:42.900 --> 00:14:45.480
That was Andrew,
Andrew Kaplan, who

00:14:45.480 --> 00:14:48.810
has since moved on to a
different role elsewhere.

00:14:48.810 --> 00:14:52.320
But he was a big part of making
these Wistia emails actually

00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:53.237
happen and get tested.

00:14:53.237 --> 00:14:55.195
And, of course, we've
talked about these a lot. These are the ones

00:14:55.195 --> 00:14:57.780
that brought in 3.5 times paid
conversions.

00:14:57.780 --> 00:15:00.720
The control looked
like this email,

00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:03.160
and these are what our
emails look like too. So

00:15:03.160 --> 00:15:04.650
we followed those convention.

00:15:04.650 --> 00:15:07.200
Centered headline--
that's a max of two lines.

00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:10.570
A single-sentence hook-- now
this was a big question to ask.

00:15:10.570 --> 00:15:15.200
We didn't want to have a big
stack of a three-line paragraph

00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:16.602
to an email.

00:15:16.602 --> 00:15:18.060
No one feels
comfortable with that.

00:15:18.060 --> 00:15:19.280
So we broke that up.

00:15:19.280 --> 00:15:20.870
Then you have a standalone line.

00:15:20.870 --> 00:15:23.550
This is a bit of a longer
one, but it's got the 6%.

00:15:23.550 --> 00:15:25.220
It's got some numbers in there.

00:15:25.220 --> 00:15:27.770
Payoff for that line,
image or product

00:15:27.770 --> 00:15:29.600
GIF-- and, in this
case, we had a GIF

00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:33.140
where you would show people
what that turnstile is.

00:15:33.140 --> 00:15:35.900
And then we explain what
that feature is, what

00:15:35.900 --> 00:15:38.360
it does for you, how it works.

00:15:38.360 --> 00:15:42.410
And then we have a quick
final line, and then that CTA.

00:15:42.410 --> 00:15:45.050
So this is the basic
format for all of them,

00:15:45.050 --> 00:15:46.310
but these are longer.

00:15:46.310 --> 00:15:49.520
This one's longer than you
are likely to get approved,

00:15:49.520 --> 00:15:52.070
unless you have somebody
going, oh, hell, yes.

00:15:52.070 --> 00:15:54.050
We're doing whatever
that person says.

00:15:54.050 --> 00:15:56.450
And that is not always
the case for us.

00:15:56.450 --> 00:16:00.200
We have to follow the
convention show on the left here

00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:01.623
in order to get that approved. It's

00:16:01.623 --> 00:16:03.290
just that Wistia took
a big chance.

00:16:03.290 --> 00:16:06.320
Canva took a big chance as
well, Doodle, people like that.

00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:08.720
But that doesn't mean that
everybody always will.

00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:11.120
OK, then we want to
make it sound good.

00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:12.890
How do you make
things sound good?

00:16:12.890 --> 00:16:17.960
This is really where being
a reader, who is a writer,

00:16:17.960 --> 00:16:19.430
goes a long way.

00:16:19.430 --> 00:16:21.680
The more you read, the
better you are as a writer.

00:16:21.680 --> 00:16:22.740
We all know that.

00:16:22.740 --> 00:16:27.290
And I do not mean only
reading what's on Facebook.

00:16:27.290 --> 00:16:28.250
That's not reading.

00:16:28.250 --> 00:16:29.640
That's not reading.

00:16:29.640 --> 00:16:32.090
So we want to make sure
that we're reading things.

00:16:32.090 --> 00:16:35.468
Obviously, we're all writers
of some kind in the room.

00:16:35.468 --> 00:16:37.010
So that's the best
way to, of course,

00:16:37.010 --> 00:16:38.950
start learning how to
make things sound good.

00:16:38.950 --> 00:16:41.720
Just pay attention and
copy what other people do

00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:43.910
to structure their sentences.

00:16:43.910 --> 00:16:45.500
Wordplay in your
headline-- that's

00:16:45.500 --> 00:16:47.840
a great place to use wordplay.

00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:51.440
Try focusing on short,
short, short, short words.

00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:53.540
Maybe one lengthier
word in there

00:16:53.540 --> 00:16:56.960
just to break up that
staccato sort of nature of it.

00:16:56.960 --> 00:16:58.700
Sentence fragments--
you don't have

00:16:58.700 --> 00:17:02.940
to have long sentences that are
painful or hard to get through.

00:17:02.940 --> 00:17:05.750
I'm having empathy for your busy
reader, and writing an email

00:17:05.750 --> 00:17:08.720
goes a long way in a SaaS
email, in particular.

00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:11.750
Do a sweep to make sure you're
removing any scary words

00:17:11.750 --> 00:17:12.740
or work words.

00:17:12.740 --> 00:17:16.010
Like, learn is a
very scary word.

00:17:16.010 --> 00:17:17.150
It's a work word.

00:17:17.150 --> 00:17:19.323
Things like that
we want to cut out.

00:17:19.323 --> 00:17:20.990
Make them feel friendly,
make everything

00:17:20.990 --> 00:17:23.450
feel easy and desirable.

00:17:23.450 --> 00:17:25.290
And then writerly
rhetorical devices--

00:17:25.290 --> 00:17:26.869
and I'm going to
actually discuss

00:17:26.869 --> 00:17:29.480
a couple rhetorical
devices right now

00:17:29.480 --> 00:17:33.080
to give examples of how
to make things sound good.

00:17:33.080 --> 00:17:37.340
Antithesis-- OK, so
here's an example from one

00:17:37.340 --> 00:17:38.480
of the Wistia emails.

00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:40.250
And again, we're only really
showing the Wistia emails

00:17:40.250 --> 00:17:41.667
in here because
those are the ones that we

00:17:41.667 --> 00:17:46.158
have full approval to use wherever,
for whatever,

00:17:46.158 --> 00:17:48.450
rather than ones for like
Shopify and things like that.

00:17:48.450 --> 00:17:50.802
So a word, phrase,
or sentence opposes

00:17:50.802 --> 00:17:52.760
the original statement--
so it opens with, it's

00:17:52.760 --> 00:17:54.440
good to be powered by Wistia.

00:17:54.440 --> 00:17:55.950
It's best to lead
with your brand.

00:17:55.950 --> 00:17:58.123
So the opening line
is the statement,

00:17:58.123 --> 00:17:59.540
but then we're
building and saying

00:17:59.540 --> 00:18:03.260
kind of not the opposite,
but it's in opposition

00:18:03.260 --> 00:18:04.460
to that opening line.

00:18:04.460 --> 00:18:05.570
It's a writerly thing.

00:18:05.570 --> 00:18:07.040
It's antithesis.

00:18:07.040 --> 00:18:09.260
This is a very hard word
to say, and I always

00:18:09.260 --> 00:18:13.363
want to put an N before
that T. Polysyndeton?

00:18:13.363 --> 00:18:14.780
You're welcome for
me trying that.

00:18:14.780 --> 00:18:17.180
And this is where we're going
to use more conjunctions

00:18:17.180 --> 00:18:18.180
than necessary.

00:18:18.180 --> 00:18:19.730
So we have here
in the headline--

00:18:19.730 --> 00:18:22.490
what's red and unsupported
and stuck in the middle of.

00:18:22.490 --> 00:18:25.550
Instead of saying, what's
red, unsupported and stuck

00:18:25.550 --> 00:18:28.130
in the middle of, we're
adding in those ands

00:18:28.130 --> 00:18:31.220
to keep drawing attention,
to kind of build up

00:18:31.220 --> 00:18:34.530
this idea of lots
and lots of things.

00:18:34.530 --> 00:18:36.200
So that's a bit
of chaos going on.

00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:39.710
There's more happening in there
than if we just had commas.

00:18:39.710 --> 00:18:43.280
And it felt like a normal
everyday sort of sentence.

00:18:43.280 --> 00:18:44.870
So there is that,
and then there's

00:18:44.870 --> 00:18:47.840
this sense of
tricolon, which I only

00:18:47.840 --> 00:18:49.370
learned about very recently.

00:18:49.370 --> 00:18:52.490
I didn't know we were doing it,
but I learned what it's called.

00:18:52.490 --> 00:18:54.770
This is where you have
three words or phrases

00:18:54.770 --> 00:18:56.160
in quick succession.

00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:58.460
And you'll see that a lot,
but this is a technique

00:18:58.460 --> 00:18:59.460
just like the other two.

00:18:59.460 --> 00:19:01.580
They're techniques
that you can use.

00:19:01.580 --> 00:19:04.710
Go in to make
things sound better.

00:19:04.710 --> 00:19:07.520
So we have three words or
phrases in quick succession,

00:19:07.520 --> 00:19:11.030
usually with commas
but no conjunction.

00:19:11.030 --> 00:19:13.833
So this is a bit like the
opposite of the polysyndeton.

00:19:13.833 --> 00:19:15.500
OK, so we have-- you
can add a turnstile

00:19:15.500 --> 00:19:17.540
at the beginning of
a video, at the end,

00:19:17.540 --> 00:19:19.350
or at an exact point
on your timeline.

00:19:19.350 --> 00:19:20.840
That's broken up with periods.

00:19:20.840 --> 00:19:23.630
But we still have this
tricolon effect going on.

00:19:23.630 --> 00:19:24.260
Grow your list.

00:19:24.260 --> 00:19:25.160
Fill your CRM.

00:19:25.160 --> 00:19:27.610
Let your marketing videos do
the work they're meant to do.

00:19:27.610 --> 00:19:30.440
This is all part of not just
making things sound good,

00:19:30.440 --> 00:19:32.750
but because these
sorts of techniques

00:19:32.750 --> 00:19:35.570
have been used
since forever, they

00:19:35.570 --> 00:19:39.380
register really well in
the reader's head as like,

00:19:39.380 --> 00:19:40.850
that sounds good.

00:19:40.850 --> 00:19:42.830
And so if you can
tap into that, so

00:19:42.830 --> 00:19:44.500
trying to make up
your own rules,

00:19:44.500 --> 00:19:46.340
just start like studying
rhetorical devices

00:19:46.340 --> 00:19:50.240
and practicing using them, then
you can make things sound good.

00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:52.310
And that's part of
the objective here.

00:19:52.310 --> 00:19:55.550
So to get a SaaS email approved,
again, have the discipline

00:19:55.550 --> 00:19:57.170
to write it differently.

00:19:57.170 --> 00:20:00.810
When you go into writing a SaaS
email, don't start by saying,

00:20:00.810 --> 00:20:04.790
how can I employ techniques that
I used in e-commerce to this?

00:20:04.790 --> 00:20:08.750
That might be your second test
once you get the first winner.

00:20:08.750 --> 00:20:10.940
And to get the first
winner, follow this.

00:20:10.940 --> 00:20:14.310
Right voice and tone, follow
that template I showed you.

00:20:14.310 --> 00:20:16.580
Don't make it long.

00:20:16.580 --> 00:20:19.010
Make it sound good and,
again, don't write it

00:20:19.010 --> 00:20:21.320
like it's for e-commerce
or for services.

00:20:21.320 --> 00:20:24.830
Now this is, as a final note,
how to get your SaaS copy

00:20:24.830 --> 00:20:26.172
approved.

00:20:26.172 --> 00:20:27.630
From there, you
have to, of course,

00:20:27.630 --> 00:20:29.160
make sure that it
still works and follows

00:20:29.160 --> 00:20:30.980
those conversion
copywriting principles.

00:20:30.980 --> 00:20:32.930
OK, thanks everyone.

00:20:32.930 --> 00:20:36.770
We have a couple more Tutorial
Tuesdays before its end

00:20:36.770 --> 00:20:37.310
of year.

00:20:37.310 --> 00:20:40.235
Can you even believe
how fast it happens?

00:20:40.235 --> 00:20:43.620
Like, I'm shopping
online in September.

00:20:43.620 --> 00:20:46.270
But you're like, no, it's
too soon to buy any of that.

00:20:46.270 --> 00:20:48.590
And now it's like, it's too
late to buy any of that.

00:20:48.590 --> 00:20:49.795
How did this happen, Angela?

00:20:49.795 --> 00:20:50.420
I don't know.

00:20:50.420 --> 00:20:54.060
We had grass outside like,
what, three days ago.

00:20:54.060 --> 00:20:56.430
And now there's like a
foot and a half of snow.

00:20:56.430 --> 00:20:56.930
I know.

00:20:56.930 --> 00:20:59.450
We have little rose bushes.

00:20:59.450 --> 00:21:01.430
And I was like, I'm
going to be so pro

00:21:01.430 --> 00:21:05.610
and put something around
my rose bushes this year.

00:21:05.610 --> 00:21:06.170
No.

00:21:06.170 --> 00:21:07.310
They're completely
covered in snow.

00:21:07.310 --> 00:21:07.910
They're gone.

00:21:07.910 --> 00:21:09.930
I apologize to the
roses of the world,

00:21:09.930 --> 00:21:12.210
especially in my backyard.

00:21:12.210 --> 00:21:13.180
All right, y'all.

00:21:13.180 --> 00:21:14.430
Have a good rest of your week.

00:21:14.430 --> 00:21:18.870
Stay hopeful and optimistic
as we shall as well.

00:21:18.870 --> 00:21:19.380
Good.

00:21:19.380 --> 00:21:22.020
And we'll see you on our
next Tutorial Tuesday.

00:21:22.020 --> 00:21:22.740
Thanks everyone.

00:21:22.740 --> 00:21:23.240
Bye. [MUSIC PLAYING]