What can Secret Santa teach you about making more sales with your emails?
Surprisingly, quite a lot!
See, one of the more ‘hyper-organized’ folks in my partner’s family has only gone and sorted out a Secret Santa for us already.
Now, if you’re anything like me, you’ll be thinking, It’s a bit early for all that, isn’t it? The Halloween pumpkins have barely started rotting yet. Heh!
But hey, credit where it’s due…
I do admire the forward planning, and to be honest, Secret Santa is a bit of a laugh.
There’s somethin’ fun about the whole mystery of it, don’t you think?
Not knowing what you’ll end up with or who’s pulled your name out the hat…
And here’s the thing:
That touch of mystery is pure magic, especially when it comes to writing copy that sells.
There’s been few folks better at harnessing the selling power of mystery than direct-response copywriting Mel Martin.
Back in the day, Mel’s copy helped Boardroom Inc. (now Bottom Line, Inc.) become a giant in direct-response publishing.
And Mel had a special trick up his sleeve…
Something he called “fascinations.”
Unlike your standard features and benefits type copy, these fascinations were crafted to tease, leaving just enough out to get people thinking, “I need to know more.”
Take, for example, one of his biggest hits, The Book of Secrets.
Mel took what was one of Boardroom’s worst performing promotions and turned it into a bestseller, shifting over 600,000 copies.
Peep a handful of my favorite fascinations from that promo:
- How to get discounts from stores that say they don’t give any. Page 1.
- Dieting secrets. Did you know there are two kinds of calories? One is less fattening than the other. Page 178.
- Stop a headache by pressing a secret spot on your wrist. Page 204.
- Job-hunting secrets. The best day of the week is Monday, right? Wrong. That’s the worst day. See page 278.
- How to get a good night’s sleep without pills. (Keep the room cool, right? Wrong.) Page 198.
Now, when it comes to writing emails that sell like umbrellas in a downpour, fascinations work wonders.
And you don’t have to just plop them into a bog standard bulleted list.
Slip a fascination into the opening line of your emails, and you’ll have your readers hooked, dying to read the entirety of your email to satiate their curiosity.
In my book, this is one of the best things most folks can do to level up their email copy.
(I see way too many emails that start with boring opening lines that do little to hook the reader.)
And last, but not least…
You can turn the call-to-action of your emails into a fascination to encourage more folks to click over to your sales page.
Speaking of which…
Did you know there are 3 email profit killers that sabotage sales? Click here to dodge their traps.
Stay sharp,
Kenneth Turnbull