Drafting your email
Email marketing best practice
There should always be a reason for sending an email. It might be tempting to email people more regularly than you need to, but people will quickly get sick of your emails if they don’t have a purpose.
There are three main types of email that you will be sending:
- Information about upcoming events, activities or opportunities
- Persuading people to take an action (e.g. donate, sign up for a postal vote)
- Reporting back - the email equivalent of the focus leaflet that keeps activists and voters informed of what you’ve been doing
Before you start drafting your email, be clear about what type of email it is and what you want it to achieve.
Type 1: Invitation
These emails should be very short. Have one sentence describing the upcoming event/activity/opportunity, include when/where/any other important details, and end with a cheery sign off.
For example:
Dear name, We’re having a data entry night next week with some free pizza. When: Date and Time Where: MDO’s house, full address Data entry is where we take lists of information from the council of who voted in previous elections, and add them to our system to make our future campaigning activities more streamlined. It’s a great chance to do some campaigning in the warm and dry, and we always have a good laugh. Let us know you can make it by replying to this email or RSVPing here: [Link to the event on your website] Thanks! MDO officer Local party |
Type 2: Persuasive
For emails where you’re trying to persuade people to donate, volunteer or sign a petition, you will need to give the reader a compelling reason to take an action.
This framework works well for painting a picture of a problem and offering a solution:
Problem - Identify a problem facing them / someone else.
Solution - Identify a solution to that problem
Resolution - Show them how they can be part of the solution
For example:
After the past few years, it couldn’t be clearer [name]: the system is broken. It’s up to us to fix it.
Our electoral system is not fit for purpose. In December 2019 the Conservatives swept to power with barely a 1% increase in vote share, and 22.6 million votes went to waste. It’s a disgrace.
First Past The Post has allowed the Conservatives and Labour to maintain their grip on power for too long. It allows Parliament to ignore parties who are fighting for change and representing different points of view. It cheats voters of real representation in our politics.
Yesterday, I held a debate on this issue in the House of Commons. The Government couldn’t have been more dismissive. The Conservatives don’t care about your vote or your say. They only care about keeping themselves in power.
Enough is enough. The Liberal Democrats exist to create a fairer society. That has to include a fairer voting system.
[Join us]
Britain’s voting system is just the tip of the iceberg. We’ve got a plan to make our politics better for everyone:
You can help make this happen [name]. If, like us, you want better for our society and our politics, join our growing movement today: [I’m in] The Liberal Democrats will always fight for what’s right. Join us today to help make fairer voting a reality.
Wendy Chamberlain MP for North East Fife |
Sheet to fill in to have a go yourself: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hehecTh97hRuOjJvXZ7x8yHGAUUNHctYrshOJN-H574/edit?usp=sharing
Type 3: Reporting back
This functions as the email equivalent of a focus leaflet. Include a few stories, and keep them short to work in an email format - you can link to longer new stories on your website if necessary. Keep the party content light (but always make sure it’s there) and focus on local issues.
A good format to follow is highlighting:
- A local win, like a successful community event or a campaign win
- An ongoing local campaign issue
- A local effort, showing that you campaigners are embedded in the local community
This email should come from your local MP/Parliamentary candidate/Councillor/Council candidate, or any public facing local Lib Dem.
For example:
Dear [NAME], We hope you are keeping well. Here is the news from your Local Lib Dem Team. Success at the beach Thank you to all the Local Area volunteers who took part in the beach clean last week. We collected 30 bags of rubbish from South Beach, that’s 30 bags of plastic bags, cigarette butts and old bottles that won’t end up in the sea, making the beach nicer for all of us. All your local councillors join our beach cleans, so do feel free to come along to the next one and say hi! Don’t scrap the 42 bus The local council announced it was planning to stop running the 42 bus as part of a raft of cost saving proposals, leaving many people in the Local Area without a bus route into town. If you’re concerned, we are collecting names of residents who are against this proposal to challenge the council, reply to this email to add your name, or add your name online here [add link] Toys Wanted If you have any old toys of children’s books that you are no longer using, Victoria Hospital is looking for donations. You can find out more about the donation drive here [add link] and if you can’t get drop off your donations yourself, reply to this email and we’ll do our best to arrange a pick up for you. |
Now you’ve got your format, you’re ready to start writing!