Crafting engaging email content: Lessons from Cowrywise's newsletter.

Ever heard of Ope's Diary by Cowrywise?

Cowrywise, as a savings and investment platform, is dedicated to equipping individuals with the essential tools needed to nurture a lifestyle of personal financial management. In today's world where software products and online businesses are thriving, email marketing has risen as the preferred method for companies to keep their customers informed.

However, the challenge lies in ensuring that emails not only get sent but also get opened and read. Cowrywise recognizes the importance of this challenge and has fostered a vibrant community centered around 'Ope from Cowrywise' to enhance our customer relationships.

In this article, we're going to explore some strategies to help you get more people to open your emails and, as a result, make your email marketing more effective. To make things clearer, we'll use Cowrywise's Ope's Diary as an example of a company that does email marketing really well. 

1. Building a community.

Creating an email subscriber list is crucial because you need an audience to send your emails to. However, it's not just about amassing email subscribers and readers; it's about establishing a genuine sense of community.

When you build your list, aim to cultivate a community rather than simply collecting email addresses. The goal is to connect with your audience on a deeper level. There are several ways to achieve this, such as using your subscribers' names in your newsletters to create a personal connection.

For example, let's learn from Cowrywise's strategy featuring "Ope from Cowrywise." According to Michael Oladele, the content marketing manager at Cowrywise, they've effectively cultivated a community around the persona of "Ope from Cowrywise." This approach enables them to establish deeper, more personal connections with their customers, ultimately drawing them closer to the brand with every email they receive from Ope.

2. Invest in the right email marketing tools.

Investing in the right email marketing tools is a crucial aspect of Cowrywise's promotional strategy. They recognize the significance of email marketing as a versatile tool for sending personalized messages to their audience. 

To illustrate, imagine Cowrywise wants to inform its subscribers about a limited-time offer on its website. Without the right email marketing tools, they might simply include a link in their email. However, by investing in advanced email marketing tools, they can do something even more effective. These tools allow them to turn that link into a colorful, attention-grabbing button that says, "Claim Offer Now!" This makes it crystal clear to the reader what action they should take.

As a result, more people are likely to click on this enticing button. This is a big deal in marketing because it will not only boost your email clickthrough rate but it also enhances your ability to engage with your audience on a personal level. 

In this way, Cowrywise shows how investing in the right email marketing tools can make a substantial difference in connecting with their audience effectively.

3. Nurture customer relationships.

Companies should focus on building and maintaining strong connections with their customers. They can do this by creating content that's specifically designed for each customer or each customer segment. 

This content helps guide customers through their entire experience with the company, starting from when they first hear about the company (awareness) all the way to when they become paying customers (conversion), and even after that.

For example, imagine you sign up for a fashion brand's newsletter. At first, they might send you emails introducing their latest collections and fashion tips (awareness). As you continue to engage with their emails and website, they might send you personalized recommendations based on your style preferences (nurturing). 

Eventually, they might offer you special discounts or promotions to encourage you to make a purchase (conversion). After you become a customer, they might continue to send you updates on new arrivals and exclusive offers to keep you engaged and coming back for more (beyond conversion). 

This entire journey is facilitated through email campaigns tailored to your interests and needs.

4. Create content that resonates with your audience.

When you invest in the right email marketing tools, you gain valuable insights about your subscribers. This knowledge helps you better understand the type of content that will appeal to them. An ideal email marketing tool should provide analytics that answer key questions:

• Who are my most engaged readers?
• Where are my readers located (by country)?
• How many people opened the campaigns I sent?
• Which Call to Action (CTA) received the most clicks?

By addressing these questions, you can determine the content preferences of your readers and tailor your email campaigns accordingly. This ensures that you capture their attention effectively.

An email copywriting example, Cowrywise applied this strategy in April 2021. They knew their customers loved a character named Ope, so they decided to create buzz around a new product, "Ope's Diary." 

They sent an email to their users, playfully announcing that "Ope is leaving." This ignited curiosity and led many users to click on the Call to Action (CTA) in the email, directing them to a blog post where Cowrywise revealed it was an April Fool's joke and introduced them to "Ope's Diary." 

This single email resulted in approximately 30,000 clicks within 24 hours, creating a substantial buzz that propelled Cowrywise to the fourth spot on Nigeria's Twitter trending topics. All of this was made possible by understanding their audience and creating content that resonated with them through email marketing.

In conclusion, email marketing has evolved into a powerful tool for modern businesses seeking to connect with their audience in a meaningful way. The success story of Cowrywise's "Ope's Diary" email campaign serves as a testament to the effectiveness of these strategies.

By understanding their audience's love for Ope and crafting content that appealed to this sentiment, Cowrywise achieved remarkable results, with 30,000 clicks in 24 hours and trending on social media.

Read: Email marketing analytics Every marketer needs to know.