Why Email Copywriting Matters for Startups

Attention is easy. Relevance is hard. Our email metrics are teaching us this lesson right now. We're seeing close to 50% open rates on our cold email sequences. This is across multiple campaigns. People are opening multiple times. Scrolling through. Coming back to it. But our response rate is sitting at 1-2%. At first glance, that open rate feels like a win. It's not. High opens with low responses just means you got their attention—but you didn't earn their time. The gap between interest and action is specificity. People are curious enough to open. They might even be intrigued enough to read it twice. But if your message is vague about what you actually do, or how it solves their specific problem, they're not going to respond. Curiosity isn't enough to get someone to take a meeting. We're in the business of helping companies build and expand products through augmented engineering teams. But "we help you build your product" is too generic. What they actually need to know is: What roles are you helping us fill? How fast can we scale? What's the quality bar? Can we test this before committing? The specificity matters. Not just in copy, but in understanding what problem they're trying to solve right now. Are they expanding a team? Replacing someone who left? Building a new function? If we don't know that, our message, no matter how well-written, lands flat. So we're doubling down on personalization based on actual signals. Understanding what roles they're hiring for. Matching our capabilities to their needs. Leading with social proof that's relevant to their situation. And making it dead simple to try our service with zero commitment. The lesson: getting someone to open your email is easy. Getting them to care enough to respond requires you to actually understand what they need, and proof you can deliver it. Attention is cheap. Relevance is what converts.

Selling Isn’t Hard. You’re Just Overthinking It. 2.5 years ago, I watched a friend’s startup flop. He had a great product, solid pricing, even ads running on every platform. But here’s the thing—his website? It was absolutely boring… His copy sounded like it was written by a robot. It was all “We’re the leading solution for…” and “Our product offers unparalleled features…” You know what happened? People scrolled right past. No one cared. So, I stepped in. I rewrote his copy to actually speak to people. Instead of “leading solution,” I wrote, “Imagine never stressing over this again.” Instead of listing features, I told a story about how his product solved a real problem for someone like them. And guess what? His sales shot up. Same product, same ads—different words. That’s the power of copywriting. Are You Using Words the Right Way? Do they hit an emotional nerve? Do they make people want to act? If not, here’s how you fix it. ✅ Use words that nudge, not shove. ✅ Speak with people, not at them. ✅ Share stories that make them think, “That’s me!” Let’s break it down. 1️⃣ Words That Trigger Action A client of mine was selling online workshops. Her emails? Crickets. She kept saying things like, “Register today” or “Sign up now.” Meh. So, we added this: “Spots are filling fast—grab yours before it’s gone.” Suddenly, people started clicking. Why? FOMO. Fear of Missing Out. “Buy Now” isn’t just a phrase. It’s a gentle nudge that taps into urgency and scarcity. 2️⃣ Speak Like You’re in Their Head Ever read something and thought, “That’s exactly how I feel”? That’s the goal. One time, I worked with a fitness coach whose copy was all “We’ll help you reach your fitness goals.” Blah. Everyone says that. I changed it to: “Tired of feeling stuck every Monday? Let’s fix that—for good.” It worked because it felt personal, like a friend who gets it. That’s the secret. 3️⃣ Facts Don’t Sell. Stories Do. One of my favorite campaigns was for a skincare brand. Instead of shouting, “We have 5-star reviews!” we shared a customer story: “Emma had tried everything for her acne. Nothing worked—until she found this. Three weeks later, her confidence came back. She even stopped wearing foundation.” That’s what made people buy. Stories make products relatable. Stats don’t. 4️⃣ Scarcity Without the Sleaze Remember when concert tickets would sell out in minutes? That’s scarcity at work. For a small e-commerce brand, I wrote: “Only 5 left in stock. We don’t restock often.” Sales spiked. Why? Because people don’t want to miss out. But here’s the trick: Be honest. Fake scarcity smells like desperation. Whether it’s benefits, features, or steps—stick to three. Anything else is overkill. So, if your copy isn’t selling, maybe it’s not the product. Maybe your words just aren’t doing their job. Fix that, and you’ll see the magic. P.S. Need a hand? I’m right here. DM me if you need help with content writing or copywriting. #copywriting #marketing

Your company does not have a business problem. It has an email problem: I send over 100,000 emails a year. Not newsletters. Real emails. To clients. To partners. To investors. To journalists. To people I want to convince, meet, hire, sell to, or build  something meaningful with. Here is what I’ve learned: Startups rarely fail because of bad ideas. They fail because nobody answers their emails! Entrepreneurship is not a battle of strategy. It is a battle for replies. Your first pitch is not your deck. It is your subject line. If your email isn’t opened, your company doesn’t exist! First, you need a strong hook. Not fake clickbait. Curiosity with credibility. Of course, boldness has limits. Imagine this subject line: "I saw your name in the Epstein files." The open rate would be spectacular! It is also a perfect example of the wrong lesson. The objective is not shock value  but memorability grounded in integrity. A subject line must  interrupt routine thinking without breaking trust. But here is the real mistake: Most founders stop too early. One email sent is almost never enough! My business partner Luka follows up four to five times. Always polite. Always human. And suddenly… People reply! Nothing changed  about the opportunity. Only visibility changed. Busy people are not ignoring you. They are just overwhelmed. A kind reminder is not pressure. It is leadership. And please: Never end an email with: “Let me know your thoughts.” That sentence kills momentum. I create movement instead: I propose two meeting slots. I ask a clear question. I make the next step obvious. After sending 100,000 emails a year, here is what actually works: 1) Write emails people actually want to open.  2) Obsess over the subject line and the hook.  3) Follow up as many times as needed.  4) End emails with decisions that are easy to take. Because companies  are not built only through  great ideas and funding. They are built  through conversations. And every entrepreneurial  journey starts the same way: Someone opens. Someone reads. Someone replies. P.S. My favourite subject lines create tension. And inside the email, I immediately make  the tension drop. My best hooks: “Are you serious?" “I know what you did." “I’ve got some bad news for you.” Hook first. Reassure fast! → That’s my game. Now, over to you:  What’s the best subject line  you’ve ever sent… or received?

One email sequence generated 847 qualified leads. My client couldn't believe the transformation either. The cybersecurity startup had been struggling with lead generation for months. Their previous email campaigns had barely broken a 2% open rate despite having a solid product and a clear market need. I spent a week studying their audience. Tech founders who were tired of generic security pitches that focused on features instead of real business impact. Instead of writing about encryption protocols and compliance frameworks, I wrote about something different. The moment when a founder realizes their customer data might be compromised. The first email got a 34% open rate because it addressed the emotional reality of security breaches. Not just the technical solutions. By the third email, demo requests started flooding in. The content had built genuine trust and understanding. The client called me after seeing the numbers. "This is exactly what we needed, but I didn't know how to ask for it." That project taught me something important: → Good copy doesn't just convert metrics → It connects human experiences to business solutions → Features tell, but emotions sell → Understanding beats explaining every time Your audience doesn't need another product explanation. They need someone who understands their real problems. P.S. Need email sequences that actually convert? DM me or drop a comment about your biggest email challenge.

You wrote the cold email copy. You picked the perfect CTA. You hit “send”… and got silence. 🧊 Open rates cold. Clicks even colder. Here’s what I’ve learned: Polished = Ignored. Conversational = Clicked. Too many marketers write emails like they’re submitting a press release to the queen. “We are pleased to announce the availability of our new solution…” Who talks like that? Try this instead: “Hey—quick update. We launched something new that might save you 30 minutes a day. Want to check it out?” Which one would you read? ⸻ Raw works because: • It feels personal, not promotional. • It respects the reader’s time, not your brand guidelines. • It sounds like a human, not a committee. ⸻ 💡 Next time you write an email, ask yourself: • Would I say this out loud to a customer? • Would this message make me click if I saw it in my inbox? • Does this feel like something a friend could’ve sent? If not—strip it down. Stop sounding like a corporation. Start sounding like someone who cares. I’ve attached an example of an email that got me reading. As you can see, it’s not pretty, but it’s ‘raw’. #EmailMarketing #Copywriting #StartupTips HonestAI - Building AI Powered Apps & Agentifying Companies GrayCyan AI Consultants & Developers

Newsflash: good email copywriting isn't supposed to sell products. After working with 120+ DTC brands, I've realized it's actually meant to: Create intrigue, curiosity, and bait customers to click through to the product page. Don't try to sell products with email copy. It won't work. Think of your email copy as "passing the baton" to the landing or product page. On those pages? The actual selling happens. The whole point of email copy is just to get customers to those pages. A good metric to therefore measure copywriting effectiveness isn’t click-through rate (CTR). It’s 'total clicks'. If you're measuring by CTR, you're being deceived because this can be gamed. Using a tighter and more engaged segment will show higher CTRs. BUT, this doesn't translate to higher revenue generated. If you use a broader segment, you get more eyeballs on your email. More impressions means lower CTR but higher traffic to your website due to more total clicks. And the more traffic you can drive from email to a website, the more revenue you will make. It's simple math: Would you rather have: -10% of 1,000 people clicking (100 visitors) - 3% of 10,000 people clicking (300 visitors) Obviously 3% of 10K because that’s more people on your product page despite the lower CTR. Which means more conversions, sales, growth, and revenue generated.

Most startup messaging fails because it talks like a brochure, not like a human You think you're selling benefits. But you're still listing features. A founder once told me: “We offer complete workflow automation.” Sounds impressive. But customers don’t buy automation. They buy time back. Fewer mistakes. Peace of mind. So I shared a simple 3-line clarity test we use at The Marketing Tribe: 1. You know how [your customer] struggles with [pain]? 2. We help them [solve it], without [common blocker]. 3. So they can finally [real-world win they care about]. We rewrote their pitch from: We offer complete workflow automation. To: We help growing teams save 10+ hours a week by automating projects without switching platforms. So they can finally focus on growth, not admin. 3 weeks later? Homepage lead-to-call rate jumped from 2.1% → 5.6%. Features inform.Benefits persuade. If your messaging isn’t landing, Flip the script From what it does to why it matters. ♻️ Repost for wider reach

Email copywriting is killing your conversions (and you don't even know it) 📧 Ever stare at a blank screen wondering what to write in your next email campaign? You're not alone. The gap between a good email and a GREAT one isn't just about clever subject lines. It's about understanding the fundamental differences between business types and what your subscribers actually want. Here's the truth: Most businesses are sending the WRONG types of emails at the WRONG times. And it's costing them thousands in lost revenue. But here's the thing... Different business models require completely different email approaches. The eCommerce brand that copies a thought leader's email style is setting themselves up for failure. The SaaS company trying to write like an eCommerce brand is missing massive opportunities. So what's the fix? First, identify your business type: ✅ eCommerce: Focus on welcome emails, strategic sales emails, abandoned cart recovery, and post-purchase relationship building. Visual-heavy with product showcases. ✅ SaaS: Prioritize onboarding sequences that build habits, customer retention emails that demonstrate ongoing value, and strategic upgrade emails with clear benefits. ✅ Thought Leader: Create welcome sequences that build authority without bragging, deliver promised value, and maintain consistent weekly/daily emails that strengthen relationships. The real problem isn't writer's block – it's strategic confusion. Your emails shouldn't be trying to close the sale. They should be bridges that take people to the next step. Remember: Email is for warm traffic. These people already know who you are. Write like you're talking to friends, not strangers. And don't forget the power of urgency. When do most people buy during an email promotion? Not on day one. Not in the middle. But on the FINAL day. Every. Single. Time. It’s human psychology: urgency drives action. So stop overthinking your emails and start strategizing them instead. Your challenge: Look at your last 5 email campaigns. Do they match what your specific business type actually needs? Or are you copying someone else's playbook? Fix your foundation first. Then watch your conversions soar.