7 Questions I Ask Myself Before Writing an Email Sequence as a Conversion Copywriter and Sales Funnel Strategist

Let’s say you’re writing a welcome sequence, an evergreen webinar funnel, an abandoned cart sequence or an onboarding sequence (just to pull a few random examples out of thin air)...

Like any writing task tackled by a human, not a robot, half (if not more) of your success is based on what you do before you start. 

Like Abraham Lincoln sharpening his axe before cutting down a tree…

Spending time asking yourself and answering the following questions will help you get the best possible results when the time comes for you to chop down your tree  crack open ConvertKit and get your emails written. 

As a conversion copywriter and sales funnel strategist, Immersive Copy Research is always Step 1 in my process.

So by the time I sit down to ask myself these questions, I’m already deeply familiar with my readers, their problems, and their burning desires. 

Still, I like to review this list for every email in a sequence because each email you send has the potential to shift your reader’s awareness of you and what you offer.

Answering these 7 questions doesn’t require you write anything down.

Your awareness of your reader’s thought process & state of mind is the #1 thing we’re cultivating here. 

Ready to dive in? 

Here we go:

1. Who is this email for? 

In my mind, this question covers 2 things you need to know: 

→ What the person in question knows about you/your business to date

For example, are you writing to:

• A subscriber - someone who knows you well?

• A customer - someone who’s paid you money to deliver a certain outcome? Or

• A lead - someone who clicked a link or signed up for a waitlist?

AND

Based on what you know about whichever segment of your audience the recipients belong to:

→ What does this person think / feel / want / need in relation to your offer at the present time?

^^ This is a question I ask myself before I sit down to write ANYTHING at all. You want to answer these questions as if you’re writing to your Solid Gold Client AKA the one person who is most willing and able to achieve picture perfect results if they take you up on your offer. 

2. Where is this person coming from?

Similar to the previous question, this one ensures you’re taking into account the context in which your message is going to be received.

For example, has your recipient just:

• Had their first cup of coffee and opened a very full inbox? (Likely scenario for your newsletter subscribers)

• Signed up for your webinar?

• Downloaded a freebie?

• Signed up for your waitlist?

• Joined your high-ticket program? (And now they’re feeling a queasy mix of elated, excited and scared they’re going to lose everything and have to move back in with their mom?)

Regardless of the answer, your aim here is to put yourself  in the headspace of your reader so that you can adjust your hook and tone accordingly and meet them where they are in the opening paragraph of your email. 

3. What's the last message they received from me?

In the same way you want to use message matching to reduce friction / cognitive dissonance in your sales funnels, you always want to consider the last message someone received from you before you draft your next one.

Message Matching - Definition: Using the exact same words on the next page as you did on the previous page so that your reader doesn’t experience any friction as a result of surprise, confusion or doubt as to the credibility of your offer. E.g. The freebie you’re advertising in your ad copy should have the exact same name and promise as the freebie you’re promoting on your landing page and the one that lands in your new subscriber’s inbox. 

This is important to help you create a clear and enjoyable user experience and to avoid compromising your brand integrity by, e.g. failing to fulfill promises or creating disjointed messaging where you’ve said one thing in one place and something totally different in another.

>> Whenever I sit down to write my weekly broadcast, I start by re-reading the previous one.

>> Whenever I sit down to write a funnel, I make sure I have a clear understanding of what that audience segment will have seen from me beforehand.

>> Whenver I’m writing an onboarding/delivery sequence, I make EXTRA sure that my From: name is the name they’ve seen from me in the past, that the product is named consistently everywhere, and that the design elements also feel familiar so that people don’t feel like they’ve fallen down the wrong rabbit hole after they clicked on “Pay Now”.

You may also want to consider what your reader has seen from you before more broadly:

For example, I recently began drafting a Case Study funnel for warm Done-for-You Copy Project Leads. This funnel will offer a PDF Case Study as a lead magnet and then subscribers will be entered into a short sequence in which they’ll be invited to book a call with me to discuss a done-for-you copy project.

If the person who downloads this PDF was previously on my email list, I can exclude them from receiving a couple of the emails that new subscribers will receive, that focus on introducing me and what I do. 

Likewise, if you’re systematizing referral requests towards the middle or end of your program, you might want to filter subscribers by the feedback score they provided the last time you checked in. 

4. What are they likely thinking as they're reading this message?

For example, when you write a Black Friday sales email, your reader is likely thinking: What’s the deal?

When you write Email #7 out of 10 in an evergreen funnel, your reader is likely on the fence, wondering whether your offer is really right for them.

The answer to this question is informed by the answers to Questions 1-3 above.

Because just like IRL, the mood that we’re in for any given conversation is based upon:

• Who we are as individuals

• What we were previously thinking/feeling/needing/wanting before the other person started talking

• Whatever we were doing/seeing/engaging with immediately prior to the conversation starting, and

• Our last contact with / relationship to our conversational counterpart

By being aware of the previous factors and by using our own inherent writing superpower - empathy! - we can do our best to understand what’s going on in our reader’s head.

Not only will this help you understand what your message needs to say, it will also help you decide which proven copy framework is best suited to what you have to say.

E.g. If your reader is likely frustrated by the banks’ decision to keep interest rates so high, you might want to lead with their problem, and follow P-A-S.

On the other hand, if you’re writing a Cold Subscriber Re-engagement sequence, for example, you might want to lead with an especially interesting, curiosity-creating fact, and follow A-I-D-A.

5. What resistance might they feel around what I'm asking them to do?

Whereas the previous questions addressed things I want to know about my reader before I sit down to write…

This question helps me determine how much of an argument I need to make for the action I’m asking them to take (AKA my CTA and yes—every email should have one).

The answer to this question will likely be based on:

• How big an ask am I making?
  A link click to aid in segmentation is a much easier sell than a webinar, which is in turn an easier sell than a 4-figure DIY course.

• How many other emails have they received / will they receive with the same ask?
  If your reader is within an evergreen funnel, you don’t have to cover every possible argument in each email.

• What are the unknowns?
  Beyond just their experience with you, what other experiences might be colouring how they perceive the step you’re asking them to take?
  For example, you might think “Click to book a free discover call” is an easy sell—you’re offering them free coaching, so what’s not to like?

  But if your reader has been burned by high-pressure sales situations before, they’re unlikely to see that as a particularly appealing offer unless you can assure them in your invitation that they’ll take something away from the call whether or not they buy and that you’ll respect their decision either way.

6. What's the #1 thing I want them to take away from this message?

Answer this question.

And then make this your P.S.

Too often, business owners treat the P.S. like the TL;DR of the body of their email.

The problem with this is:

You risk training your readers to skip to the end of your emails, since they know they’ll get the gist of it there regardless.

If your reader didn’t need to read the whole email, why’d you write it?

Can you go back and make it more relevant or more concise? 

Instead of summarizing your whole email, use your PS to restate the #1 most important point you make and your CTA. 

This way, people who skip to the end will still get the point, and people who do read your whole message will benefit from the repetition of your POV, expressed in a different way.

7. What hook will get this email opened?

(Plus a Bonus Q: What preview text will make it a Must Read?)

Finally, once you’ve gotten into your readers’ head, crafted the body of your email based on a proven copywriting framework and included a clear Call to Action, plus added a P.S. restating your #1 takeaway…

It’s time to write your subject line and accompanying Preview text.

Think of your subject line as the headline to your email (and consider using headline generator tools to give you a few ideas):

“Research shows around 41 characters is the optimal length for a subject line” [Campaign Monitor]

Customizing the preview text that appears under your subject line is a major opportunity even advanced marketers miss when it comes to giving your emails a better chance of being opened. 

Strong preview text can either provide additional context for your email or create an open loop that can only be closed by seeing what’s inside. 

You can use an email rendering tool to test what your email will look like in a variety of different inboxes, though I typically just send a preview version to myself and check it on my phone. 

So you answered those 7 questions—Now what?

As I mentioned above, Step 1 in my process is always Immersion, Step 2 is Creation, and Step 3 is Refinement:

Once you’ve drafted your email sequence, your best next step is to publish that baby and let it do its thing.

Refinement - the step where you look at the data and work out potential tweaks you could make to improve it - is best practiced after 3 months or at least 100 people have been through the entire funnel.

Interested in getting expert eyes on your funnel copy to help you understand what’s working, what’s not, and what you can change to make that baby convert?

That’s exactly what you get when you book a Funnel Glow Up.

Get the full details of this hands on deep dive into your existing email funnel right here.