You know what not to do.

Last post, we went through the big mistakes email marketers make when they craft fresh emails for their audience

But what about what you should do?

How do you craft emails that generate interest from your list, doing more than simply filling in their inbox? How do you create genuine excitement about what it is that you offer?

If you’ve taken steps to reduce your email marketing mistakes, then it’s time to take the next step—or five—that will turn around the way your newsletter list works for you.

Rather than capture these potential leads an simply talk at them, you can learn how to engage them and make them feel like your service is as valuable as you know it is.

Here’s how:

Step One: Don’t Finish Your Subject Line Until It’s Clever or Intriguing

Take a look at the topic of this article. It’s not “Optimize Your Emails.” It’s not even “Steps to Optimize Your Emails.”

No, the subject line takes the time the time and effort to build up its promises. It not only shares the fact that there will be specific steps, but it promises they’ll be simple and easy to digest.

You’ll want to do the same with your own subject lines. Or you might go another route to add intrigue:

• Add some humor, or something that “shocks” the reader into clicking. Don’t take this too far but do try to interrupt their day just a little bit.
• Build mystery. What about your subject line tells a story, and why would someone want to click forward to hear more of that story?
• Personalization. Talk about them. What might they want to hear that the rest of the messages in their inbox is failing to do?
• Urgency. Why does your email have to be read right now? Remember to show, don’t tell. What’s urgent about your business, and what advantages are there if a reader clicks forward?

Step Two: Keep the Body of the Email Simple

Last week, I talked about not giving anybody homework.

Don’t interrupt someone’s inbox and ask them to read thick, long paragraphs about complex subjects.

Reading your emails is not their job. It’s their own pleasure to do. It’s something they do in their free time as they consider whether or not to engage your services.

That means you have to keep the body simple and appealing to read.

Remember: you’re competing with the distractions of the internet. That means you have to do more than simply write at them.

You have to hook them. Use short sentences. Short paragraphs. Pull them in with your language, and don’t push them out with too much work.

The same is true of your HTML images. Overloading your email with this HTML can push the message out of the way.

Instead, keep the emails simple and direct. Your email recipients are regular people and they’re not interested in in-depth studies or a lot of industry jargon.

They’re interested instead about what you can do for them—about what they get out of the deal. Just as any human being would be.

The trick here?

You need to make sure that your simple messages don’t sound robotic or overly “computer-generated.”

You can use automated software to insert their personal name, which gives each email a sense that it was address to them all along.

Do this, and you’re sure to keep your customers’ attention all the way until the call to action at the bottom.

It’s that simple.

Step #3: Provide Value

It can be tricky. What is “value” in the context of an email?

After all, you’re not sending them coupons. You’re not sending them product promotions.

Instead, think of value as doing a miniature favor for them.

For example, one email might calculate the estimated cost of the average person’s risk when they don’t have a great mortgage.

This is just one example, but the little act of doing some calculating beforehand is an example of value. You’ve taken a thought that they otherwise would have had to find themselves and provided it for them.

Providing value can simply mean that you do a little bit of work in the email—taking the time to find even a little gem of insight.

This isn’t the only thing you can do for them. You can also use resources like Canva to create interesting visual elements—including infographics that explain the need for your services.

You don’t need to re-invent the wheel every time you send out a new email, however.

Try to keep each email to just one little gem of insight or value. You’re not selling them a book here—you’re just trying to create enough intrigue that they’ll click on your call to action.

After all, if you’ve already provided them with value in one email, imagine how much they’ll get if they decide to work with you.

That’s the idea here: show them how dedicated you are by taking the time to put genuine insight into your emails.

Step #4: Create a Call-To-Action that Links to Your Landing Page

Once you’ve created a simple, intriguing email that leads to a call-to-action (CTA), it’s then time to think about what you want to do with the potential traffic you’ll capture.

The email newsletter, after all, is simply another link in the chain—a way to get people into your funnel through intrigue and interest.

What does this entail exactly?

It can be as simple as ending your email and then noting that if they want more answers, they can click through your CTA.

This is especially true if you’ve done a good job with the content itself.

The little “story” you tell with each email should have a resolution that brings you back to the central theme of what you can provide for them.

The impression you want to give is that this email has been just a little taste of the value they can realize when they click on your CTA.

What’s important is that you link your CTA to the landing page. You want a sense of consistency here.

There should be an over-arching message about your services and what they can bring to your potential leads. You don’t have to do a hard sell—but you do need a consistent message.

Step #5: Automate the Entire Process

Be honest: this sounds like a lot of work, right?

It can be—if you do it all manually.

But the beauty of today’s Internet is that you don’t have to do everything manually. You don’t have to enter in personalized messages. You don’t have to type out every single piece of your email as long as some of it is automated.

All you need is a process in place.

That process can come via a service like leadPops. That’s why I recommend giving us a shot—even if it’s just the free trial offer—as a way to “dip your toes” into the mortgage marketing water.

This is a great start to an enhanced way of communicating with your potential leads. And it’s certainly a great first step toward building a sales funnel that automatically draws in leads, even while you’re on your lunch break.

That’s the beauty of automation—and the beauty of fully-optimized emails.