Last updated on Jun 12, 2024

How do you balance emotions and logic in email copywriting?

Email copywriting is a delicate art that requires balancing emotions and logic to persuade your readers to take action. You want to appeal to their pain points, desires, and fears, but also to their rationality, credibility, and trust. How do you achieve this balance without sounding too pushy, boring, or manipulative? Here are some tips to help you write email copy that engages both the heart and the mind of your audience.

1 Use the PAS formula

One of the most effective frameworks for email copywriting is the PAS formula, which stands for Problem, Agitate, Solution. You start by identifying the problem that your reader is facing, then you agitate it by highlighting the consequences, risks, or frustrations of not solving it, and finally you offer your solution as the best way to overcome it. This formula works because it taps into both the emotional and logical aspects of your reader's decision-making process. You show empathy for their situation, create urgency and curiosity, and present a clear and compelling value proposition.

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Iva Popova

Social Media Marketing Expert in Medical Events 🦕 PCMA 20 in Their Twenties' Class of 2025
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The PAS formula is a powerful framework that effectively balances emotions and logic in email copywriting. It effectively balances emotions and logic in email copywriting by addressing the reader's emotional concerns, creating a sense of urgency and importance, and presenting a logical solution to their problem. The PAS framework guides the reader through a journey of recognition, agitation, and resolution, ultimately leading to a more persuasive and compelling message - it's by far my most used and best-working hack to B2C and B2B copywriting.

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Jast Aubin

Connecting devs and publishers with QA Wizards
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Identifying a problematic needs to factor in a few things: - Understanding your niche's habits and general thought process tendencies - Being up to date with the current market vacuums, opportunities and competition To agitate, to me, is about highlight the urgency and need to seek outside help for a solution. It can be positive or negative. Speak honestly about what you've observed as lacking for your niche, and give them a means to resolve this. If you're well aligned with your solution, and if you've thought your offer out thoroughly, then it should be naturally apparent. That's not to say this is the "be all end all" formula, there are obvious scenarios in which this doesn't apply (luxury items, for example).

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2 Add stories and testimonials

Another way to balance emotions and logic in email copywriting is to use stories and testimonials to illustrate your points. Stories are powerful tools to capture attention, build rapport, and evoke emotions. They can help you demonstrate how your solution works in real-life scenarios, how it benefits your customers, and how it differentiates you from your competitors. Testimonials are also effective ways to boost your credibility, authority, and social proof. They can help you overcome objections, answer questions, and reassure your readers that your solution is reliable, trustworthy, and worth investing in.

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Jast Aubin

Connecting devs and publishers with QA Wizards
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Stories and case studies are great ways to show the proof behind your claims. If you're providing something of quality to the world, you'll inevitably gain ambassadors who will help you drive conversions and engage with interested parties on social media. They shouldn't be too lengthy, unless the story is extraordinary. In today's short attention span world, you want to provide a quick way for people to read the information they want before going forward with their purchase.

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3 Use emotional triggers and power words

Emotional triggers are words or phrases that elicit a specific emotional response in your readers, such as curiosity, fear, anger, joy, or surprise. Power words are words that convey a strong meaning, impact, or action, such as amazing, guaranteed, proven, or urgent. Using emotional triggers and power words in your email copywriting can help you increase your open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. They can help you grab attention, create interest, and motivate action. However, be careful not to overuse them or use them inappropriately, as they can also backfire and damage your reputation, trust, or deliverability.

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4 Use logic and data to support your claims

While emotions are important to influence your readers, they are not enough to persuade them. You also need to use logic and data to support your claims and prove your value. Logic and data can help you appeal to your reader's rational side, justify their emotional decisions, and overcome their skepticism or resistance. You can use logic and data in your email copywriting by providing facts, figures, statistics, studies, case studies, or examples that back up your statements, arguments, or benefits. You can also use them to compare your solution with other alternatives, highlight your unique selling proposition, or address common objections or concerns.

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Jast Aubin

Connecting devs and publishers with QA Wizards
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Writing only emotional text will only get you so far as not everyone is an "emotional buyer". Make sure to back up your claims with interesting KPIs you know your audience will like. Say I'm a fan of bushcraft. There are certain factors I'm looking into to prove that what I'm looking to purchase is durable, light, ergonomical, and a ton of other factors in order to move forward with my purchase. Including this type of information is crucial in order to have a well rounded out copy that speaks to as many profiles as possible.

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Sutrisno Sahala Parasian Panjaitan

Data Driven Social Media Marketing Specialist | Empowering Brands through Strategic Insights
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Technicaly, i always come up with the suitable present according to our brand identity and audience persona. After that we can just go on with the copy character that we have set to the audience.

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5 Segment and personalize your emails

Finally, one of the best ways to balance emotions and logic in email copywriting is to segment and personalize your emails according to your audience's characteristics, preferences, and behaviors. Segmenting and personalizing your emails can help you tailor your message, tone, and offer to your reader's specific needs, wants, and goals. You can segment and personalize your emails based on various criteria, such as demographics, location, interests, purchase history, engagement level, or stage in the customer journey. By doing so, you can increase your relevance, resonance, and rapport with your readers, and ultimately boost your conversions and loyalty.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How do you balance emotions and logic in email copywriting?

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1 Use the PAS formula

2 Add stories and testimonials

3 Use emotional triggers and power words

4 Use logic and data to support your claims

5 Segment and personalize your emails

6 Here’s what else to consider

Digital Copywriting

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