How to Write a Sales Email

You've got an email list. You've got an awesome offer. But how do you write emails that actually get subscribers to take action and convert into customers today? 

In this post, I'm sharing a simple email copywriting formula you can use any time you need to write a sales email. This is one of my favorite email formulas that you can use whenever you're making an offer to your list. 

This copywriting formula is kind of like a recipe. It has three main parts and you can adapt it to work for whatever it is that you're offering — whether it's a service, a digital product, your course, etc. This formula can work for you.

Easy Email Copywriting Formula: PAS

The formula is called PAS. That stands for Problem Agitation Solution. Let's go on each one of those parts to see how it works in action. 

Part 1: Problem

You want to start your email by calling out the problem that your audience is experiencing. What is the main problem your offer is solving? How is that problem showing up for them in their life? What is the pain point that they're experiencing before they come to you or work with you that would prompt them to search out a solution? 

Part 2: Agitation

After you identify the problem, it's time to agitate the problem. Because it's not enough to just name the problem. You really want to make them feel this problem. So how is this problem specifically causing them pain or frustration? How is it showing up in their life? What is it costing them? Is it costing them time? Is it costing them money? Energy? Stress? How is this problem making their life worse? 

And this is where you really dig any kind of twist the knife. So if you think of this problem or this pain that they're experiencing is like an open wound. You want to kind of poke at it and prod at it and make them feel that pain. 

So many of us have problems like this that are super easy to ignore. We don't think about it. We don't want to feel it. We've just put a band-aid on it and think I'll deal with that later. You want to make them feel that pain really strongly right now, as they're reading the email. You need to make them feel this pain strongly enough, that they decide now is the time to take action and do something to fix this. If they feel like it's not a big enough problem, they'll just ignore it. 

Sometimes it can be really hard to write this type of copy. Because when you're digging into that pain, you might be like, “Oh, this is just going to make someone feel really bad.” But don't worry. You're not going to leave them in pain. The next step is to give them the pain reliever, AKA your solution. 

Part 3: Solution

The final step of this email formula is to introduce the solution. How can you solve this problem? How can you make this pain disappear? How could you help them get past this pain and this problem and get onto something even bigger and better in their life? 

This is when you introduce your offer as the solution. This is where you can talk about the benefits of your offer and how it will help alleviate the pain that they're feeling. You can paint a picture of what their life will look like after they get the solution. This will help them see that they can get over this problem, get through this pain, and see that there is a better solution waiting for them. 

The final step is to end your email with a call to action that invites them to take the next step. That could be booking a call, visiting your sales page, buying right now — whatever the next step is for them. 

And that's the basics of the PAS framework. Now that you know how to write a sales email, check out this post to learn how to write a great subject line to go with it!