How to write a sales email that’s authentic and conversion-oriented (+ examples)

“Build it, and they will come” may work to sell your product to a few people, but to be a successful creator, passivity doesn’t cut it.

Ask any successful creator, and you’ll hear that, at one point or another, they’ve had to master the skill of crafting sales emails. They know that actively selling to the audience they’ve nurtured is the way to go.

But writing and sending sales emails is intimidating—and that’s putting it mildly. If that’s the reason you haven’t used them yet, you’re in the right place.

Want to know how to write a sales email that drives results?

The 5 core sales email elements you need to master

An email that sells has all five of these components and nails each one:

1. A compelling sales email subject line

“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” an old philosophical experiment goes.

If you write a sales email, but no one opens it to see it for themselves, does it make an impact?

The tree does make a sound even if no one is there to hear it, but if no one opens your sales email, it can be written really well or completely empty. Its impact is none either way.

The key to getting your sales emails opened? An irresistible subject line.

Tips to write great subject lines for sales emails

Your sales email subject line needs to be compelling, interesting, and relevant. Here’s how to make that happen:

• Personalize with subscriber’s first name: If it matches the style of your subject line, grab your subscribers’ attention by mentioning their name. “Message from the future Marijana” is one I received—it worked wonders!
• Don’t capitalize every word: Sentence case makes emails feel like they’re coming from a friend or colleague—aka someone we trust. Capitalizing every word screams mass marketing, so make sure to avoid that route.
• Run a subject line A/B test: Brainstorm a bunch of subject line ideas and choose the best two. Use both of them by A/B testing your subject line, meaning you send the same email with different subject lines to different subscribers. Track which one results in more opens, and use this knowledge for next emails and subject line ideas.
• Make your subject line sound like you, not like a gimmick: Write your subject lines in the same style as your emails and other content. If words or phrases like unbelievable, exclusive, and once-in-a-lifetime don’t show up in your usual writing, don’t include them in your subject lines. Same goes for all caps and excessive, unnatural punctuation.

Subject line templates for sales emails

Use these subject line templates to get a head start with your sales emails:

• Here’s the strategy for achieving [subscriber’s goal]
• Question about [subscriber’s goal]
• Do it for you, [name]
• This is you, a year from now

2. A genuine opening line

Got your subscriber to open your email? Your next goal is to make sure they pay attention to what’s inside. That’s what your sales email opening line—i.e. the first sentence at the top of your email—is for.

Avoid these opening line pitfalls

First, let’s talk about what not to do in your sales email opening line. Make sure not to use cheesy, overused, or pushy marketing lines like:

• “Are you currently looking for a solution for…”
• “I have a special offer for you…”
• “You don’t know me, but I’d love to talk to you about…”
• “Can you spare a few moments of your time to talk about…”

These sound like a marketing email from a generic company or a cold email from a random person—not like it’s coming from their favorite creator.

Tips to craft great sales email opening lines

Instead, focus on why this sales email is in their inbox, why they can trust you, and why they should care. Here are a few ways to make that happen:

• Tailor your opening line to different subscriber segments: If your offer is relevant to multiple segments of your email list, customize the sales email opening line to make it hyper-relevant to them. An example would be selling a writing course to both in-house writers and freelance writers and tweaking your email intro to appeal to each group.
• Appeal to what your subscribers care about the most: Mention their goals and/or challenges in your opening line. That’s what differentiates an email worth reading from a generic one.
• Keep it short and clear: Don’t make your subscribers read through a long story just to figure out what your email is about. Use it to connect your subject line to your sales email copy—make your subscribers curious and engaged, not confused.

Opening line templates for sales emails

Your sales email opening line depends on your writing style, but here are a few easy ones to start with:

• “Do you know that feeling right before you [take action], [subscriber name]?”
• “Imagine what it would be like if you [hit your goal].”
• “I have a question for you, [subscriber name]. Have you ever [describe a common struggle]?”

3. Crisp body copy (including your pitch)

Your body copy is the main part—the meat—of your sales email sandwich. It’s where the magic happens. It can be tempting to put all the info you possibly could in your body copy but remember that many people will simply skim over it.

The goal is to directly address your audience’s pain point, share a solution that can help and some essential details, and transition to your call-to-action.

Tips to create an effective body copy and pitch

How can you win (and keep) attention with your sales email? By following these copy tips:

• Show your deep understanding of your audience’s challenge: Briefly tell a story of your own struggle and mention the impact it can have on someone’s life or work.
• Describe what your offer is about: Are you selling a course? A membership? Coaching? An ebook? Be specific and direct about the actual format of your solution.
• Lay out key benefits: Bring everything back to why the person reading your email should care. How will buying your offer benefit them?
• Make it brief and skimmable: Use short paragraphs rather than long walls of text, as well as bullet points and bold subheadings, to get your strongest points across easily.

4. A closing with a clear CTA

The goal of your sales email is to get your audience to take action. This is where a call-to-action (CTA) comes in.

A CTA is a link or a button that encourages the next step and takes your subscribers to it—like a sales page, a checkout page, or a call booking page.

Even if you’re in the stages of building anticipation for your offer rather than selling, you need a way to engage interested subscribers, so your CTA, in that case, could be to reply to that email or register their interest through a dedicated landing page.

Tips to add a strong call-to-action

Maximize your chances to turn a subscriber into a customer with these CTA tips:

• Make your CTA unmissable: When your sales email copy hits the spot for someone, don’t make them hunt for a link they need to click on. Remove other links and emphasize the core CTA by listing it in a separate row or as a CTA button. Choose a call-to-action color that matches your aesthetic and goal.
• Lean on scarcity: If there’s real urgency to your offer, like an expiring discount or a cart that will close, mention this in your CTA. Countdown timers also work well for this.
• Use specific, action-focused words: Instead of ‘Buy now’ or ‘Start here,’ try more specific CTA copy like ‘Get your access to [course name]’ or ‘Sign up for your first [topic] lesson today.’

5. A simple email signature

Wrap up your sales email with a signature that reinforces trust in you and the relevance of what you’re promoting. People often scroll right to the bottom of an email without reading it, so this is another chance to grab their attention and spark action.

Tips to design a user-friendly email signature

Here’s how to sign off your sales emails with intention and style:

• Show your face: If you write to your audience from a first-person perspective, consider adding your photo to your email signature. This fosters a deeper connection with your subscribers.
• Add an extra reminder: Write a line that summarizes and links to the offer you’re promoting. You can start that line with TL;DR (too long; didn’t read) or with a P.S.
• Link to supporting resources: In your email copy, link to just one call-to-action. In your signature, you can add one or two additional links that support your promotion, like a page with testimonials or a free resource that leads to the same offer afterward.

How to create an email signature with Kit

Your sales email signature is easy to build in Kit:

1. Head to Send > Email templates, where you can select a premade template for your sales emails or choose a starting point that you can customize.
2. Scroll down to the bottom of your chosen template to find the signature section, which typically contains an unsubscribe link and the address field.
3. Use the plus sign in the editor to add elements like images, a divider, or social media icons.
4. Write a sign off message with a reminder of your offer and link to it. Use actionable verbs to excite your subscribers and nudge them to that next step. Mention any other relevant resources and link to them.
5. Click ‘Save’ at the top right corner.

3 real-life examples of excellently crafted sales emails

Learning how to write a sales email is much easier with real-life inspiration. Check out these sales email examples from three successful creators and why they work:

Sales email example #1 by course creator and podcaster Khe Hy

Khe Hy is the creator behind RadReads, a blog and newsletter that examines how productivity connects to life’s larger questions.

With this email, Khe promoted the live cohort of his flagship course, Supercharge Your Productivity. He did so by first promoting a free workshop that teaches about weekly review, which is a core concept of his productivity framework. He then wrapped up with a CTA about the course itself.

Why Khe Hy’s sales email works

Instead of going directly for the sale, Khe knows the value of educating and empowering your audience to give them a win first. His course is a four-figure investment, and leading with value is a brilliant approach to a sales email for that type of product.

• Subject line: Hyper-focused on the free workshop, which it emphasizes. Stating its date in the subject line helps with scarcity.
• Opening line: A bold statement that one activity can change one’s entire course of life, which pulls the reader deeper into the email.
• Email copy: A quick overview of the fact that weekly reviews can be tough, but Khe’s framework makes it simple.
• CTA: An obvious ‘click here’ for the signup page, soon followed by the ‘enroll in the course’ CTA.
• Email signature: A simple signoff with an option to unsubscribe from course promo emails, which shows Khe cares—he doesn’t want to force this promotion on those subscribers who aren’t up for it.

Bonus read: check out how Khe maintains a +50% open rate with his 27,000+ subscribers with Kit.

Sales email example #2 by educator Katelyn Bourgoin

Katelyn Bourgoin is the founder and lead trainer at Customer Camp, an educational brand focused on customer research. Under Customer Camp, Katelyn runs Why We Buy, a popular (58,000+ subscribers) newsletter.

With this email, Katelyn promoted a flash sale on two of her products, Clarity Call Cheatsheets and Golden Nugget Review Mining System.

Why Katelyn Bourgoin’s sales email works

This email was a one-time promo email, clearly differentiated from Katelyn’s newsletters with its subject line, email format, and CTA. That approach made this email stand out and prompt quick action.

• Subject line: Explicit statement that this is a sales email, along with a timeframe reference, which added some urgency.
• Opening line: Katelyn shows she understands her audience deeply with ‘I know you’re thinking about…’ and builds instant connection.
• Email copy: Describes and agitates a challenge, then offers a solution in the shape of two products, with a summary and a testimonial for each. Bonus points for a skimmable list of benefits at the end.
• CTA: Clear links to each product multiple times, and again in the signature section.
• Email signature: Katelyn’s smiling face, along with an additional free resource that supports her audience’s goals.

Bonus read: check out how Katelyn grew her email list 5x with sponsorships and referrals with Kit.

Sales email example #3 by coach Hilary Rushford Collyer

Hilary Rushford Collyer is a stylist and a business coach behind the name Dean Street Society.

With this sales email, Hilary was promoting her course, What Makes Women Feel Beautiful, which is only open for purchase during the live launch period.

Why Hilary Rushford Collyer’s sales email works

Hilary’s email goes deep into the issue she’s aiming to solve—the challenging world of beauty, body image, and feeling good in your own skin. She asked tough questions to set the stage for her solution—her decade-long experience researching the issue that she turned into a course.

• Subject line: A common challenge that almost everyone, and especially women, can relate to.
• Opening line: Hilary asks a very direct question that focuses on an intense emotion and experience.
• Email copy: It paints a picture of the current state first, then offers a better way.
• CTA: The signup page is linked three times throughout the email, the last one being the last line before the signature so it’s impossible to miss.
• Email signature: Hilary’s classic handwritten signature, with an added P.S. below with student testimonials.

Best practices to take your sales emails to the next level

Finally, use these email marketing best practices to write great sales emails:

Send the sales email at the right time

There’s no one-size-fits-all recipe when it comes to the day and time you should send your sales email. Our email statistics say creators send the most emails on Tuesdays and the fewest on Sundays.

You can try sending your sales emails on less busy email days, like Monday or Saturday, but you’ll see the best results by experimenting and tracking your results to double down on what’s working best.

Set your sales email follow-up on autopilot

The best thing about timely follow-ups is that you can turn them into an automated email sequence with Kit.

For example, when someone clicks your CTA, a special tag gets added to them—but if they purchase after, they get a different tag that signifies they’re a customer. For your follow-up, you can automatically only email those that have clicked on your product link but haven’t purchased.

Kit’s visual automations make this easy to build, so you can keep selling on autopilot based on your initial sales email.

Adjust the sales email length to suit your audience

Should your sales email be short? Medium? Super long?

This is another thing that entirely depends on your audience and what they need at that moment. Are they busy but already know you well? A shorter email may suffice. Are they overwhelmed and lost for potential solutions? A longer approach might work better.

Check out some email design templates that suit both longer and shorter emails to find a few solid options and experiment with them to know which length hits the spot with your audience.

Measure the effectiveness of your sales pitch emails

How can you be sure your sales emails are doing what they should? By tracking some core email marketing metrics that will show you what’s working and what you need to improve:

• Open rate: See the effectiveness of your sales email subject line and spot opportunities to improve it.
• Click-through rate (CTR): Track the clicks your links get based on their copy and positioning.
• Click-to-open rate (CTOR): Similar to CTR, but takes the number of opens into account. Tweak copy, length, and position of your CTAs to see how this changes.
• Conversion rate: See how many subscribers invest in your product based on your sales email. Testimonials and clear benefits drive conversion rates up.
• Revenue per email: Great for comparing the impact of different sales emails, products, and campaigns so you can lean into what worked best.

Nail your next sales email as a creator

Selling your product doesn’t have to feel weird or pushy. These examples and tips show you how to write a sales email that is authentic, creates mountains of value for your subscribers, and turns them into loyal customers and your raving fans.

And once you pair your sales emails with a powerful tool like Kit, you’ll be unstoppable. Grab your free trial today.