You can regularly convert email subscribers into paying customers if you structure your emails the right way with an effective email marketing sales funnel. It’s known as a funnel because your audience enter into it at the top when they give you their email address and then you guide them through a series of messages, getting more targeted offers along the way.

But each of those messages has to be structured in the right way to ensure that your email gets opened, get read and the desired action is taken.

1. Subject Line

The subject line is the most crucial part of your email, simply because without a good one your email won’t get opened. Think of it as the headline in a newspaper or on a blog. People will scan the headlines to determine if a certain article is worth reading. Get them interested and use keywords relevant to your niche or industry. Research has shown that using 20 characters or less gives you a much higher probability of your email getting opened.

2. Personalization

Research has shown that using a person’s name in the subject line makes it 50% more likely to get opened. In most email marketing platforms, it will

allow you to use personalization. This helps to make your email more personal to the recipient instead of like a mass email. But don’t overuse it! If you use somebody’s name too much it can begin to sound a little bit weird.

3. Your Message

The first paragraph in your email should get your reader engaged and entice them into reading more. People only spend about 15 to 20 seconds scanning any email they have actually opened, so the content you put at the beginning is key to getting them to read on. Also, many email clients show the first sentence of an email as a “teaser” copy after the subject line, so those scanning through their email box can decide what to keep, trash, or read later on.

4. Call To Action

Tell your reader what to do, and make it as easy as possible for them to do it. It might be to click a link to learn more, complete a survey, buy now and so forth. The email should be sufficient to make it perfectly logical for them to take the action you suggest.

Studies have found that a postscript (P.S.) at the end of an email is frequently one of the most read parts of the entire email, so make it matter. Sum up your offer and include the call to action, and your personalized and well-constructed emails should get you the results you desire.