# Writing emails for a small business's customers

Read this before drafting any email. The goal is an email the owner would be
happy to have written themselves, that a customer reads in twenty seconds and
acts on.

## The voice

- **The owner, writing to one person.** First person ("I", "we"), signed by
  a real person. Not "Dear Valued Customer", not a brand talking to a crowd.
- **Their words, not marketing words.** Reuse how the owner talks about their
  work. If they say "hot water unit", don't write "water heating solution".
  If the account has a brand voice on file, follow it.
- **Australian or New Zealand English.** Organise, colour, centre, licence
  (noun), program. Mobile, not cell. Postcode, not zip. Autumn, not fall.
  Dates as 4 October or 4/10. Money in AUD or NZD with the dollar sign.
- **Southern hemisphere calendar.** December is summer and the Christmas
  shutdown; storm season in Queensland and New South Wales runs roughly
  November to March; winter is June to August. EOFY is 30 June in Australia,
  31 March in New Zealand. School terms and public holidays differ by state
  and region. Check before sending.
- **Plain, warm, direct.** "G'day" or "Kia ora" only if the owner talks that
  way. No hype, no exclamation runs, no ALL CAPS, no emoji, no em-dashes
  (Awesomate's checks refuse an em-dash in an email).

## Structure of one email

1. **Subject line**: specific and plain, usually under about 50 characters.
   It should be true of the body.
2. **Preview text**: the line shown after the subject in the inbox. Add to
   the subject; never repeat it, and never leave it to "View in browser".
3. **Opening line**: why this, why now, why you. One sentence.
4. **Body**: one idea. Two or three short paragraphs, or a short list.
5. **One button**: a verb and an outcome ("Book a storm-season check", "See
   the new timetable"). Secondary links are fine as plain text; a second
   button is a second email.
6. **Sign-off from a person**, optionally a P.S. (people read them).
7. **Footer**: why they're getting it ("You asked for seasonal tips"), the
   business name and ABN or contact details, and unsubscribe. In Awesomate
   the hub adds the footer and the unsubscribe link; you write only the
   reason line, in the draft's `reason`.

## Subject lines that work for small businesses

- The question the customer is already asking: "Is your hot water system on
  borrowed time?"
- The useful number: "3 things to check before the first storm"
- The local hook: "Carindale: water restrictions start Monday"
- The plain announcement: "Saturday classes start 12 October"
- The owner's voice: "A quick one from Rob"

Avoid: fake "RE:" or "FWD:" (misleading, and it trains people to distrust
you), clickbait the body doesn't pay off, ALL CAPS, piles of emoji, and
"Newsletter #14".

## Email types and what each one needs

| Type | Send when | Must include |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome | Straight after joining | What they'll get and how often, one useful thing now, who it's from |
| Tips or newsletter | On the promised cadence | One main idea; link to more |
| Announcement | Something genuinely new | What changed, who it's for, what to do |
| Offer | A real offer with a real end | The exact terms, the real end date, how to claim |
| Service reminder | Something is due | What's due, why it matters, one-click booking |
| Event invite | 2 to 4 weeks before | Date, time, place, cost, how to book |
| Win-back | Past customer, gone quiet | A personal note, a reason to come back, no guilt |
| Still want these? | Quiet for 6 to 12 months | One click to stay, otherwise we stop. Then stop. |
| Review request | After a finished job | A direct link; ask everyone, not only the happy ones |

## Rules from the law and the industry bodies

- **No invented proof.** No made-up testimonials, reviews, numbers or case
  studies. Real reviews only with permission and quoted accurately.
- **Offers must be real.** "Was $X, now $Y" only if $X was the genuine
  price. "Ends Friday" only if it ends Friday. "Free" means free. (Australian
  Consumer Law; NZ Fair Trading Act.)
- **Reviews:** asking only satisfied customers for reviews ("review gating")
  can mislead under consumer law. Ask everyone.
- **Registered health practitioners** (physio, chiro, dental, psychology,
  optometry, osteopathy and others regulated by Ahpra) **cannot use
  testimonials in advertising** for their regulated services, and must not
  create unreasonable expectations or encourage unnecessary use. No
  before-and-after claims, no "cure", no discounts that pressure people into
  treatment.
- **Financial services:** if the firm holds an AFSL, broadcast content is
  general advice at most and carries their warning. Never write personal
  advice into a broadcast.
- **Real estate:** don't publish a vendor's sale price or a buyer's details
  without permission.

## Personalisation

- First name only when the data is reliable; otherwise "Hi there". A wrong
  name is worse than none. In Awesomate, `{{first_name|there}}` does both.
- Refer to their history only when it's accurate and expected: "the hot
  water system we installed in 2019" is helpful from a plumber. "We noticed
  you looked at our pricing page" is creepy.
- AI-personalised emails (a different paragraph per person) are fine when
  every version is drafted from approved content and the owner has seen
  samples. Show three examples, including the strangest one. Awesomate's
  emails personalise with first name, last name and email only, so this is
  for other platforms.

## From a video (Loom, YouTube, Vimeo)

Watch it first (the watch skill) so the email describes what is actually in
it. Email clients don't play video: use a still from the video with a play
button drawn on it, linking to the video. Summarise the useful part in the
email itself, so someone who never clicks still gets value.

## Design and accessibility

Single column. Real text, never text inside an image. Body at least about
16px. Buttons as real links with descriptive text, never "click here".
Alt text on every image. Works in dark mode. A plain-text version always.
No attachments: link to the file instead. In Awesomate the theme handles
layout, dark mode and the plain-text version; you supply the words, the alt
text and https links.

## Length

Most small-business emails are best between about 75 and 200 words. A
newsletter can be longer when it's scannable (short sections with clear
headings), but if it needs scrolling on a phone, ask whether it's two emails.

## Worked example: trades tips

Subject: 3 things to check before the first storm
Preview: Two minutes with a bucket can save a flooded laundry.

> G'day Sam,
>
> Storm season's nearly here. Before the first big one, it's worth two
> minutes on these:
>
> 1. **Gutters.** Clear leaves before they overflow into the eaves.
> 2. **Downpipes.** Pour a bucket down each and watch where it goes.
> 3. **The stormwater pit.** Lift the grate and check it isn't full of silt.
>
> If any of them look wrong, we'll sort it before the rain does.
>
> [Book a storm-season check]
>
> Cheers,
> Rob
>
> P.S. If your hot water system is more than 10 years old, ask us to look at
> it while we're there.

## Worked example: studio term enrolment (New Zealand)

Subject: Term 4 enrolments open Monday
Preview: Saturday hip hop is back, and there's a new adult beginners class.

> Kia ora Mere,
>
> Term 4 starts on 13 October and enrolments open this Monday at 9am.
> Saturday hip hop is back by popular demand, and we've added an adult
> beginners contemporary class on Wednesday nights.
>
> Spots in the Saturday classes went in two days last term, so if Aria is
> keen, Monday morning is the time.
>
> [See the Term 4 timetable]
>
> Ngā mihi,
> Jess