Email Marketing Essentials

There are typically 2 ways to grow an email list:

1. Offer a freebie (like a free video)
2. Capture emails on your site home page 

You can do both of these with Uscreen, through the Giveaway Funnel tool and the email capture block on the landing page builder. If you’re just starting out, we recommend using the Giveaway Funnel tool to offer a freebie. People love free stuff! 

Check out this email capture block from Jazzercise. They clearly communicate the value of signing up for emails.

Every high-performing email has 5 building blocks. Master these, and your emails will consistently drive conversions and increase engagement.

Building Block 1: Who are you talking to?

You probably talk to your family, your neighbors, and your friends in different ways. Your email recipients should get the same consideration! 

When you blast everyone with the same message, you're essentially telling your paying customers about offers they already have, and confusing leads with member-only content. It's lazy, and your audience can tell.

Without a segment to focus on, your emails are less effective. But you don’t have to get too complicated and filter down to tiny groups. We recommend starting with three key segments:

Building Block 2: Subject Line

Your subject line has one job: get the email opened. If it fails here, nothing else matters. 

Ways to get the open:

• Ask a question: "Still trying to figure it out alone?"
• Create curiosity: "The mistake 90% of pilates students make"
• Use urgency: "Most people wait too long to fix this"
• Use exclusivity: “behind the scenes in my art studio” 
• Offer value: “My strategy for dealing with burnout”
• Length: 6-8 words max for mobile optimization

Avoid this:

• ALL CAPS: it feels spammy and desperate. (“🔥 HUGE DISCOUNT INSIDE 🔥”)
• Overusing punctuation: One exclamation point is fine!  six makes you look like a scam!!!!!!
• Bait-and-switch: If your subject promises something, deliver it in the email. Nothing kills trust faster than clickbait.
• Spam-trigger words: words like “Free!!!” “Cash” “Risk-free” often get moved to spam before your subscriber ever sees them.

Building Block 3: Content

Your email needs to grab attention from the first line and hold it all the way to your call-to-action Here’s how to make your email body readable, impactful, and not immediately deleted:

Start strong

Your opening line determines if people keep reading.  Your audience will want to know “what’s in it for me?”  Try to immediately hit on a pain or desire your audience has. 

Check out this email opener from Ed Lawrence (Creator Booth). It immediately notes the pain he’s going to address: a drop in sales during the summer months.

Structure for Impact

Assume your reader is distracted, skeptical, and half-asleep. Show that you value their time by structuring for impact and clarity. 

Your email body should feel like this:

• Hook (first 1–2 lines): Why should I care?
• Tension: Agitate the pain, problem, or stakes.
• Turn: Drop an insight, surprise, or unexpected angle.
• Call to action: Tell them exactly what to do next.

End with one clear action

Don’t ask for three things. Don’t be vague. Don’t say “Let me know your thoughts”—unless you want a lukewarm emoji 8 days later.

Tell them one specific action to take like . . . 

• Click this link
• Join the waitlist
• Watch this 2-min clip

Building Block 4: Calls to Action

Without a clear next step, even the best-written email is just a nice story sitting in someone’s inbox.

Your CTA’s job:

• Tell people exactly what to do next (click, watch, buy, join)
• Make it easy to do — one click, obvious link, no hunting
• Connect it to the value you just promised in your email

Best practices:

• Use strong, specific language: “Start your free trial” beats “Learn more.”
• Keep it visually distinct — a button or bold link that’s easy to spot, even when skimming.

What to avoid:

• Burying your CTA in paragraph 8. Most people won’t scroll that far.
• Offering too many actions at once (“Watch this, join here, reply to me, share with a friend”) — it splits attention and kills conversions.
• Being vague. If they have to guess what happens after clicking, they won’t click.

Check out this CTA from an email by George Blackman, a scriptwriting expert. He ends the email by calling out the reader’s pain of "repetitive script writing tasks” to tee up the CTA button to buy the solution (with a nifty discount to make it extra enticing).

1. Welcome Email

Why it matters:

This is your handshake moment.  It sets expectations, builds trust, and guides new subscribers toward their first meaningful interaction with your content.

What to include:

• A warm, personal greeting (bonus points for using their first name)
• Your origin story in 2–3 sentences — why you do what you do
• What kind of content they’ll get from you, and how often
• One clear CTA to interact in your community or get started with a specific piece of content

Where to set it up in Uscreen:

Head to email templates under settings to customize this automated email. 

2. Abandoned Cart Email

Why it matters:

Life can be hectic and people walk away mid-checkout for so many reasons, but many of those people still want what you offer. This email recaptures lost sales.

What to include:

• A friendly reminder of what they left in their cart
• A short customer testimonial or benefit reminder

Where to set it up in Uscreen:

Enable Abandoned Cart in your Marketing Tools, then customize the email that will be sent automatically when someone leaves mid-purchase.

3. Member Newsletter

Why it matters:

Keeps paying members engaged, informed, and connected to your community — reducing churn and driving repeat views.

What to include:

• Highlights of new videos, classes, or resources
• Upcoming live streams, events, or challenges
• Community shoutouts or success stories
• One clear CTA to watch, join, or participate

Where to set it up in Uscreen:

Send via the Email Broadcast Tool to your Active Members segment.

4. Upsell Email

Why it matters:

It’s far cheaper to grow revenue from existing customers than to find new ones. Upsell emails create more value for them and more revenue for you. For example, your monthly members could save money by upgrading to annual subscriptions. Or your basic tier members are missing out on premium content, so they should upgrade their tier! 

What to include:

• The clear benefit of upgrading 
• A quick comparison of what they have now vs. what’s included in the upgrade
• Urgency or exclusivity to drive action, possibly through a coupon or bonus content
• One big, unmistakable CTA button

Where to set it up in Uscreen:

Use Audience Filters to target upgrade-eligible members and send through the Email Broadcast Tool.

Putting It All Together with Uscreen

Inside Uscreen’s Email Broadcast Tool, you can combine all these building blocks in minutes.

• Segment your list with Audience Filters
• Craft your subject line directly in the composer
• Add visuals, buttons, and formatted text without touching code
• Schedule your send for peak engagement

Check out this walkthrough to see email broadcasts in action!