Email copy

Email Copy

Draft email copy that matches the brand's editorial voice. Covers one-off campaigns, lifecycle sequences, newsletters, announcements, and cold outbound. Output is local-only — this skill does not send.

Setup

No keys required.

Inputs

1. Email type — campaign / nurture sequence / product announcement / cold outbound / newsletter issue / transactional follow-up.
2. Goal — what does a successful email cause the recipient to do? (click, reply, book, read, reactivate).
3. Audience segment — who is receiving it? Inherit from editorial-guidelines.md audience if available; otherwise ask.
4. Stage in relationship — cold, warm lead, trial user, paying customer, churned.
5. Primary CTA — exact action and destination URL or reply prompt.
6. Context assets — optional: blog post or landing page the email is tied to; any specific proof points, numbers, or quotes.
7. Length mode — short (≤120 words), medium (120–250), long (250–500).
8. Number of subject-line variants — default 5.
9. Sequence mode — if the user wants more than one email, how many, what cadence, and what's the goal of each step.

Use AskUserQuestion for email type, length mode, and sequence Y/N.

Process

1. Load voice

• Read editorial-guidelines.md or fall back to shared voice reference.
• Read any context asset the user pointed to.

2. Map the message

Before writing, articulate in one sentence each:

• The one thing the email makes the reader feel
• The one thing the email makes the reader think
• The one thing the email makes the reader do

If any of the three is unclear, ask the user before drafting.

3. Draft subject lines

Produce N variants across these archetypes (pick the ones that fit the email type):

• Specific number — "How Acme cut ramp time to 11 days"
• Curiosity gap — "The reason your SQL→SAL conversion is lying to you"
• Direct benefit — "Book 2× more demos this quarter"
• Pattern interrupt — "Bad news about your pipeline dashboard"
• Personal/low-fi — "Quick question, {name}"
• Announcement — "{Feature} is live"
• Contrarian — "Stop A/B testing your cold emails"

Each variant: ≤50 characters. Include one preheader (≤90 chars) per subject. Never repeat phrasing across variants.

4. Draft the body

Structure depends on type:

Campaign / nurture / cold outbound:

1. Opening line — specific to the recipient or the moment; never "Hope this email finds you well".
2. The reason you're writing — one sentence, no preamble.
3. The value or insight — one concrete thing (number, framework, observation). Not a pitch.
4. The CTA — one action, one link. Phrased as a low-friction next step, not a demand.
5. Signature — name, role, (optional) one-liner context.

Product announcement:

1. What's new (one line).
2. Who it's for.
3. Why we built it (the specific problem).
4. What to do next (demo, docs, feature toggle).

Newsletter issue:

1. One-paragraph editor's note (human, specific, opinionated).
2. 3–5 curated sections, each 40–80 words, each with a link.
3. A closing "what I'm thinking about this week" prompt that invites reply.

Transactional follow-up:

1. Acknowledge the event (trial started, demo booked, payment processed).
2. The one thing they should do in the next 24 hours.
3. Where to get help.

5. Constraints

• Mobile-first: first 60 characters of subject + first sentence of body must carry the message.
• No walls of text: paragraphs of 1–3 sentences.
• Banned words from editorial guidelines are blocked.
• First-person singular is OK for cold outbound and newsletter; first-person plural for campaigns and announcements — unless guidelines say otherwise.
• Zero emojis unless the guidelines allow them.
• Exactly one CTA. If the user insists on two, demote the second to a PS.

6. Sequences

If the user asked for a sequence:

• Draft each email as a separate block in the same output file.
• Each email references the previous one implicitly (shared context) but must be readable standalone (the reader may have missed step 1).
• Cadence recommendation included at the top of the file.
• The last email in a sequence includes a graceful opt-out line.

7. Write the file

Write to emails/<name>.md:

# Email — {name}

**Type:** {type}
**Audience:** {segment}
**Goal:** {goal}
**Primary CTA:** {action → destination}
**Length mode:** {short/medium/long}

## Subject line variants

1. **Subject:** {…} — **Preheader:** {…}
2. …

## Body

{body}

---

## Sequence (if applicable)

### Step 2 — send +{N} days

**Subject:** {…}
**Preheader:** {…}

{body}

{…}

## Recommended cadence

- Step 1: day 0
- Step 2: day +{N}
- Step 3: day +{M}

## Rationale

{2–4 bullets on why this approach for this audience}

8. Print summary

One-line summary: path, word count, number of subject variants, sequence length.

Fallbacks

• No editorial guidelines: use shared voice reference.
• Insufficient context: ask targeted questions before drafting; never guess the audience or CTA.

Verification

1. File exists under emails/.
2. ≥5 subject lines, each ≤50 chars.
3. Each subject has a preheader ≤90 chars.
4. Body matches the length mode.
5. Exactly one primary CTA.
6. No banned words.