Emails are one of the oldest and most powerful marketing methods. Cold emails have been the sharpest tool for B2B and B2C businesses for years now.
In fact, it is projected that the email marketing industry will reach $2.53 billion in 2028. In addition, 333.2 billion emails are expected to be received and sent in 2022.
However, emails can only generate desired results when they are written in a well-professional manner. It is revealed in the Solitaire Bliss case study that drafting an email in the right style can improve the open email rate by 86.3%.
This email writing format topic takes us to an epic debate of — hard sell vs. soft sell.
The sales fraternity is divided into hard sell and soft sell concepts for infinity now. Many salespeople advocate that sales emails should be direct and clear.
On the flip side, modern sales reps are in favor of first informing, nurturing, and then selling to email subscribers.
It is not simple to state whether hard sell or soft sell sales emails are more beneficial. However, we are going to dissect hard sell and soft sell concepts in the context of sales emails to provide some clarity to our readers. So, let's get started.
Hard sell vs. soft sell: definition
Hard Sell is direct selling. Sellers use an aggressive tone and direct sales pitch to promote a product or service in hard-sell emails. They don't use indirect tactics or fluff words to approach email subscribers.
Hard sell vs. soft sell: advantages
The hard-sell approach is not a crowd-pleaser. Many modern sellers don't prefer to use a hard sales tone while writing emails. But, we can't ignore the fact that B2B buyers are busy people who receive hundreds of emails daily.
Business leaders don't have time to read your long and multiple thread emails. Instead, they want quick and crisp emails that hard selling can offer.
Besides this, hard-selling emails can help to:
But, this doesn't mean the soft-sell approach will not work in selling via emails. On the contrary, this selling technique is perfect for building a long-lasting relationship with your customers.
If you strive to build a loyal customer base, slow and steady soft-sell emails can help you with it. In addition, soft selling is ideal for:
Hard sell vs. soft sell: disadvantages
Most SaaS companies have less than a 25% of email conversion rate. That means if 10,000 visitors land on your website, only 200 will sign up for your email sign up forms.
This shows people are not interested in receiving emails related to your brand promotions. They want helpful information, not over-hyped marketing promotion.
Therefore, the hot-selling approach has many shortcomings like:
The soft sell is a perfect tactic to understand your targeted customers and then sell them. But, soft selling is an annoyingly slow process, leading to lead leakage.
Besides this, soft-selling emails can:
Hard sell vs. soft sell: how to implement them?
Hard selling is a fast and simple email marketing strategy. Using a hard-sell approach, you can instantly start selling when you have targeted customers' email lists.
Here's how you can start hard selling via emails:
Step 1. Simply ask
You have to cut all the chase and just ask your targeted accounts — what they want to buy and what budget they have. No need to use any fluff words or toe around the topic.
Just tell email recipients that you sell a particular product or service, and they can get the best deal from you.
Step 2. Create urgency
Urgency is the key factor for hard selling. You have to create an urgent environment for your email subscribers that if they don't buy your services today, it will be the end of the world for them.
Not literally, but offer time-bound deals or trigger FOMO in your email content. You can even design animation with a countdown to encourage your users to take action.
Step 3. Keep on asking
Don't sit ideally after sending one hard email. No, you have to come up with different ideas and strategies to approach customers. You can create visual emails, gamification emails, and so on.
In fact, you can leverage account-based marketing to segregate your email lists to design personalized emails. Just keep on asking your targeted customers until they take action.
Moving to soft selling, you have to follow a different route to nurture leads in this environment. You have to work on building a connection and understanding your customers rather than just selling.
Here's what you can do to create soft selling email campaigns:
Step 1. Know your customer
Soft selling doesn't start with selling. It begins with understanding customer needs and requirements. Sellers have to first understand what problems their targeted customer has and how they can solve them with their product.
Step 2. Guide your customers
Don't start selling them right away once you understand what your customers want. First, step into the shoes of a guidance counselor and tell your targeted audience how they can better solve their problem.
You need to establish a strong and professional reputation in your niche. People should understand that you are a master of your field.
Step 3. Be consistent
Soft selling is not an overnight solution. You have to constantly work on building a relationship with your customers. You need to frequently send emails to your targeted audience and respond back to their questions.
Here, you have to earn customers' trust by meeting your commitments.
Step 4. Give an option
In soft selling, you have to provide an option to walk away. Don't say that you offer the best product in the market because it is unrealistic. Instead, tell people how your services are better and more helpful for them.
In the end, you should leave the final decision in the customer's hands. This way, customers will feel empowered, not pressured. They will buy your products because they want to, not because they have to.
Hard sell vs. soft sell: examples
As you have understood the difference between hard sell and soft sell workflow, let's now check out some real examples to better understand how to implement both strategies in your email marketing process.
Hard sell email examples
Asana
Asana's emails are clear and crisp. With a clear call to action button, they invite subscribers to create a task with the application. They don't use any exciting words or promotional content to attract users.
They simply ask them to sign up and start creating tasks. It is a great hard-selling email example for SaaS products and services.
Mint
If you sell seasonal products or are planning to launch a new product, you can use a simple email letter to notify your email subscribers. For example, look at this Mint email.
The brand has simply reminded its clients to check their credit scores with minimal design and content.
Salesforce
If you frequently produce new content or introduce new services, this Salesforce email will help you understand how to hard-sell your customers without sounding too pushy.
You can simply add a link to all your new products and services in your email and let your customers decide which link to open.
Soft sell email examples
Groww
Groww is a financial brand that is killing at soft-selling emails. The company sends weekly investment reports to subscribers with visual presentations and lots of links.
This is a soft call to encourage subscribers to invest in highly profitable and popular stocks.
FeedSpot
This brand also uses soft selling perfectly. They send articles related to a user's interest with a small CTA button to subscribe to the FeedSpot premium plan.
This email is a perfect example of personalization and trust-building through emails.
Udemy
Udemy has used a catchy subject line and testimonials to create a visually appealing soft-selling email. This email is a perfect way to show your customers how your product can help them in the long run.
It is also a nice way to build trust and trigger FOMO among your email subscribers.
Hard sell vs. soft sell: the right time to use
Hard sell and soft sell are dynamic strategies to write result-driven emails. But, there is a particular time to use both approaches. If you use hard sell and soft sell methodologies at the right time, you can generate high sales and revenue.
When should you use a hard-sell strategy?
Seasonal products/sales
If you sell seasonal products or services, you don't have time to go through the entire nurturing process before selling your solution. You need a hard and fast solution that can get instant customers.
For example, if you are launching a new winter fashion clothing collection specialized in wedding suits for groomsmen, you need to create a hard sell email copy so people can instantly buy your product.
Hot accounts
When you are already familiar with your customer's pain points and have a strong relationship with them, you can also use this approach to sell.
This strategy usually works for established businesses that have been using different content marketing methods to connect with their audience for a long time.
Also, legacy brands can leverage this strategy as people are already familiar with their services.
Immediate actions
If you are going through some economic slowdown in your company, direct and crisp email can give a lifeline to your business.
Through hard-sell emails, you can instantly generate some high-quality leads and give a push to your slow-moving sales funnel.
When should you use a soft-sell strategy?
Customer-centric brands
If your business depends upon customer retention, steady and slow, soft sending emails can do wonders for you. IT businesses are using soft selling techniques aggressively to inform customers about their products.
This strategy allows businesses to educate targeted customers about their solutions and establish brand authority in the industry.
Startup organization
For startup business organizations, soft selling is highly important. It helps them create awareness about their solutions in the market and build a loyal customer base.
In addition, using soft emails, startup brands can show people how their product is better than other established brands. Therefore, social media marketers often use a soft sell approach to connect with the audience.
Long term goals
If you are not in urgent need to sell your products or services. Instead, you are more focused on creating a loyal customer base. In that case, investing in soft selling techniques can generate higher revenue.
If you have an adequate budget and time, you should include soft selling in your sales funnel to achieve your long-term goals.
So, which is better for your business — hard sell or soft sell
Hard sell and soft sell are powerful techniques to generate high ROI from email marketing. But they are only effective when used at the right time.
As we have already discussed, the hard sell is effective when you want instant results. On the other hand, soft selling is helpful to build relationships with your customers and form a business community.
Besides this, your product type, business nature, and goals can also contribute to selecting between hard and soft sell.
Thus, you have to evaluate your email marketing and company goals before selecting the right approach for your business. Now, we will bid you farewell so you can choose between hard sell and soft sell.
