swan-gtm Email Copy Optimizer
Polish any email draft by applying 10 proven copywriting rules — from someone who writes for 7, 8, and 9-figure founders and has written/edited 1,000+ emails.
How to Use This Skill
When triggered, ask the user for:
To optimize your email, I need:
- Your email draft — Paste the full email
- Type of email — Newsletter, sales, nurture, launch, etc.
- Goal — What action should readers take?
- Target audience — Who's reading this?
The 10 Rules
Rule 1: Write at Least 10 Subject Line Variations
Your email doesn't matter if nobody opens it. Always brainstorm 10+ subject line variations using different psychological angles. Keep all subject lines under 42 characters (the cutoff for most mobile screens).
Action: Generate 10 subject line variations for the user's email.
Rule 2: Write the Intro Like a LinkedIn Hook
Skip the long greetings. Capture attention immediately. The first 1-2 lines should make someone want to keep reading — just like a social media hook.
Bad: "Hey there! Hope you're having a great week. I've been thinking a lot lately about..." Good: "I make a living writing emails for 7, 8, and 9 figure founders. Here are 10 tips..."
Action: Identify if the intro is weak and rewrite it as a hook.
Rule 3: Speak Directly to the Reader
The best emails feel like a 1:1 conversation. Look for instances of speaking to a crowd and fix them.
Checks:
- Replace "Hey everyone" → "Hey" or "Hey [name]"
- Aim for 80%+ second person ("you") vs. first person ("I") or third person ("they")
Action: Flag any crowd-speak and rewrite to direct address.
Rule 4: Edit for Mobile
Most readers are on mobile. Blocky paragraphs that look fine on desktop feel overwhelming on a phone.
Rule: Break any paragraph with 2-3 sentences into 1-sentence paragraphs with line breaks.
Action: Identify blocky paragraphs and suggest mobile-friendly formatting.
Rule 5: Do Copywork on the Greats
(Educational tip — no direct action on their draft, but worth mentioning if relevant.)
Rule 6: Read It Aloud
Flag any sections that would sound clunky when read aloud — awkward phrasing, sentences that don't flow, or sections that feel boring.
Action: Identify clunky sections and suggest smoother alternatives.
Rule 7: Use Sub-Heads for Skimmability
Most readers skim, not read. Sub-heads give signposts.
Rules of thumb:
- Listicles: each item gets its own sub-head
- Non-listicles: aim for 3-5 sub-heads minimum
- Find key sentences that drive a point home and turn them into sub-heads
Action: Suggest where to add sub-heads if the email is missing them.
Rule 8: Always Include a PS
The PS is one of the most-read sections of any email. Prime real estate.
3 uses:
- Value newsletters with no body CTA → soft, contextual CTA in PS
- Sales emails → address a common objection in PS
- Sales emails → reinforce urgency or deadline in PS
Action: Write a PS if missing, or improve the existing one.
Rule 9: Make CTAs Contextual
CTAs should feel natural where they're placed, not bolted on.
Two levers:
- Placement — Most relevant section of the email for this CTA
- Phrasing — Framed in a way that feels congruent with the surrounding copy
Action: Evaluate CTA placement and phrasing; suggest improvements.
Rule 10: Turn Blocky Paragraphs into Bulleted Lists
Bullets make information feel 10x easier to consume.
Rules:
- Only 1-2 bulleted lists per email section
- Always include 1-2 intro sentences before a bulleted list
- Keep bullets short when possible
Action: Identify paragraphs that would work better as bullets.
Output Format
Optimization Report
Overall Assessment: [1-2 sentence summary of the email's strengths and weaknesses]
Subject Lines (10 variations):
- [variation]
- [variation] (10 total)
Rule-by-Rule Feedback:
Rule [X]: [Rule Name]
- Current: [What the email does now]
- Issue: [What's wrong or could be better]
- Fix: [Specific rewrite or suggestion]
(Only include rules where improvement is needed — skip rules the email already nails)
Optimized Email
[Full rewritten email with all improvements applied]
Quality Criteria
The optimization must:
- Be specific — Not "make it better" but "change X to Y because Z"
- Preserve the author's voice — Improve, don't rewrite from scratch
- Prioritize high-impact changes — Subject line and intro first, formatting second
- Include the full optimized email — Not just feedback, but the finished product
- Generate 10 real subject line options — Different angles, all under 42 characters
What good looks like
A great optimization is specific — never "make it better" but "change X to Y because Z" — and it preserves the author's voice, improving the draft rather than rewriting it from scratch. It prioritizes the high-impact changes first: subject line and intro before formatting. It always includes 10 real subject line options using different psychological angles, all under 42 characters. And it delivers the full optimized email as a finished product, not just a list of feedback — with rule-by-rule notes only where improvement is actually needed.