hyper-short emails that *print* money
sometimes less copy = more sales
A lot of people think every sales email needs to be a full-blown sales letter.
You probably know the feeling…
You’re about to hit send on a promo email, and something feels off.
“Should I add another benefit?”
“Maybe I need to handle one more objection?”
“Is this enough to get people to buy?”
So you add more context, more proof, more “value.”
And look—that instinct isn’t wrong.
Long-form sales emails can absolutely crush. I’ve written (and seen) plenty of 800-word emails that absolutely print money.
But here’s what most people miss:
Sometimes the opposite approach can work even better.
I’m talking about hyper-short, plain-text emails.
The kind of email that feel almost too simple to send. Or that makes you think “there’s no way this is enough”...
And then it outperforms everything else you’ve sent that month.
So today, I want to show you exactly when and why these hyper-short emails work so well - and give you a plug-and-play AI prompt to create them in seconds.
Let’s get into it.
But first… the receipts!
Just to show you I’m not making this up, here are a few real-world examples of hyper-short emails that have crushed it.
Example #1: Texas Snax (Buc-ee’s Reseller)
Chris Koerner has been A/B testing marketing emails across multiple Shopify brands for over 12 years. Both B2B and D2C.
His takeaway?
“The ugly, short, 1-link plain text email WINS EVERY SINGLE TIME.”
Here’s one of his top performers:
That’s it.
No images or any fancy designs. Just a short & straightforward email with one link.
Example #2: Sticker Mule
This one’s a classic from Sticker Mule.
This email literally has 13 words lol.
That’s the whole thing.
Example #3: Connor Gross
Here’s one more example for you.
Connor runs an e-commerce brand that did over $1M in email revenue in a single month.
Now, guess what their 2 top performing emails for that month had in common?
Yup. They were both plain text emails
Now, after he posted that, somebody asked him if he could share the copy he used for one of those emails - and he shared a screenshot of his second best-performing one:
The email uses a simple good news/bad news framework, gives one link, and creates urgency without being pushy.
Now, it’s pretty clear that these emails work.
So the better question is…
“Why do they work?”
Why do these ridiculously simple emails outperform the ones you spent 2 hours crafting?
Here’s why:
The people who are closest to buying are usually the ones who need the least convincing.
They already know who you are. They already want what you’re selling. They’ve probably been thinking about it for a while.
They don’t need another 800-word sales letter walking them through EVERY single benefit and reason why they should buy.
They just need a nudge.
A reminder that your thing exists.
And a reason to act now.
(That last bit is important ^^^)
There’s a quote I love:
“80% of marketing is just reminding busy people you exist.”
These hyper-short emails are the epitome of that principle.
You’re not trying to persuade. You’re just making it easy for people who are already leaning in to take the next step.
Now, here’s the counterintuitive part…
Writing these crazy short emails is often harder than writing a long one.
Because you have to be ruthlessly concise.
Every word has to earn its place.
As Mark Twain once said:
“If I had more time, I’d have written a shorter letter.”
So to make this easier, I’ve put together an AI prompt specifically designed to create hyper-short plain-text promo emails.
The AI Prompt
Just paste the prompt below into ChatGPT or Claude, answer the questions it’s going to ask you, and then watch it write up 5 hyper-short email variations you can test.
(This prompt is intentionally designed so your AI can interview you and you don’t have to fill in any “placeholders” before you get started!)
Here you go:
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