As a self-confessed old-school Marketer I still maintain that email marketing is the #1 most effective marketing strategy available, and this article may even convince you that blogs are still effective…
There’s a lot of conflicting information about email follow-ups, so this article should bring things right up to date.
“The fortune is in the follow-up.” I know that’s a quote you’re familiar with… And with any marketing campaign, it’s important to write a set of compelling emails in an autoresponder.
The old school method of writing emails was to write in such a way that each email builds on the previous one, thereby capturing attention like a good soap opera.
In certain circumstances, this could still work for a tiny percentage of your engaged customers. However, in most cases, this no longer works because attention spans have changed. Building a sequential series like sections of a story with open and closed loops might have worked 10 years ago, but these days I guarantee that even your best customers will not read and digest every one of your emails.
Some of your emails won’t even get through, and many will be lost in a sea of OTHER emails from other marketers.
No matter who you are or how famous you might be, not every message will get read. Remember that. Therefore, each email needs to stand on its own and not rely on the reader having read and remembered something in a previous email.
So what should you place in your autoresponder sequences? Here are some ideas that work effectively at getting a response…
Send people to your blog
If you’ve got a blog with great posts full of good information. Create an email for each blog post and place it in your autoresponder. This only works for evergreen information and blog posts that don’t display a date.
Tie each blog post to a product you’re promoting
For example, “Here’s a great product that teaches you exactly how to get traffic. And before you get that traffic pouring into your website, you’ll want to make sure your page is optimised for the highest conversion possible. Here’s a post on how to do that.”
Show your readers your ass-ets…
Your job is getting your subscribers to know, like and trust you.
Show them around your online world. Rotate them between your blog, YouTube channel, Facebook profile or whatever social media and web assets apply to you. Personally, I have found that corroborative marketing works extremely well:
This can be posting an update on Facebook and then emailing your subscribers about the update while creating a video on YouTube about the same subject.
Emails that convert well.
You send a broadcast email to your list and the response is phenomenal, or just plain good. So what do you do? Most marketers forget about it. But the smart money says to copy and paste that email into your autoresponder series. And yes, it’s okay to send out repeat information. Some of your readers will never see it the first time, and others who did see it will appreciate the reminder.
Send them a question.
In the autoresponder series, send them an email that asks an either/or type of question. For example, “Which do you value more – exciting new diet news or easier fat-burning exercise techniques? Reply back with one or the other in the subject line.”
This approach encourages active engagement from subscribers, and when they reply your IP address is seen as more credible by the email service providers increasing your deliverability rates.
Then follow up on the question email.
“Are you one of those who wants the latest new diet news? Well check this out!” “Are you one of those who said you want exercise techniques that burn fat? Look at this!” You’re hitting both (in two separate emails) regardless of which they answered.
Personal stories.
You’ve got a ton of stories to share with others, you just don’t realise it. Share your stories that relate to your readers. Anytime you can show that you are a real person with real life and real challenges, you’re that much closer to forging a bond with your customers. After all, just like you, they want to do business with people they KNOW, like and trust.
