We all know an email database is important for keeping in touch with your customers, but it’s not as simple as sending out a newsletter on a semi-regular basis and hoping it gets read.
There are a couple of things to work into your email strategy to ensure you’re communicating in an effective way. After all, it’s about heating up those warm leads, right?
LANDING PAGE
Have a page where potential subscribers will be sent to that makes it super easy to sign up and join your database. Make it compelling by outlining exactly what the subscriber will be getting out of it: What will they learn? Get? See? Discover? If you’ve used a lead magnet, this is where they’d sign up to get it.
A WELCOME EMAIL
This is a confirmation email to let your subscribers know they’ve been added to your database. It would include some type of WELCOME message, a brief overview of your business and what you do, perhaps a welcome discount if you’re feeling generous (If you’ve drawn them In with a lead magnet, this email would have the link to download it) and then tie it all up with a compelling call-to-action to shop or visit your site, book a consultation or strike up a conversation. But in many cases (especially services) I find a little nurturing is required.
A NURTURE SEQUENCE
This is great approach which would kick in a certain amount of time after they’ve received the WELCOME email.
It is a sequence of emails that is sent to each new subscriber via an automated system. When it kicks in is totally up to you: A day later, 3 days later, a week after they’ve signed up... Just don’t wait too long. You need to heat up those warm leads!
It’s designed to onboard your new subscribers and take them on a journey with you from being warm leads to hot leads.
You need an overarching strategy for this sequence: what is the end goal? What do you want subscribers to do with each email, or certainly by the final email in the sequence?
Then layout each email (I recommend 3 or 4 in any given sequence) and work through the chain of info, offers and call-to-actions as a complete whole. Once you know what you want to say and how to say it, break it down into your selected number of emails in your new sequence.
There’s no template for how your sequence should flow, this will totally depend on your business, industry, offer, call-to-actions, etc.
PAST PURCHASES
Have an automatic email that gets sent to customers who recently bought a product or service - your call-to-action here is around getting feedback in the form of Google or FB reviews, a rating out of 5 stars etc.
LAPSED CUSTOMERS
Send out a “hey let’s work together again!” email that gets sent to clients you haven’t heard from in a while. Design these around showcasing the work or products you’ve worked on in the last little while, new products or services you’ve launched since working with them, new testimonials that have come through or a discount (if you’re feeling generous)
DESIGN
Research shows it takes 11.1sec for a reader to decide whether to keep reading your mailer or not. That’s not a long window of opportunity to wow them.
Make sure your “above the fold” creative is lit (I.e. what they see in their browser before they even start scrolling down)
Make it easy to navigate and not too wordy.
Use paragraphs...
Optimize it for HTML.
Make sure your call-to-actions are easy to see and easy to click
Use awesome images
Use a decent size font so they don’t have to zoom in on be mailer
SUBJECT LINES
They play a huge part in whether or not your email even gets read... Make them irresistible, compelling and catchy. I love to use a good pun.
NOTES
Add value - don’t shove your sales pitch down their throats with every email!
Keep content aside solely for your database, to make them feel VIP
Don’t let your current subscribers feel left out if you’ve published a new lead magnet. Create a nurture sequence just for them that includes a link to this lead magnet.
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