What are the best tips for successful email for marketing?
We have to take into consideration, the whole experience for these people. So, in your email list, when you are nurturing those
folks that have said yes. They have trusted you enough to give you their name and email, that have asked you for further information. It is your responsibility to nurture that relationship, not to be throwing pitches at them one after the other.
But to be giving them value. Value is really big in our business it's something we spend a lot of time focusing on because you have to be continually building up speaking life into your people if you're going to ever be able to help them. One of my favorite quotes for business is from Pat Flynn of smartpassiveincome.com, and he says, in order to change someone's life, you have to change their day first. So, your email is one of the ways that you get to change their day.
How can marketing be more effective?
There's not many people right now, yet, who have discovered that if you put an emoji in the subject line, it gets more attention. Why? Because it's a picture in the midst of a whole bunch of texts on a page and people's eyes are drawn to the color. They're drawn to that emoji and it gets their attention in the inbox. And then you evoke curiosity, or you ask a question with your subject line and this will help to get them to open it. So if you use an emoji in the
subject line, that's a great idea also asking a question or evoking curiosity. Now with this, be careful because you don't want to fall into the clickbait idea
What are email marketing secrets?
Another best practice for nurturing in your emails is to make your emails readable. So make it skimmable, and by this, I mean, like one to two lines at a time in your email. If you always write long emails and you always write long stories in your emails, and your people are used to that, then do it. But break up those paragraphs into a couple of lines at a time so that it's easier to read through. It's easy to skim through them. The other way that you can break up the text to make it easier on the eyes and easier to read is by using bullet points especially when you have points like I'm giving these three points today. So use bullet points that just helps to organize the content and for the eyes to be able to focus on what's important. That will make it more readable.
Is email marketing still a viable way to launch?
If you are pondering that question, you need to meet Laura Brandenburg.
Email Marketing to Fuel a Launch
Our main lead generation strategy is organic search. So we've been in business and had a blog for 13 years. At one point, I was publishing a couple of times a week.
I no longer do that, but we have a huge archive of content that receives regular search traffic. So a lot of that content now has been repurposed to lead into either a free workshop that we offer. On the other hand, we're in the process of shifting our website so that getting on the waitlist for the Business Analyst Blueprint Certification Program is like the main call to action when you come to our website.
What is a pre-launch campaign?
So we're really always list-building and always talking about when is the next session going to start? This program is quite an intensive program that we run just twice a year. We use the list for email marketing which continues to nurture our followers between launches.
There has been a lot of editing content, pruning content, and tweaking content. We are always asking what is somebody going to search for to land on this page? If that's their intent, what can we give them? What would be the relevant next step or opt-in for them to help convert people who land on our website to join our list?
So we are always thinking about how we can leverage that part of the ecosystem. There's a lot of strategy around it for sure.
What is an email launch?
Most of our energy is spent leveraging our current email marketing list and building interest in the next session. So, for 3 or 4 months leading up to a launch, we’re sharing content that's relevant to the certification program. That's when we open up the waitlist. We announced to the waitlist that early registration is open. Then, we offer some bonuses for joining early.
So we're continually trying to pull people from our main list onto the waitlist by sharing content like case studies. We also share relevant content that links to why they would want to be part of the program.
How do you announce a launch?
Our most active social media platform is LinkedIn. So, I'll share it a few times on LinkedIn. But our main channel is our existing email lists. That's growing every day through organic search.
However, many people go through sometimes 2 to 4 launches, before they buy our program. It's a $5,000 program. So, sometimes people like to get on the list, but it's not the right time.
Many of our buyers often come from people who've joined the list over a year ago. So we always want to be building. The people who joined today, are unlikely to buy in this spring. However, the likelihood of them joining next fall is greater.
So, it really is a long-term game for us. It comes down to connecting with people at the right time and consistently being top of mind when it's the right time for them.
Grab our free Course Creation Blueprint download at https://handprintlegacy.com/ccb
Do you need an email list?
You're on social media, but suddenly, they change an algorithm, and your reach drops. It's a domino effect – next your page views drop, and then your income…
You need a better plan.
I am a huge proponent of having your eggs in more than one basket, but especially in building a proprietary email list.
No matter what your business is: blogging, creating video content, running an online store or growing a social media presence – EVERY online business can benefit from having a list and focusing on growing your subscriber base. These are your hyper-interested people. These are your loyal fans.
What makes an email list so special? Here's 3 reasons you need an email list.
1. Permission
A list gives you permission to talk directly to a pre-vetted, interested audience. You don’t have to wait for them to come to your blog or log in to Instagram or Facebook to see your content, your message, and your offers. Instead, you have been invited to go to them … directly into their email inbox and their life every week.
If emailing regularly is new for you, be sure to grab our weekly blogging checklist with a great email schedule here.
2. Personalization
While blog posts, videos, and social media posts lend themselves to talking to your entire audience at once on a grand scale, Email allows you to address each reader individually. While your blog posts for example are written to a whole segment of your audience, you can be more personal, transparent, and vulnerable with your list.
Plus, you have a chance to get to know your readers better. You can build a relationship with them through the daily or weekly emails you send to them (as well as their replies). As they get to know you, they start to like you and you begin to build trust with your audience.
Why is trust important? Because once you have earned that trust, they will gladly take you up on the recommendations you sent them via email. And, if you treat your list well and share things with them that solve their problems and add value to their lives and experiences, it’s sustainable. You can share opportunities with them for things they want and need over and over again.
Check out our list building playlist on Youtube.
3. Profits
Most importantly though, email marketing converts better than any other form of marketing and this is the main reason all your marketing efforts should ultimately focus on growing and expanding your list.
In other words, the list allows you to make a living from your online business. And it’s also a safety net, as I alluded to at the beginning.
Things happen. Facebook decides to freeze your account, your website gets hacked and much of the content is lost, search engines decide they no longer love you and stop sending you free traffic… Murphy’s Law holds true, even on the web…. Anything that can go wrong will eventually go wrong. But, if you’ve focused on building a list, you will always have a way to recover, a way to still reach those who are most interested in what you have to offer.
Next Steps:
If you're new to the list idea or haven't yet started growing your list, you'll want to check this post for our top recommended email service providers. But, there is a lot more to emailing than just the content. There are certain legal things that must be included (we'll cover this is another post), and you'll want the ability to segment the list (like I do with ConvertKit) based on reader interest and actions to serve your people better.
Sell more with these 3 keys to more sales even in a tough economy!