It’s easy to get hung up on any one of the barriers to successful email marketing. I hear many complaints from clients who don’t know what to say when faced with the task of writing emails.
How well can an email list work if you are so paralyzed by the fear of what to say, that you don’t send any emails at all?
You know I love a good system and a good strategy. I also like to break down these practices to the basics so you can take action in a more manageable and stress-free way.
Email marketing is a key tool for success. If you completed the first step and have a few leads in a database. Now, what do you do next?
Let’s walk through a strategy that will provide a roadmap for the first three emails to send to your list.
The Blank Page
Get your list together with the information collected and your email platform of choice at your fingertips. It’s time to plan a welcome email sequence, also called a nurture sequence. Its a very simple system of three emails delivered to the same person over a week to 10 day period of time.
This is the amount of time you have to get them hooked on who you are and what you have to offer.
The first email will be the delivery of your offer. The second will be a story about you and your business or service and the third will describe what’s next.
I recommend opening a fresh word doc or google doc and crafting all three emails there first. Once you feel good about the content, then tackle copying the text into the email platform of your choice.
Keep in mind that you want the tone of your emails to fit your brand. Meaning you want it to be conversational- like your everyday speaking voice. You also always want to invoke some kind of action from the reader in every single communication.
This will be a quick less on the three emails and the content to include in each.
Deliver On Your Promise
First order of business is to make good on your promise. In most cases, a customer gave you their email in exchange for something. Now you need to deliver. Thats email number one of the welcome sequence.
If I drop in my email on your website in exchange for a 20% off coupon, I expect that coupon to land in my inbox immediately. Same goes for opting in to a freebie like a checklist or a how to guide.
Use this opportunity to deliver the thing. In addition to the promo code or the PDF file you promised, add a second paragraph of a few sentences that recommends a next step with a link or clickable button. Your goal is to make good on your promise and get the recipient of the email to take action right away.
It can be a link to a recommended item in your online store, a link to a social media page with an ask to follow for more or a link to a blog post that serves as a supplement to whatever the free download might be.
I recommend this initial delivery to include two short paragraphs with one link inside. The first paragraph will open with a confirmation of their subscription with a brief reminder of what they signed up for. Thank them for taking the time to do this and provide any instructions on how to use what they are getting in return.
Paragraph two adds some details that has the reader engaged in the follow up. Using the promo code, printing the ebook, following on social, bookmarking the google maps location of your store and so on.
Share Your Story
Email two is typically sent two to three days after the initial contact. The purpose of this email is to establish credibility and earn trust. You peaked their interest, now reel them in with a personal story they can relate to. Explain who you are, what you have to offer and why they need it- in that order.
This is a great place for a personal story. Provide insights into your origin story or something they can identify with that led them to you in the first place.
If you are a childrens boutique maybe its a story about your child or if you provide accounting services you could consider sharing common mistakes you see people making with their money. Aim for three paragraphs max.
The call to action should be towards the end and tie back to email one. For example you might ask for feedback on the item they purchased with their discount code or remind them to use the code with a link back to the store. Or ask for an update on their progress with the worksheet or resource you provided.
This email is all about you and laying the foundation for a relationship.
Next Steps
Email three is what I like to refer to as the whats next. Your customers now know you are their trusted expert. It’s time to share step-by-step instructions on how to continue the relationship.
Not a bulleted list but a couple of paragraphs with the goal to educate the reader. Make it very clear and easy to understand. What can they expect from you next?
Is there a program they can buy, a service they can book, a sale they can shop? Gently but clearly introduce an option for the next step in the relationship.
Its definitely not a thanks for your email, see ya later kind of thing. This is where you put out a little more information in an effort to entice them to take the next step.
Maybe they will and maybe they wont, but after these three emails, they should know who you are and what you do. You aren’t done communicating with them but now there is context when your next email lands in their inbox.
Practice Makes Perfect
All together, these three emails require roughly 6 to 8 paragraphs of copy. Its really not a lot when you break it into small pieces.
It might take you some practice to feel comfortable using a conversational or persuasive style of writing if its not something you do often. It also might take you a few drafts to perfect your about me story.
Writing emails that convert takes practice. And the only way to get better at it is to keep trying.
What happens after you have the welcome sequence complete will depend on how you plan to deliver. When using an email platform like Mailchimp or convert kit, there are very easy to follow templates and tutorials to walk you through the automation sequence. The benefit to using an email marketing tool is the support they offer but also the analytics they provide.
You can track every action a person on your list takes. When they receive emails, when and if they open them, what links they click on, and more.
If crafting your welcome sequence is something you know you need to do but have been putting off, no more waiting. Open a fresh word doc and follow the steps for each email. Before you know it, you will have a weeks worth of emails ready to launch every time you get a new subscriber to your list.
Its not as scary as you think. And if you need additional support with copy writing or setting up your email marketing tool, reach out and I am happy to guide you along. Time for you to take action to grow your brand or your business with email.
