You have collected emails from people interested in your business. Some may have just signed up for newsletters, while others might have purchased something from your business. Now what?
Why you need email marketing
Email marketing is an important element in your marketing mix. You can send emails anytime day or night, and the recipient can open it when it is convenient for them. You can prepare the emails ahead of time and use email segmentation and sequences to send relevant information to your customers (as well as potential customers).
Segmenting your email list
The first thing you want to do is segment your list. Most Email Service Providers (ESPs) have systems to divide your overall list into smaller lists.
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Think about how people joined your email list, then set up segments for each source. Example: People who purchased something from you might be one list, people who just signed up from your website might be another list, people you met at an event might be another list, etc.
TIP: It is easier to think through the future scenarios and set up the segments before you get a large list.
TIP TWO: It’s better to set up too many segments than to have to go back and resegment your list at a later date.
Once you set up your segments, you are ready to set up email sequences.
What is an email sequence?
An email sequence is a series of emails that are sent to someone automatically. I’m sure you’ve received them – you get a welcome email, then a few days later you might get another email, and a week later get another email. That’s an email sequence.
An email sequence is different from an ongoing newsletter, as a newsletter goes out regularly and it includes more generic information. An email sequence is directly related to an event or interval of time.
Types of email sequences
There are a variety of email sequences. People like to think of them in two categories: Trigger based emails happen are when someone performs an action that results in email, and time based emails go out based on time intervals.
Trigger based emails include:
- Subscribing to your newsletter / Welcome email
- Abandoned cart email sequence
- Reading or downloading content
- Buying a product
- Re-engagement email sequence
Time based emails include:
- 7 or 30 days after purchase
- Birthday emails
- Anniversary emails
An event can trigger email sequences, such as signing up for a newsletter, or purchasing a product or service from your business. Interval of time emails examples include sending an email for a birthday, or one month after an order to encourage repeat customers.
Each type of email would be a little different. When someone signs up for a newsletter, they are interested enough in your business to give you their email. So they might be interested in learning more about your business. This is your opportunity to build trust and help them understand what sets your business apart from others through a welcome campaign.
Someone who purchased a product or service has already made a commitment to you. You can set up segments and an email sequence specific for different types of products. Maybe there are other services they might be interested in, or complementary products. Maybe you can offer insights on how to use the product or service. This is your opportunity to make sure that the person that trusted you enough to purchase from you is happy with what they bought so that they become a repeat customer.
Email sequences can be any length, but generally 4-6 emails are in a sequence. Make sure that the information in each email is relevant, or they might just unsubscribe, or worse, mark your emails as spam.
Benefits of email sequences
Email sequences are sent automatically. When someone triggers an action, an email is automatically sent – you don’t have to do anything! Your messages are automatically delivered to a customer (or potential customer). So you spend your time on other important parts of your business.
What should I include in my email sequence?
Put yourself in your customer’s mindset. What might you want to hear or learn? Think of 4-6 topics or ideas that relate to each segment of your email list. You might not need an email sequence for certain segments – so they might only receive a regular newsletter to keep your business top-of-mind.
- Which segments make sense to send an email sequence?
- What might they want to know or learn about your business, products or services?
- What would be your call-to-action in the email? Is it to educate on a product or service? Is it to sell more products? Highlight new products or services? Suggest related products or services? Don’t send an email if there is not a reason for it.
- Make sure that the content of the email is relevant and timely. For example, if you set up a sequence gearing up to summer, make sure you revise it when summer is almost over. That’s the first clue to a recipient that the email is not customized for them.
Once you have 4-6 topics or ideas, flush them out into an email. Remember, a picture is worth 1,000 words. People scan the copy in an email and look at the images. Have a clear call to actions – what do you want them to do?
Writing your emails
Now you are ready to go to your ESP (email service provider) and set up your segments and emails sequences. Each ESP has their own methodology and most have great tutorials. There are very sophisticated systems and some pretty streamlined systems.
If you host an online shop, you’ll want to connect the sales contact information to your ESP. Again, most have excellent tutorials on how to do this.
Scheduling your emails
Once you establish the segments and write the emails, schedule them to start! When someone performs an action, or a certain interval of time goes by, they will automatically get the customized email for that particular stage in building the relationship with your customer!
Don’t you love growing your business and building relationships with current and potential customers automatically? Take the time to set up email sequences to give you more time to focus on other elements of your business.
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