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Improve Your Online Small Business Profits
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Research shows you have only 7 seconds to make a first impression.
When an individual signs up for your email list, your marketing
must immediately engage that new subscribers with a welcome
email. BlueHornet reports that 74.4% consumers expect a welcome
email when they subscribe.
Additionally, your new email subscribers will spend more
when you email them welcome messages. A 180-day study by
Return Path on 100 retailers welcome email marketing
practices found that engaged subscribers who read your
welcome emails spend twice as much money.
Epsilon further confirms the need to send welcome emails.
Their most recent study reports that triggered emails,
like Welcome emails, have open rates 76.7% higher than
regular campaign email messages. Triggered email click rates
also out perform campaign emails as they are 151.9% higher.
11 steps to impress new subscribers with your
welcome email series.
1. Deliver an immediate message.
As soon as a prospect joins your list use an autoresponder
to send an immediate welcome confirmation message.
Use a sign-up confirmation and thank you page on your web site
to notify individuals that they will receive your confirmation
email within moments. Informing prospects that they'll receive
your first correspondence immediately encourages them to keep
an eye out for it and then read it.
2. Set expectations for your email.
Explain what the subscriber will receive from you in your
ongoing email correspondence. Frequently a web sign-up form
just says "Get Tips". Use the welcome email to provide details
on the tips as well as the frequency of your emails.
3. Request "Safe Sender" status.
Encourage your subscriber to add your "From" address to their
contacts list or their address books. This white listing
process will ensure you are considered a "safe sender" by
the subscriber's ISP so he always get your emails.
Also, request the subscriber mark your messages as "Not Spam"
if your initial confirmation email happens to end up in the
spam folder. When a subscriber clicks on the "Not Spam" link
it improves your emails delivery to the inbox.
4. Ask subscribers to Reply to you.
ISPs track subscriber's engagement with your emails.
The more subscribers who open, click and REPLY back to
your message the higher your engagement level. Higher
engagement improves your reputation and gets your emails
better delivery.
You want your subscribers to REPLY to your messages!
In fact many email clients and services, when recipients
reply to your messages, automatically add your email
address to their contacts list or whitelist.
The above is worthy of repetition -
When a recipient replies to your email it frequently gets
your email address whitelisted! You want your 'From'
address whitelisted so encourage your subscribers to reply
to you.
In your emails ask questions, run contests, offer surveys and
give away freebies - just get subscribers to reply and you'll
improve your delivery.
5. Use a clearly branded "From" address.
An individual who signs-up for the DEMC E-Magazine, expects
to get an email "From" DEMC E-Magazine.
If a new subscriber signed-up for DEMC and then received an
email "From" John Jacobs he would not recognize the sender.
If your email goes unrecognized, it will be considered spam
and ignored.
Your welcome email message "From" name and in the body of
your message has to match the brand expected by the new
subscriber, if you want your email opened and read.
6. Write an obvious "Subject Line".
Creative subject lines have no place in welcome emails.
Your welcome email should state the name of what the person
just subscribed to receive. Even better tell them they just
signed up in the subject.
For example you could use the subject:
"You just subscribed to DEMC E-Magazine. Action Required."
A straight forward subject line typically gets the best open
and action rate.
7. Provide a valuable resource.
Your very first message in addition to confirming the new
subscription needs to be interesting and engaging.
Include one of the following:
* Download to an eBook, whitepaper, or guide.
* Offer up a free consultation.
* Ask the subscriber to take a brief survey and reveal the
compiled answers from others.
* Highlight your social media presence and encourage
them to become a social fan or follower.
* Send links to your most popular content.
* Direct the subscriber to your customers' reviews.
* Provide a coupon for your product / service.
Valuable content grabs your subscriber's attention and holds
his interest so he'll want to find out more about your product
or service.
8. Inclued a thank you.
Thank the subscriber for signing up to your email list.
9. Request personal preferences.
Ask your subscribers to return to your web site and provide
additional information in order to personalize your future emailings.
Consider requesting:
* Birthday
* Name
* Zip Code
* Interests
* Gender
Collecting personal data from your subscribers helps you
deliver content that is relevant to their interests. Sending
personalized email is also proven to increase engagement
metrics.
A recent Marketing Sherpa case study highlighted how an
e-commerce site after collecting subscriber data used email
personalization to increase click through rates 750%.
10. Send at least 3 additional welcome series emails.
In each of your follow-up welcome messages provide one of the
value resources listed in #7. The goal of your welcome series
is to contain compelling content that makes your subscribers
want to stick around.
In every email encourage people to contact you with other
questions and/or comments either by email, phone, or social
media.
11. Include sales promotions.
Don't forget to to use your welcome email series to sell too!
One effective approach to selling in follow-up emails is to
discuss a problem that your prospective customer faces.
Select one of the main problems your customer has and review
the negative repercussions of that problem.
Next outline a general solution the customer could take to the
problem. Finally, direct the customer to a specific solution
to resolving the problem - use your product / service.
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Put these 11 tactics to work in designing a welcome email
series. Your subscribers will feel appreciated as well as
be impressed.
A good first impression leads to an initial purchases as well
as long-term engagement.
###
Abbie Drew
DEMC Editor
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