Give a human touch to your emails.
The trap that many people fall into with their email autoresponders is to convince the recipients that they are receiving an automated email!!!!
People don’t like receiving general emails that are not speaking to them personally and sound like they may have been penned by a robot! They want human contact and they will only buy from humans.
So how can you make sure that you break the mold and create an email marketing campaign that speaks to those who have recently opted in to your program? Read on…
A Typical Autoresponder Email Series
Typically people will try to start selling to their new recruits too early, with time-sensitive offers. While it is true that people who have just signed up to your site are the “hottest” prospects, you don’t want to frighten them away with the “heavy sell” before any bonding has taken place.
A typical series will be too sales-y early on, too much like a bombardment and too standardised – with no variation in the types of emails that are being sent.
Bonding
If the above describes your usual approach to email marketing then you might like to consider using your initial communications to bond with the new member.
A better starting strategy would be something like this:
Do you see how this approach may work? It opens the communication channels between you, which is important in itself in the early stages of them signing up; it also starts to create an understanding and bonding without them feeling intimidated that you’re just trying to sell something.
Mixing It Up With Broadcasts
A good idea when you are sending them automatic emails in the first couple of weeks is to mix that format of email up with the odd “broadcast” about an upcoming event or other time-sensitive offer, separate from the automated content. If you send broadcasts out then space out the bonding emails a little so your recipients don’t feel bombarded.
The thing with autoresponders is that some customers instinctively know when something is “canned” and it will turn them off. Keep them from unsubscribing by letting them know that they will be missing out on something – maybe a great upcoming offer or some free content they’ll be interested in.
It’s all about breaking the mold and the true gem of this strategy is described below.
Break The Mold
Try using a “Can I help?” email after a week or ten days; this is totally different to all the other bonding emails you have sent out. It looks different, feels different and is just a simple few lines saying “hi” and asking whether there is anything you can be doing for them. You can leave out your signature even and just use your first name.
The recipients often feel “wow – he/she’s taken the time to sit down and write to me”; often they will respond to this and engage with you; that’s what you’re really after – opening the communication channels further. The more the customer engages the further along the buying cycle they are.
Having done this of course it’s then important to keep providing valuable content as well as offers. But handling the first couple of weeks like this will give you a great springboard for future campaigns.
Hopefully we’ve helped provide some new ideas for future email autoresponder campaigns for your business. The Competition Crusher workshop outlines many other approaches you can use to maximize your online business. Just click here to find out more about it.