How to Turn Email Subscribers into Loyalists - Amanda Nicholson

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-nicholson-20a23a225/

Website: amandanicholson.com

00:01 So you have an email list full of subscribers, but every time you send an email crickets. What the heck is going on? Hi, I'm Amanda Nicholson, I'm a special Ed teacher turned email marketing strategist and I am showing you my top tip for turning email subscribers into loyalists for your brand. Let's get started.  

00:30 So you might have an email list that you haven't touched in a while. Maybe you are just getting started or maybe you have trial and error your way through email marketing more times than you can count. Maybe you have unengaged subscribers. They never respond to anything no matter how many times you ask them to. Maybe you are sending emails as often as you can with your product to service linked and 0 results to show for it.  

01:04 Maybe you were staring at a blank Google doc and hoping that the blinking cursor will just write something itself. I get it, I've been there email marketing can feel overwhelming sometimes. But my friend, it sounds like you just need a welcome sequence. So a welcome sequence is a series of emails that you send after someone opts into your email list. So no matter how they got on your list, a welcome sequence are the is the first series of emails that they received from you.  

01:41 Welcome email sequences are actually the most effective sequence there is. More effective than sales email sequences. Current email marketing trends show that welcome emails, on average, get about a 91 % open rate, and 74 % of subscribers expect to receive them. So when they opt into your list, they're already expecting to hear from you. That's great news.  

02:11 Now, a welcome sequence isn't about just sending emails, hoping that you get responses, hoping that you make sales, not about pressing send and crossing your fingers. An effective welcome email sequence works when there is intentional strategy behind it. This is the opportunity for you to introduce yourself. Tell them why they can dress you, showcase your expertise. Let them know why you are the go to person to solve their problem. I'll show you how to do that with your own welcome sequence.  

03:05 Whoops. All right, so like I said, there needs to be intentional strategy right now for me, every email needs these four things. 1 is a call to action. This can lead them to a wait list. This could lead to one of your product or services. This could lead them to a blog post, a podcast episode, a YouTube video. You need to have a statement or question in your email that leads them to something else, but that something else still needs to do with you to keep them engaged with your content or your products or services.  

03:50 Second is personalization. People want to feel sane. They want to feel like they're having a one-on-one conversation with you. They want emails to feel personal. Every email service provider I know of has a personalization option, so take advantage of it. Next is an enticing subject line. Keep it short. No need to summarize a whole email in the subject line and keep them guessing. You want them to read that subject line and think, I have to see what's in this email as soon as it lands in their inbox.  

04:33 And next is a gripping opening. They should immediately be interested in what you're saying or identify with what you're saying so that they'll read your email all the way to the end. Here, I'd like to start with a a question or a strong statement. You might start off with something that's surprising or a statistic, something that makes them say, whoa, I got to keep reading this.  

05:09 All right, So what I like to do is have a strategy for each individual email I send in a welcome sequence i recommend sending at least 5 to 7 emails over a week and a half to two week time frame. You want to send an email every two or three days so you don't overwhelm them, but also so they don't forget who who you are. You want to stay top of mind in their brain. So the strategy for the first email in your welcome sequence I recommend is this is when you're going to deliver your free resource and send it immediately. Here you can introduce yourself, thank them for signing up and give them a little snippet of what to expect on your email list.  

06:02 Your CTA here is going to be to reply to you you want to open that two way avenue for communication. Let them know that you're there for them, that you are willing to engage with them to build an authentic relationship. Because when you build an authentic relationship with your clientele or customers, you don't have to sell. They already trust you. And if you look here, I've got an email copy example that is free for you to use you can go ahead copy and paste.  

06:42 It's plug and play, set it to your industry, things that make you, you, but that is free for you to use. Please go ahead and do so all right. And obviously we want to write emails that people want to read.  

07:06 And a way that we have connected with people since the dawn of man is through storytelling. We love good stories. This is an opportunity for you to share a story about your experience and how it relates to a pain point or desire that your audience has. You can expand this to reconnect it to your mission. Why you do what you do what is your why and do you want the CTA here to be to reply to you again? I may also suggest one call to action and then APS section that you could slip in your book a call or buy my product link there. You don't have to have just one call to action in your email you can have a few, so I would recommend splitting it up in this email and adding APS section.  

08:03 Those can also be very powerful for the people who skim and scroll. And if you look here, I also have an example copy for this email. Please go ahead and utilize it again copy, paste, plug in your info and go for it. Email 3 is to take people to the next step. This is your time to ease their fears, help them overcome any objections they have to working with you, maybe even but some myths that circulate in your industry. And this is also a time where you can bring in hard data to backup your claims.  

 08:47 You will have numbers people on your email list and they will really appreciate having some hard data to justify it. Your call to action here is going to be to book. This is where you can finally put in your your call link and of course, use the copy example email for story time again, but this time you're going to tell a story that builds your credibility. Why are you the go to expert? Why are they going to come to you to help them solve this problem? This is when you can stir their desires and really paint a picture for them that shows them how their life, how their business looks like after they work with you.  

09:32 Tell them about how you made that happen for someone else. Help them relate by telling them you've been exactly where they are and you got out of it because this is what you did. And hint, hint, it's working with you. That's how they get through it. Include some testimonials if you don't have any ask clients, ask customers people are willing to sing your praise and word of mouth is so powerful you want that to work for you.  

10:01 Your call to action here is going to be book a call or buy your thing and again, use that email copy. That's for your disposal.  

10:20 Email five is moment of truth. This is where you put the choice in their hands. You can encourage them to take the next step. What's it look like when they accomplish their goals? How can they get there? You can address common questions, ease their fears, and continue to paint the picture of their desires again, what are they trying to accomplish? How can you help them get there? That's what we want to drive home in this email and again include testimonials. They're so powerful. Your call to action here is going to be book a call and buy. I recommend one call to action and also a PS call to action in email 5 and again you have this email copy example go ahead, copy and paste, plug and play.  

11:21 Now, after all emails have been sent, you want to keep track of the analytics most email service providers will allow you to look at the analytics for the entire sequence as well as individual emails. When you are looking at these analytics, pay attention to are people opening, are people clicking? Are people responding to your call to actions are you getting calls are you getting sales? What is happening and what isn't that you would need to tweak and fine tune.  

11:55 If nobody's opening email, three maybe you AB test that subject line, try something else, see if it works. If people are falling off after email, four you know, take a look at the copy maybe you need to redo some of it maybe you need to add APS, call to action maybe you need to move some things around. Maybe one of the stories that you wrote isn't quite connecting, so we just try to loop that back together again because we want them to get all the way to email five that's the goal. Email 5 and of course work with you. Email marketing can be such a powerful tool when it is used with strategy and intention.  

12:44 Thank you so much for joining me today i really appreciate your time. I hope this is helpful. If you feel like you want more guidance planning your emails, I've linked a free resource here it's my mission driven email master plan you can plan an entire month, quarter, and if you're feeling real ambitious, an entire year's worth of emails here. There it's entirely free there's content prompts for newsletters, there's tracking, there's all this good stuff that is free to you and I want you to use it. I want this to be easy for you and I want you to see results.  

13:27 You deserve it. Go ahead connect with me on LinkedIn and then Amanda Nicholson, shoot me an email or head to my website, amandanicholson.com Again, thank you so much. I appreciate you, and I can't wait to see how your email marketing jump starts this june.