Many questions we get about the effectiveness of email marketing revolve around one question: Isn’t Email Marketing dead? I wouldn’t blame you for making that assumption. Our email inboxes, sneaky little windows into our most intimate device, are constantly flooded with advertisements, notifications, blog posts, updates, and more. And how many of those do you skip over, or unsubscribe from after months of thinking why didn’t I do this earlier? Everyone experiences these feelings. However, most of us have the cause all wrong. 

Email marketing isn’t dead. It’s still very much alive, albeit hidden underneath waves and waves of loud, unclear, and overwhelming noise. We invite you to challenge your predispositions on email marketing, restore the fundamentals, and watch your business make sales in your sleep. Welcome to the Fundamentals of Email Marketing.

Point of a Sales Campaign

In the sense of getting back to the fundamentals, we must ask ourselves, what’s the point of a sales campaign at all?

The point is to close the sale. Let’s remember this.  You’ve introduced yourself to your customers, but they still have fears about making a purchase, be it cost, efficacy, ease, etc. This is where our sales campaign can pivot into an email campaign. Our goal is not to close the sale immediately, but simply to remind the customer that we exist, and we exist to solve their pain. So, when they are ready to make a purchase, we are the first people they think to call.

In today’s world, a person’s cell phone is the one device that houses the most intimate, personal details regarding all aspects of that person’s life. It is their most trusted companion, their day-planner, their personal assistant, and their problem-solver. Americans, as a collective, check their phones over 8 billion times a day.  If you are in a customer’s inbox, you are being seen multiple times a day, every day of their life. This is important.

The Goal of an Email Campaign

When it comes to our email campaign, like anything else in marketing, if you confuse, you’ll lose.

So when building our email campaign, we want to focus on selling one product. Keep it simple. If your company sells multiple products or services, perhaps consider breaking your email campaigns into different segments to target different subgroups of your target market. 

We want to guide the customer through a series of targeted emails that:

1. Overcome Objections 
2. Ask for the Sale

By overcoming potential objections a customer has before they have them, you are establishing yourself as a guide in their story with empathy and authority. You validate their worries and then overcome them by painting a picture of how wonderful their life will be when they do business with you.

People don’t take action on their own as well. We must be direct when asking for the sale. Too many times we see websites, email campaigns, and marketing collateral that never actually asks the customer to buy something. And this step is paramount in designing effective marketing collateral.

I know what you’re thinking.

“How do I know people on my email list won’t just unsubscribe?”

Here’s the key: your Lead-Generating Asset is your Email Funnel. Connect your automated email campaign to the email addresses you have gathered from a high-value lead generator. This could be a free PDF, webinar, E-book, tips & tricks, or more. The point here is to continue to establish yourself as a guiding force in your customer’s heroic story before they’re ready to make a purchase. So, anyone who signs up to download “5 Mistakes Homeowners Make When Painting Their House” is automatically going to be a hot lead for your house-painting company! You just have to ease them into the sale at their own pace. And that’s quite alright.

The 6 Fundamentals of Email Campaigns

1) Delivery of Asset [0-1 Days]

This email is a simple one. Here you are simply delivering the free asset you gave away on your website. Be it a PDF, E-book, or webinar, whatever it is, this email simply delivers the content. Don’t sell, thank the customer for their interest, and provide the content. In addition to the content you provide free of charge that shows you care about the customer and their problem, this first email is the launchpad to get the customer used to seeing you in their phone, and then become cozy in the back of their mind. You may include a potential Call to Action in a P.S. section, but this first email doesn’t need to.

2) Problem & Solution [1-3 Days]

This email serves to remind the customer of their problem, and encourage your customer to begin to trust your company as the solution. First, we acknowledge their pain points without fear-mongering. We instill some form of urgency in the customer to take action, but nothing pushy or overt. We introduce our product as the solution, the medicine to their illness. And at the end, we insert a Call to Action for those customers who are already on board, and to continue to massage the idea in those who are unsure.

3) Testimonial [3-5 Days]

At this point, we’ve already provided value to our customers by providing our free asset. We’ve told the customer we can solve their problems and heal their pain. Now, it’s time to prove it. Testimonials that highlight how your previous customers have transformed for the better in their journeys are wonderful for instilling that change in your potential customers’ minds. Text is great, but videos are even better. And don’t forget to add your now established Call to Action at the end. Remember, people don’t take action unless they are called to it.

4) Overcome an Objection [5-8 Days]

At this point, we’ve begun to have a conversation with our customers, albeit an automated one. Now, your customer might be responding internally with doubts or objections. “I love it, but I just can’t buy right now because…” This is your opportunity to quell those fears even more. Identify the single most impactive reason why your customer would bow out of the sales campaign. Just like in a debate, quell this reason with another aspect of your product that is the solution. For example, if the cost is the initial factor, perhaps highlight how your product actually saves money in the long run. And don’t forget, keep your Call to Action visible and concise!

5) Paradigm Shift [8-10 Days]

Now, we’re getting close to the sale. However, we have some straggling leads in our email campaigns that are beginning to become distracted. We are fading into the background noise; now it’s time to revert that. In this email, we are going to compel our distracted audience by triggering a change in their patterns of thought. For example, if you are a grocery delivery service, you might start this email with: 

“You thought you had to spend every Sunday in line at the grocery, wasting precious family time. Well, think again. Now, with _____, you can reclaim your Sundays and make them all about what’s most important to you: family.”

Don’t forget your Call to Action as well! This is easily forgotten, but imperative.

6) Sales Letter [10-14 Days]

Finally, we have come to the culmination of all of these messages: the sale.

In your final email, we are directly and acutely calling the customer to action in buying our product or service. There’s no room for shyness here. We must make it clear that to improve their lives, we must first start with the purchase. This letter wraps up the previous five in a concise, directed, and clear method.

1. Start with the Problem
2. Identify the Emotional or Philosophical Problem the Customer Is Experiencing
3. Include a Testimonial
4. Explain Your Offer with Benefit Focused Language
5. Implement a Direct Call to Action (Buy Now!)
6. Illustrate What Success Will Look Like For Your Customer
7. Repeat Your Call to Action
8. PostScript: Include a timed offer; this increases conversion rates when people feel the urgency

By implementing an automatic email campaign that is linked to your Lead-Generating Asset, you will be nurturing customers who aren’t ready to buy yet along a path that eliminates their doubts and encourages them to make their life into a better version by making a purchase from you. The best part is that this entire process is automatic, so once you implement it, you will literally be making sales in your sleep! Remember, email marketing isn’t dead; in fact, it’s very much alive and thriving. All you have to do is start.

Until next time,

The Indy Web Designers Team

1. Americans Check Their Phones 8 Billion Times Per Day - Lisa Eadicicco - https://time.com/4147614/smartphone-usage-us-2015/