Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to communicate with your visitors. If done correctly it can be set to automatically communicate with loyal and new readers. Not only that because many bloggers have used email marketing to effectively market and sell products increase profits 2-3 times. However, it’s important you know what you are doing when setting up your email marketing campaign because this strategy is also very sensitive. If you don’t know what you are doing, then you can decrease subscribers, credibility, and ultimately profits. There are a few things which are MOST important when using email marketing.
- Testing and tweaking
- Scheduling and routine
- The content and call-to-action
All of the elements make email marketing so much more effective however today I’ll be talking about what comes after the initial testing process. For example, the auto-responder sequence which takes the stress out of manual email engagement. Let’s explore pre-scheduling before jumping into automation. Let’s get started.
Pre-Scheduling
As mentioned above before starting any email campaign you have to test what works by sending a series of emails keeping stats on open rates, CTR, and other factors. While testing, you’ll learn a lot about scheduling like what are the best times to send out messages and on what days. Every niche will be different so test out different days and times until you find the right combination for you. During this time, you’ll also be paying close attention to the type of content that get’s the highest opens. This will give you a good idea of the content which resonates with your readers and which ones you should send within your follow-up sequence. I haven’t gone into too much detail in this section for two important reasons:
First, I have written extensively about this topic in my other posts. Secondly, everyone will be different when it comes to this factor. As mentioned much of it will depend on your niche. However, once you have figured out these elements than you are ready to move into automating your sequencing. This is very simple and I encourage all of you to take advantage of this feature provided by your ESP. It will make things very easy and it’s very effective to increase your success. Here are a few reasons why auto-responders are so effective.
Auto-Responders Success Rates
Acknowledges the Subscribers –
When someone subscribers to your form having an auto-responder in place is a great way to say “Hi.” It acknowledges the subscribers making them feel important and thanking them for joining your list. With appreciation comes greater loyalty and return visitors. It’s also a great way for them to know they have actually been confirmed as a subscriber.
Building a Relationship –
Having an auto-responder sequence is a great way to build a long-term relationship with the reader. It’s been proven relationships are build when one provides value and assistance to another when it comes to common problems. By sending high-quality content throughout several weeks or month, the reader visiting your blog is now a habit. This means it’s slowly becoming a relationship which will lead to the other factors I’ll be discussing below. Look at it this way:
When someone continually helps you provide information and guidance think about the relationship you build with them…right?
Customer Feedback –
Having a reliable auto-responder sequence is a great portal to ask people for their feedback. In my follow-up sequence I’ll send out content and then after several weeks ask my subscribers to provide feedback by filling out a survey. Not to mention, by getting content in front of your readers you opening up more opportunities for them to start a debate or leave feedback within the comment box. This is a great way for other readers to interact with each other and share knowledge. Next,
Many readers will leave questions leading to additional content ideas.
Loyalty –
Building a long-term relationship doesn’t necessarily build loyalty because I have many readers who will still explore other blogs ad purchase other products. However, having a solid auto-responder sequence is a great way to offer reiterate your mission, objective, and appreciation. Ultimately this will lead to loyalty and at this point the reader will only follow you while implementing your advice. If you encourage them to purchase a product they most likely will because they trust your judgment and experience. For example,
John Chow has been in the business for years and recommends different products. He also has his own blogging program. His loyal readers will purchase his products and take his course to become success bloggers. John Chow has build loyalty from many of his subscribers leading to business growth.