Email Marketing | How Much is Too Much?

“Can you setup a campaign to send an email every 3 days for our new sales funnel?”
“Sure! For how long?”
“Until they opt out.”

This was an actual request for a client a few years ago.

Essentially bug your audience every three days until they either engage, buy, or opt-out.

No exit goals, no multi-funnels – just recycle the same email every 3 days until people were sick of receiving it.

Of course, as the diligent VA I am (insert eye roll to fake arrogance) – I quickly chimed in and explained this wasn’t the best approach for a number of reasons – the main one being spam (even if they opted in).

While this client did not consider it spam (and if you don’t know the definition of spamming, I will provide the Wikipedia definition below) – it would have been excessive and could have led to a bad customer experience and negative word of mouth.

What did I recommend?

Sending an email full of value with a desired call to action.

Setting up a campaign/automation (terminology differs depending on the system):

• to resend the email ONLY to those who do not open it
• to send a different email to those who open but don’t click
• to send yet another email to those who click on the link.

Now you have a multi-level automation that is more customizable for your audience and where they are in the process.

For those who do not open:

Use this as an A/B testing opportunity. Send it again in three days and change the subject line.

If they still don’t open, send it again three days later with a different subject line. There is no need to change the content of the email body because they are not opening it (meaning they aren’t seeing it).

If your EMS has a preview text option – change this each time as well. Your subject may not be compelling but a preview of the content may help with opens.

When the contact opens the email, the campaign/automation should be setup to pull that individual out and place them into the if/then for those who open.

If three emails have gone out and none have been opened, end the campaign – no need to send a “What happened” or “What did we do wrong” email – just assume whatever you were mailing about wasn’t of interest and maybe they will engage next time

For those who open but don’t click:

Now you’re cooking with gas!

You were able to break out of inbox prison and your content has been viewed by your contact.

But they didn’t click.

That’s ok – life happens.

They may have been reading it in a place where they couldn’t click to download, buy, or learn more.

The point is step one is down and now we need to get them to click.

Let’s focus on your content. Ask yourself these questions:

1. Is your call to action clear? Does the reader know exactly what to do?
2. Are there too many details? Too few?
3. Is the content too specific (only for a certain gender) or too general (may not know if it applies to them)?
4. Is the value clear? Do they know the benefit of clicking/purchasing?

The answers to the above will mold your next two emails along with your “What happened email”

After the individual opens, three days later – send another email and send one more three days after that.

For these emails, make sure you put their name in the subject line (the second email put it in the front, the third email, put it at the end).

These emails will focus on two of these items: call to action, details, content relevance, and value. So pick two for the second email and the other two for the third email.

• Call to action – Reiterate your call to action three times in your email. Midway down, before the closing, and again in a P.S.
  
  Try not to start selling in the first sentence – build up to it!
  
  If you use images, make sure they are hyperlinked to your call to action and use at least one banner image or product image that clearly states what you are trying to promote and what they should do to opt-in/learn more/buy.
  
  
• Details – If you have a long form sales page or a landing page, you don’t need to make your email the same way. Time is money and we only have so many minutes in a day so make sure your email is short, quick, and to the point. When viewing, your reader should be to answer:
  
  
  • Who it is for
  • Why it is important
  • What to do to move forward
  • When the product will be received or when the course will start
  • Where/How the product will be delivered
    
    
• Content Relevance – Make sure when you send your content, again clearly state who it is for (and you can even have a section that says “Who this is for” (or some variation to that) and “Who this is not for”. Don’t make your audience do homework or overthink. Impulse is revenue’s best friend.
  
  
• Value – Super easy – what’s in it for them? The email is not about you – it is about them. How can they benefit? Why should they spend their money, time, or put in the effort? How is your product/service going to make their lives better? Make sure these questions are answered for them.

For those who click:

At this point, the email side is almost over – you made it into their inbox, they opened, and they clicked.

It is up to your sales/landing page to seal the deal.

But what if it doesn’t?

Unlike those who open, the individuals that click will not be pulled out of the automation UNLESS they complete the goal (they successfully complete the action you are trying to promote).

For example, if you are selling a course – upon successfully purchase, the system you are using (Teachable, Clickfunnels, LeadPages) should integrate with your email marketing service and tag the individual so the “goal” setup within the automation is satisfied and they are pulled out.

Back to those who clicked but haven’t purchased. This is where you move away from an email marketing mindset and more towards an abandoned cart/reclaim the sale mentality.

These emails will no longer provide the four items explained above. Now you are just trying to get them back to the sales page.

The mission now is to build more of a sense of urgency – meaning these send sooner rather than later.

It’s corny but you really do need to make them an offer they can’t refuse!

• 1st email – Sent one hour later – Reminder they didn’t finish the goal and help them pick up where they left off or provide an avenue to answer questions (email us here, chat with us, schedule a time to meet).
• 2nd email – Sent 24 hours later – For a limited time, if you purchase within the next (hour, 12 hours, 24 hours – make sure your sales page/landing page can reflect this with a redirect timer) you get: xx% off, $xx off, this bonus.
• 3rd email – Sent at least 15 minutes but no more than 1 hour before the above deal expires – Time is running out and this will be gone forever (or something a little less dramatic).

The content of each of these emails will diminish.

• The first email should have what is being offered, all the benefits of why this product/service is a “must have” and a direct link to checkout (and if you can – a cookie enhanced order form so they can pick up where they left off)
  
  
• The second email focuses more of the special offer, why it is such an amazing deal, with a recap of the BIGGEST highlights of your program/product/service along with testimonials of those who have purchased.
  
  
• The third email is very direct and to the point – time is running out – buy, here is the MAIN reason why, and at least 1-2 new testimonials (or recycle your best ones).

Important: You don’t want to keep emailing someone that has completed the process or it will just create confusion and concern (Was payment processed? Is this a fraudulent? Did they just get conned? Etc). Avoid the unwanted hysteria!

Best practice: Make SURE your campaign tags those who clicked. By tagging them, you now have a better understanding of your warmer leads/prospects and may decide to use this tag/list to send Flash Sales and special deals with a better chance of closing the sale.

This of it like a Facebook pixel but for your email system.

What now?

Five to seven days after the last emails are sent to those who opened and didn’t click and those who went through your abandoned cart campaign but didn’t purchase – send one final email.

This email is the “What happened” email. You don’t need to send a separate one to the two lists, the same one for both can be relevant.

In this email, you are essentially recapping (VERY briefly) the offer but you are also asking questions: What happened? Was there an issue with the link, the checkout page? Did we do something wrong? You can also use this an opportunity to direct them to a survey to learn more (free market research) for your next launch.

All in all, a person that goes through your entire campaign may receive a MAX of 10 emails over the span of a few weeks BASED on their actions and relevant to where they are in the decision process.

This method creates a better customer experience and useful segmentation for future launches.

Image by talha khalil from Pixabay