There are lots of different types of email marketing, from nurture campaigns to upsell emails. The best results I’ve seen for my clients have come from using a mixture of different strategies. But which strategies should you use?
For successful email marketing in your business, you need to find the email campaigns that suit your unique audience and offer. I’ve talked about nurture emails, sales campaigns, and newsletter updates previously, but what about when you make an offer and they don’t buy?
It can feel like all of your hard work hasn’t paid off, but there’s a type of email that is designed for this very situation.
You need a follow up campaign.
These emails win back sales you would have otherwise lost and can increase your business income in the background.
It used to be said that a prospect needed around 7 points of contact before they’d buy, but since the introduction of the internet, this has increased to more like 12! Most businesses don’t follow up on lost sales nearly enough, and that can equal huge losses once you add it all up.
What Is A Follow Up Campaign?
Some businesses struggle with follow up campaigns because they’re concerned about being annoying or pestering their leads.
The truth is that a lot of the time people won’t take up your offer and it can be for a multitude of reasons. They forgot, they’re busy, they have unanswered questions, they plan to do it later… Done right, a follow up campaign is the answer to all these reasons.
A follow up campaign is a series of planned emails, which are usually automated. The first email would be triggered by someone perhaps requesting a quote but not converting within a certain time period.
These emails are created to overcome common objections, continue to build a relationship with the prospect and more clearly present your offer with its benefits. Objections might include the cost or trustworthiness of your coaching or speaking offer, and these emails would address that point by point.
Effectively, follow up campaigns are a gentle, drip drip approach that offers reassurances, keeps you top of mind and overcomes any initial wariness, objections or confusion.
These emails will also emphasise the deadline of your offer – giving leads a specific timeline to make a decision can be an incredibly useful tactic. In the end, your follow up campaign is working tirelessly behind the scenes to convert more uncertainties into sales.
Why It Works
It’s important to remember that people are busy. And, even if they’ve engaged with your nurture and sales campaigns and have an idea of what you can offer, they still might not trust you. Not enough to take you up on your offer.
People might also show interest initially and then totally forget about your business because, well, life happens!
If your potential leads are still unsure, then asking once simply won’t be enough to get a result. Staying top of mind is key, so reaffirm your offer and the relationship you’ve built through the rest of your email marketing process. Don’t be afraid to keep asking for that conversion.
The majority of businesses don’t follow up properly, and so they lose out on this considerable portion of sales. But you can learn a lot too from follow up emails. If you make contact with someone who isn’t buying, you’ll find that people will tell you exactly why they haven’t made the leap to purchase.
With this valuable information you gain insight into your real-life audience and can adjust your strategy accordingly.
How To Create Good Follow Up Campaigns
There are a few key elements that go into creating an effective follow up campaign. The first step is crucial for any marketing campaign, and that’s defining your goal. Ultimately you want your follow up campaign to achieve the following:
- Overcome objections like cost, time, value
- Reconnect with people who have forgotten/lost interest
- Ask again, giving leads another chance to take the offer
You can make those goals much more specific, according to your business and offer, but starting with a good plan is going to give your emails clear direction and purpose.
Next, consider automating your follow up campaign as much as you can. This makes sure that every lead has the same experience, and your content and delivery time stays consistent and easily measured.
If you’re too busy to follow up on every lost lead yourself, automating will be extremely important to make sure you don’t lose out on those sales.
When it comes to the content of your follow up emails, pay attention to the tone you use. Keep it light and engaging, furthering the relationship you’ve worked so hard to build with them. A friendly, conversational tone is always a good move for email, because who wants to read a stiff, boring message?
Providing value within your follow up campaign is your secret weapon. Ask yourself what you would want to read in an email from a business like yours. Some of the best things to include in your follow up emails are:
1
Stories, like case studies or personal experiences. Focus on giving a beginning, middle, and end that ends with a clear point of value.
2
Answers to objections, like concerns about the cost of your offer. They may not want to pay right now, but they could change their mind if they realised the immediate value of your offer.
3
A deadline, which puts a clock on their decision making. Having a reason for a deadline is useful too, for example, wanting to give access to a webinar before it’s removed.
The best time to implement these follow up campaigns is after an email sales offer. It could also be useful after you’ve pitched on the phone, in person, or they’ve interacted with an offer without converting.
Email marketing works best when you bring it all together, creating a journey for your buyers that gives them value and information at every touchpoint. Learn more about the other types of email marketing in my Art of Email Marketing blog series.
