***Side note: This blog post started off as a regular old post, but eventually turned into a behemoth of a guide so I’ve split it into 3 parts. This is the first part and parts 2 and 3 will come in the next 2 weeks. Enjoy!***
Here’s the problem. You’ve got HUNDREDS of emailing and marketing/CRM options. MailChimp, Active Campaign, Infusionsoft etc.
HOWEVER. What the hell does your WordPress business NEED to send. How do you exploit the power of email to market and sell your business with those apps we mentioned above.
What type of emails should your WordPress business send to subscribers, leads and customers?
Well, we’re going to cover the sh*t out of this topic over the next 3 weeks. We’re going to look at the applications you use, the basic process of email messaging, what emails to send when AND even give you a couple of examples.
Let’s kick off.
Here’s my advice on the types of emails that your WordPress business needs to send.
This week, we’re going to be looking at:
- Don’t worry about the application you use to send. If you’re starting out, Mailchimp, Active Campaign, Campaign Monitor and AgileCRM are ALL going to do what you need.
- The goal of email marketing is to get list subscribers and leads to convert into sales. That’s pretty much it.
- The goal of your business is to solve problems for customers, make their life better and generate profit and revenue in the act.
- The goal of each email is to either increase the level of trust that your leads/subscribers/customers have in you. Or increase the level of authority you have over their problems and how easily you can solve their problems.
- We do all of this with some simple email automation, pre-determined email goals and CTA messaging.
Don’t worry about the application.
There are 101 email automation and marketing funnel applications out there.
Cloud based.
- MailChimp
- Marketo
- Active Campaign
- Campaign Monitor
WordPress plugins.
- WP Newsletter Creator
- MailPoet
- Email newsletter
Kitchen sink options.
- Infusionsoft
- Marketo
- Sharpspring
- Hubspot
- MailChimp Pro
Underground contenders.
- AgileCRM
- Emailoctopus
- SendinBlue
These are just a few that I could rattle off, off the top of my head. You are going to be inundated with choice. But the truth? They all pretty much do that same thing.
You can add subscribers, 99% have a WordPress plugin (or are compatible with other plugins). You can automate campaigns and send emails after a certain trigger. They all pretty much do that.
If you’re starting out, MailChimp is going to be just fine. It’s $10 a month to start using the automation and does most of the things you’ll need for email marketing funnels.
3 steps to a sale using email marketing and automation.
There are 3 basic steps to a sale when we’re using emails to automate the sales and marketing process. Check out the illustration below. On the far left we have people who have no idea we exist – and we don’t know they exist. On the right are happy customers.
How can you tell I drew and wrote this? Spelling mistakes.
Step 1. Your audience, or people who have no idea you exist, see something that they like and they become interested in what you’ve got to say. If you’re giving enough value and saying things that they like, they’ll sign up and subscribe. They’ll give you their email address in exchange for more awesome content that they like. Now they are a subscriber.
Step 2. If you’re giving enough of the right cool content away, you’re building your authority and subscribers will trust you. They’ll start to follow you and express more interest in your products and services. By this point, you can start to offer them more specific solutions. Gauge their interest by keeping an eye on click rates and open rates for more product/solution based emails. You could even have a call/Skype with them and ask them about what their goals are or what they’re looking for. OR! If what you’re sending is that good, they’ll get in touch with you and ask you if you can help them. Now they’re a lead.
(*Hint* You CAN automate emails to be sent if people click on certain web pages or take smaller, specific actions. Worth remembering, but for this – don’t worry too much.)
Step 3. When someone expresses enough interest in your business/products/solutions/services AND you have a means to contact them – they are a lead. The next stage is converting the lead into a sale. In order to get to a sales stage, you need to qualify a lead and get more information out of them. Their budget, what their needs are, who the decision maker is, what timescale are they looking etc.
Qualifying a lead is INCREDIBLY important. First, it protects your business and means you don’t waste time (e.g. ever had a coffee with a lead, only to find out they didn’t have any budget?). Secondly, qualification lets you understand more about what the lead wants. If you understand more about what they want, it’s easier to convert them into a sale.Get the purpose of your business across.
Value or conversion?
Now you know the basic, overall process for taking people that don’t know you exist – and turning them into a sale via email marketing. Email marketing can essentially take care of step 2 and 3 above.
We do this with 2 different types of email. Authority emails and desire emails.
A few points-
- when I say ‘an email that increases authority or desire’, the email probably delivers a piece of content, a video, a blog post, landing page, product, sales letter or email copy.
- increasing authority is typically what helps subscribers become leads.
- increasing authority is designed to build trust, safety, security, personality (get them to like us) and excitement
- increasing desire is typically what we send to leads to convert them into sales
- increasing desire is about raising awareness of what the lead can GAIN over what the COST of the sale is. So we talk about results, benefits and features
So we pretty much only ever send 2 types of email. An email that increases authority, or an email that increases desire. Simple.
Ask yourself, “when I send this email, is the goal to increase authority or desire?”
“Is this email better off being sent to a subscriber to convert them into a lead, or to a lead to convert them into a sale?”
What are authority increasing emails? Well they’re emails that either deliver or send people to content that makes them trust your business more. Blog posts, videos, problem-solving posts, images, PDFs, guides, cheat sheets etc. Something that makes their life easier and without much investment.
What are desire increasing emails? Emails that either deliver or send people to content that helps them understand how valuable your paid solutions are compared to the cost and where they are now. Sales letters, sales landing pages, product pages etc.
