In Email Marketing, Prevent Reader Boredom: Fresh Angles for Repeat Email Promotions
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In Email Marketing, Prevent Reader Boredom: Fresh Angles for Repeat Email Promotions
by Marcia Yudkin
When you have an upcoming event you hope people sign up to attend, you can't just keep sending the same promotion twice or three times a week for a month. Ditto when you have a new product or service to promote. Somehow you must vary the subject line and message and keep those on your list opening your emails, reading and reconsidering the commitment to your offering that they haven't yet made.
But how?
Here are 12 techniques to use when you must keep promoting the same thing to the same people. Yes, they'll figure out what you're up to, but because you're earning their attention every time in a different way and engaging them with relevant content, they will not object. These techniques increase your open rate, prevent opt-outs and boost sales for whatever you're repeatedly promoting.
1. Hit on a different benefit in each message. Instead of piling on all the benefits of your offering in your initial promotion and then having nothing else to say, devote separate emails to the benefits, one at a time: one email on how they will save time, another on how they will save money, another on how they can prevent legal tangles, and so on.
2. Elaborate on different content points. Similarly, instead of simply listing bullet points of what they'll learn from your webinar or home-study course, develop these at greater length, one per email.
3. Tie in to something ultra-timely. If floods, blizzards or earthquakes are in the news, connect your product, service or event to what's on people's minds. This can be a superficial opening comment or a deeper point about the benefit of buying what you're selling. Just make sure you make the connection relevant to your topic.
4. Provide a little sample. Quote several paragraphs from what you're selling. Offer free data from a research report. Or give away a widget that's built into your software.
5. Highlight a testimonial or case study. Promote indirectly by talking about what a specific customer or client gained from your item. Talk about how they implemented your solution and the difference it made for them. Or quote them at length on why they were delighted with what they purchased from you.
6. Describe the fit with a specialized situation. Prospects often wonder: "But will it work for me?" When you can identify a common sub-niche or two on your list, such as beginners/experienced people, nonprofits, women/men, address their specific questions and concerns.
7. Relate to something in a book, article, blog or movie. You can either refer to something that's burning on the best-seller list or at the box office, or you can tie your offering to something classic. If you sell heavy-duty industrial equipment, it can be a children's book. If you're pushing politics, you could riff off a scene from a sit-com, then elaborate on the point. The more unexpected, the better!
8. Offer tips or resources. Usefulness earns attention. Make sure the tips or resources stand on their own and can be implemented whether or not people buy. This builds your credibility and suggests the value customers get after handing over their credit card.
9. Discuss a common objection and counter it in depth. You probably have a sense of what can keep people from signing up - money, lack of time, uncertainty about your item's importance or quality, etc. Choose one or more of these doubts and address them as credibly and strongly as you can.
10. Invite questions from those on the fence. Simply asking for people's questions midway through a series of emails can be a powerful way to convert maybes into yesses. Either send personal replies or summarize answers to the questions received in the next email in the series.
11. Report related studies or survey results. When I'm out of ideas, I often go searching in Google News for recently released research or surveys that prove the need for what I'm selling or illustrate a particular point in my pitch. Science Daily is another great source for such tidbits.
12. Warn against a common mistake. For instance, if you're selling propane, tell customers why they shouldn't wait until their indicator dial goes into the red to reorder. If you're promoting new software, explain why companies will get into trouble by trying to make do with what they already have.
Go forth now and keep those readers interested!
Veteran copywriter and marketing consultant Marcia Yudkin is the author of Persuading on Paper, Meatier Marketing Copy and 13 other books. Besides mentoring marketing departments in copywriting skills, she runs a one-on-one mentoring program that trains copywriters and marketing consultants in 10 weeks. Participants learn no-hype marketing writing skills and business savvy. For more information, go to
http://www.yudkin.com/become.htm
by Marcia Yudkin
When you have an upcoming event you hope people sign up to attend, you can't just keep sending the same promotion twice or three times a week for a month. Ditto when you have a new product or service to promote. Somehow you must vary the subject line and message and keep those on your list opening your emails, reading and reconsidering the commitment to your offering that they haven't yet made.
But how?
Here are 12 techniques to use when you must keep promoting the same thing to the same people. Yes, they'll figure out what you're up to, but because you're earning their attention every time in a different way and engaging them with relevant content, they will not object. These techniques increase your open rate, prevent opt-outs and boost sales for whatever you're repeatedly promoting.
1. Hit on a different benefit in each message. Instead of piling on all the benefits of your offering in your initial promotion and then having nothing else to say, devote separate emails to the benefits, one at a time: one email on how they will save time, another on how they will save money, another on how they can prevent legal tangles, and so on.
2. Elaborate on different content points. Similarly, instead of simply listing bullet points of what they'll learn from your webinar or home-study course, develop these at greater length, one per email.
3. Tie in to something ultra-timely. If floods, blizzards or earthquakes are in the news, connect your product, service or event to what's on people's minds. This can be a superficial opening comment or a deeper point about the benefit of buying what you're selling. Just make sure you make the connection relevant to your topic.
4. Provide a little sample. Quote several paragraphs from what you're selling. Offer free data from a research report. Or give away a widget that's built into your software.
5. Highlight a testimonial or case study. Promote indirectly by talking about what a specific customer or client gained from your item. Talk about how they implemented your solution and the difference it made for them. Or quote them at length on why they were delighted with what they purchased from you.
6. Describe the fit with a specialized situation. Prospects often wonder: "But will it work for me?" When you can identify a common sub-niche or two on your list, such as beginners/experienced people, nonprofits, women/men, address their specific questions and concerns.
7. Relate to something in a book, article, blog or movie. You can either refer to something that's burning on the best-seller list or at the box office, or you can tie your offering to something classic. If you sell heavy-duty industrial equipment, it can be a children's book. If you're pushing politics, you could riff off a scene from a sit-com, then elaborate on the point. The more unexpected, the better!
8. Offer tips or resources. Usefulness earns attention. Make sure the tips or resources stand on their own and can be implemented whether or not people buy. This builds your credibility and suggests the value customers get after handing over their credit card.
9. Discuss a common objection and counter it in depth. You probably have a sense of what can keep people from signing up - money, lack of time, uncertainty about your item's importance or quality, etc. Choose one or more of these doubts and address them as credibly and strongly as you can.
10. Invite questions from those on the fence. Simply asking for people's questions midway through a series of emails can be a powerful way to convert maybes into yesses. Either send personal replies or summarize answers to the questions received in the next email in the series.
11. Report related studies or survey results. When I'm out of ideas, I often go searching in Google News for recently released research or surveys that prove the need for what I'm selling or illustrate a particular point in my pitch. Science Daily is another great source for such tidbits.
12. Warn against a common mistake. For instance, if you're selling propane, tell customers why they shouldn't wait until their indicator dial goes into the red to reorder. If you're promoting new software, explain why companies will get into trouble by trying to make do with what they already have.
Go forth now and keep those readers interested!
Veteran copywriter and marketing consultant Marcia Yudkin is the author of Persuading on Paper, Meatier Marketing Copy and 13 other books. Besides mentoring marketing departments in copywriting skills, she runs a one-on-one mentoring program that trains copywriters and marketing consultants in 10 weeks. Participants learn no-hype marketing writing skills and business savvy. For more information, go to
http://www.yudkin.com/become.htm