Will Emailing A List 7 Days In A Row Turn Them Off?

7 replies
Client is a kids summer soccer camp in a beautiful woodsy/mountain location. It has world class facilities. It gets tremendous response from teams who go there.

I've been asked to write a single email promoting a discount for teams that register before Nov. 1st.

I believe a single-message email campaign won't get much response.

I want to recommend seven emails.

But I don't want to alienate the client's list by making them feel swamped with messages.

Not sure what best course of action is.

What do you think?

The list is kids soccer coaches. Up 'til now they've received one or two emails per month from my client.

Thanks for your help!

Scott
#days #emailing #list #row #turn
  • Profile picture of the author Ross Goldberg
    The better question is how often does he mail now?

    It's OK to kick it up a notch with a good reason, but unsubscribe rates will definitely go up.

    If he emails now 3 to 4 times per week, 7 days straight won't be that much of a difference.

    If he emails once every week or 2, it will be way too much.
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    • Profile picture of the author kumar
      Hello Scott,

      I had done a similar lead generation project for a client last month. The target population was small truck owners and electricians and the product was a Global Positioning System. The objective of the project was to make the leads sign up for a 30 day trial offer.

      Earlier the client's team used to call up all the leads just once. We decided to send 3 emails to each lead with a gap of 3 days each. I had a template for the first time mail. Then for the first follow up mail, I would write about how I haven't heard from the lead and have hence taken the liberty to write again and mention some success stories of our product. For the second follow up (final email), I would again mention on how much success we were having with our trial offer and attract them again with some more testimonials. Each of the follow up mails would have the original mail below with the link to sign up in the beginning, middle and end of the mail. And yes, I used to mention that the lead should let me know either way what he decided. This way, if he replies giving a reason why he doesn't want to sign up and it is something we could resolve for him, we would contact him by phone to try and dispel his doubts. Our conversions actually increased by this exercise.

      Since you have time till only Nov 1st (9 days from today), probably you could try something similar to what I did.

      Hope this helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author Seirawan
    I agree that if these coaches have only been receiving one or two email per month from your client then 7 days in a row now will probably feel like it's too much to them. I would maybe recommend sending one out today or tomorrow, and then just sending one more like on the 27th or 28th. Just make sure, obviously, that the subject line is compelling and I think you should be good.

    I am a big believer in summer camps, so I do wish you the best with this.
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  • Profile picture of the author Clark
    If the discount amounts to an irresistible offer for the list of kids soccer coaches then they would appreciate being hammered with reminders rather than being upset that they didn't get in on the deal in time 'cause they overlooked the initial mailing.

    In then inital email, set the expectation that the offer is irresistable and you will be sending daily updates with additional useful information over the next 7 days to ensure you have a chance to get in on this amazing offer by November 1st!

    Expand on one or two amazing benefits of the facility/program in each of the 7-day mailings akin to a 7-day course.

    Also, leave a cliff hanger at the end of the message for them to look out for the next mailing on the next topic in your 7-day series.(this conditions the recipient to expect another mailing).

    If you can find a way to create a story about a "Bad News Bears" type of team that became champions or near champions in the year they attended the camp then you'll get some decent responses 'cause these coaches want to win for their kids and the parents and know that this facility will improve their skills, confidence and fun factor.

    Emailing 7 days consecutively to a list that isn't conditioned to it does have the added benefit of stressing the urgency of the offer from a trusted source for immediate response.

    Do it and charge more for it, dude!
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  • Profile picture of the author Floyd Fisher
    You need to wrap it around awesome actionable content, or it will turn them off.

    Instead of just sending out a promotional 7 days in a row, put together some kind of content series that makes sense at this time of year and send that, putting the promotion being run at the bottom of the email.

    Brainstorm with the clients and see what needs the clients might have right now, and run with that.
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    • Profile picture of the author Lance K
      Why was this list built? Was it mainly to sell spots in the camp? If so, then why worry about if you'll turn a percentage of the prospects off? You've already purged your list of suspects and found prospects by getting them to sign up for the list. Now you need to purge the list of prospects by finding the customers.

      Load up 7 days worth of emails where each one centers around something specific covered at the camp. Try to get past campers or coaches to give detailed testimonials with specific results achieved as a result of learning that skill at the camp.

      You could even hire a celebrity coach or player to endorse the value of going to camps and send that endorsement to your list with a reminder that the discount period is almost up.

      Also, use the messages to update your list on the remaining availability of spots. If space is limited, play on that scarcity.

      I guess the biggest question is...what is the purpose of the list? Is it meant to be a stand alone publication or is it a step in the sales process of the camp?
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  • Profile picture of the author mmurtha
    Hi Scott,

    To me it depends on a number of factors. One of the biggest being:

    1) What type of content are you giving your readers? Will it benefit your readers?


    For instance, I know Paul Myers mails his newsletter differently every time. He'll go on a spree for a couple of weeks where we might not see a peep from him. Then all of a sudden, we'll get 4-5 emails in one week. Sometimes he mails once a week, but most times we never know when we'll get one.

    BUT each and every newsletter has very useful content in it. Meaning it is not full of pitches and fluff.

    This being said, I'm not saying he doesn't run ads in the newsletter. He just has a certain nack for doing it in a manner that is more palatable then most.

    And yes, I like to use PM's newsletter for examples a lot because it's one of the best I've ever had the pleasure to receive in my inbox. Matter of fact, I've never received a bad one from him yet.

    Personally, if you want to study up on the subject, go sign up to TalkBiz and do a case study. It gets pretty interesting.

    Hope this helps ...


    Mary
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