I have a question about listening to your list

9 replies
I'm running through some list building courses i have bought in the past; right now and in it the teachers are emphasizing on listening to your list i.e. times of day your list is most responsive.


MY QUESTION
if you just put down on your landing page or your first email the time of the day you will be sending them an email, dont you think you will get more of a targeted consumer. For instance if i'm driving traffic to my landing page that has an fitness incentive and i state that i will be sending emails out at 9AM US Time (i would state the country to be a little more specific for the consumer) don't you think you will be getting people who get up earlier and check their email first thing in the morning. This way in a sense you will be developing some kind of eagerness from the consumer to want to look at your email first thing in the morning, this way they expect to get your email, schedule to read what you have to say, look forward to your email and build more a personal relationship with this person because now they have that subconscious sense of trust and relation, that "Hey, i wake up early, i like what this person has to offer, i think ill subscribe"

OR
can this generally be a waste of time and you should just target a mass and then whittle it down. I think being time specific would automate the whittling process.


Does anyone have any experience?
#list #listening #question
  • Profile picture of the author monicawomble
    The best advice is to split-test! You will hear it again and again, but successful IMs do LOTS of split-testing. Sure, you can research what other say, but like you said above, maybe your readers get up earlier than other people's readers (or some other situation that makes them different than other readers). Then again, maybe your readers follow the general pattern that others are teaching.

    One thing is for sure... listen to your readers. You are there for them (in a sense) and you must listen to them and follow their patterns. YOU change and adapt according to them, not the other way around.
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    • Profile picture of the author OfficerIM
      Originally Posted by monicawomble View Post

      The best advice is to split-test! You will hear it again and again, but successful IMs do LOTS of split-testing. Sure, you can research what other say, but like you said above, maybe your readers get up earlier than other people's readers (or some other situation that makes them different than other readers). Then again, maybe your readers follow the general pattern that others are teaching.

      One thing is for sure... listen to your readers. You are there for them (in a sense) and you must listen to them and follow their patterns. YOU change and adapt according to them, not the other way around.
      What im trying to say is that, don't you think you would get a much more dedicated and committed consumer rather than just going to for bulk.
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        I think you are over-thinking this.

        For a start, there is no "US time", as the USA has five time zones (plus Hawaii). So "9 AM US time" could mean anything from 4 AM to 1 PM.

        Nor can I imagine all that many people glued to their email accounts just waiting for an exercise email. There was a day when an exercise TV show could pull that off, but the DVR has pretty much killed that off.

        I believe that's one reason why so many popular TV shows are adding apps for interactive content. It's an attempt to get people to watch a show at its scheduled time, not when it's convenient for the viewer.

        Unless I have a very good reason, I schedule emails to go out in the wee hours in the time zone my server is located in, because that time slot is less busy on the server.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarevok
    I think it's actually something worth checking out.

    In the future (mark my words) there's going to be a WAR on email marketers and "Conceptual Consent", "Implied Consent" and a million other "Consents" and what "Consent to email" actually means. (Does just GIVING your email away give them the right to email you daily? Etc.).

    In other words: blind squeeze pages might eventually be "banned" and you have to SPECIFICALLY INDICATE the frequency of your emails.

    So, not only does your idea have merit, but it might actually be creating expectations for your subscribers. (A subscriber that knows exactly what to expect is statistically more likely to take action... That's my hypothesis).

    PS: This is all highly theoretical stuff. (For me at least... Because I have NOT split tested this data). So - While actually implementing... It might totally flop.

    But, I hope you can see that it has at least some practical use... Why not split test TWO lists - and then brainstorm after having a nice point of reference and accommodating statistics?

    (And then get back to us with your results, of course).
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    • Profile picture of the author OfficerIM
      Originally Posted by Sarevok View Post

      I think it's actually something worth checking out.

      In the future (mark my words) there's going to be a WAR on email marketers and "Conceptual Consent", "Implied Consent" and a million other "Consents" and what "Consent to email" actually means. (Does just GIVING your email away give them the right to email you daily? Etc.).

      In other words: blind squeeze pages might eventually be "banned" and you have to SPECIFICALLY INDICATE the frequency of your emails.

      So, not only does your idea have merit, but it might actually be creating expectations for your subscribers. (A subscriber that knows exactly what to expect is statistically more likely to take action... That's my hypothesis).

      PS: This is all highly theoretical stuff. (For me at least... Because I have NOT split tested this data). So - While actually implementing... It might totally flop.

      But, I hope you can see that it has at least some practical use... Why not split test TWO lists - and then brainstorm after having a nice point of reference and accommodating statistics?

      (And then get back to us with your results, of course).


      That's exactly what i was thinking. Only web developers and people who actually understand computer science understand this. One thing i always find hilarious is that internet marketers aren't developers and developers aren't internet marketers but when you learn how to make money online through he eyes of a person who's committed to DEVELOPING THE WEB and not just making money from it. Your opportunities are much wider, your allot more creative and you definitely see trends before they happen. At least in my observation in studying the market psychology of web developers vs internet marketers.
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  • Profile picture of the author talfighel
    You can always ask your readers what they think about your newsletter. Ask them for feedback and see what they think so far.

    There is also a good chance that many of them are just not going to reply to you. In this case, just send them emails and try to give them value.
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  • Profile picture of the author Samuel Adams
    Think of this from the point of view of the person who is receiving the email. Chances are, that person has daily chores or job or other things to do rather than simply checking emails. Even if you email your newsletter or content at a specific time, that doesn't mean anyone will be looking at it then. So, just mail out the email when it's a good time for you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeffery Moss
    Keeping it generalized with a mention of the material you will send the next day will tease the reader into opening the follow up email. But it won't tie you to any specific schedule as to when the email is going to arrive.
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    • Profile picture of the author Samuel Adams
      Originally Posted by Jeffery Moss View Post

      Keeping it generalized with a mention of the material you will send the next day will tease the reader into opening the follow up email. But it won't tie you to any specific schedule as to when the email is going to arrive.
      Or, conversely if you decide to link the follow up email to a specific time, then you could make it a limited time only special, such as a valuable discount on your best info product that is only available within two hours after the emails are sent. So for instance, the email will arrive at 10AM Wednesday, the special discount or price would be available until 12PM. If you mentioned this in the email on Tuesday, there's a good chance many subscribers would open Wednesday's email.
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