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[FREE PDF Report] 200% increase in my email conversions...

by Matt MacPherson
17 replies
One of the elements I've really been testing and learning a lot about recently is email marketing. In the past I never took it as seriously as I should have. I'm kicking myself after I realized I could be adding thousands more to my bottom line with a few simple tweaks to my campaigns.

I hope you enjoy my list. I've attached a PDF version to this thread for your convenience. Scroll to the bottom and save it to your computer if you like.

This isn't for commercial use so please no not send this out to a list, post it to a blog, or reproduce in any way. This is for Warrior Forum members and my affiliates only.
  • For headlines, I use digg.com and reddit.com. Do a quick search for your desired topic and sort by "most diggs". Digg is (or at least used to be) the BEST place for swiping pre-tested headlines. The site is literally one big popularity contest for headlines.

    For those not familiar with Digg, users vote on what stories make it to the front page. There are a number of factors that determine a stories popularity (with the new version more than ever), but the main variable has always been a snappy headline. Stories live and die by the headline.

    Reddit is a decent alternative, but their headlines tend to be much, much longer than Diggs.

  • During the first week, I like to send my mailings more frequently and then slow it down after that. For example, my sequence is 1, 2, 4, 6 and then every week after that. After a fresh opt-in, your prospect is much more likely to respond.

  • I instantly doubled my profit by sending out my newsletter blasts twice. Once to the usual list and a second to everyone who did not open the email the first time. All major autoresponders do this now. Ask their technical team about it if you want more info.

    Sometimes I'll do this three times. Don't wait too long. Do it the first day, second day and maybe the third day. Don't forget to use a different headline each time.

  • Use video to boost opens, clicks and sales. I’ll send out a blast with a subject that goes something like this: “Check this out {first_name} [VIDEO]”. In the email will be a screenshot of my video player with the play button in the center (use youtube, it will probably increase clicks but I have’t tested yet). Add a text link below it. Once they click on the video image, have it so an actual video opens in a new page. Make sure the video is above the fold and is set to autoplay. Below the video you could add your sales copy or whatever you choose.

  • Incongruent Juxtaposition - say something that is completely contrary to what you would normally say. “I’m out of shape...” if you’re in the fitness niche for example. Be sure to tie in the incongruent headline to a solid story that makes sense. Don’t just use this as a stupid trick otherwise you’ll be getting a lot of unsubscribes.

  • Add a P.S. to all your mailings. If you’re marketing the right way, most of your mails should have quality content in them (trust > open rate > clicks > conversions). At the end of an informative mailing, add a P.S. with a strong pitch and call to action.

    “P.S. Want more KILLER techniques to _______ your _______ in ________? Then I strongly recommend __________ by __________. Click here to check it out >>”

    I like to bold the entire P.S.

  • Content emails should be 600 - 700 words. This is a guideline and by no means a rule.

  • First paragraph of your email should be one sentence.

    Space out the rest in three line chunks just like you would with a sales page. This is also a guideline and not a rule. I break this one all the time and really need to train myself to type in small chunks.

    Breaking your mailings up like this makes it much less intimidating to read.

    Hate it when someone sends you a long email and it’s all one paragraph?

    Yeah, me too...

  • 20 character subject lines work best but I break this one all the time. So take this one with a grain of salt. People generally look to see who the email is from before looking at the subject, so if they trust your name, chances are your open rate will be high no matter what.

  • Track your open / click rates. Take your most responsive emails and move them to the front of your sequence. In fact, order your entire sequence this way. From most responsive to least. This is another overlooked trick that doesn’t get used much but has increased my overall conversion considerably.

  • For better deliverability, ask the user for a whitelisting immediately. I’ll ask for it the minute they sign up. I just copy and paste instructions straight from Yahoo, GMail, Hotmail, etc...

  • Construct each email so it hits on a different “hot button” issue. Basically, you can’t please everyone all the time, so niche your mailings down to hot button topics and eventually you will hit a nerve with pretty much everyone on at least one of your mailings.

  • Include an audio link at the top of your mailings for people who don’t want to read. I save this for my more important mailings because I’m a bit lazy when it comes to this one...
    Don’t read the your email out loud word for word. Make some bullet points and talk about them off the top of your head. Don’t worry too much about getting it perfect. Think of it as a mini podcast.

    This will also undoubtedly increase your conversions. LOTS of people don’t like reading.

Cheers,
Matt
#email #marketing #start #tips #today
  • Profile picture of the author jacktackett
    wow - an actual content heavy post, Thanks!

    Matt - do you have any metrics to back up your likes? Marketing Sherpa provides some - and Dr. Wilson does every once in a while too. Things like open rates on content vs sales emails, do you track response metrics over time (i.e like if I send out an email on Monday, I get 50% of my responses withing 12 hours and by 36 hrs I've got 90% etc). I'd agree this is none of our business but inquiring minds like to know ;-)

    again - thanks for a great post!
    --Jack
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    • Profile picture of the author Matt MacPherson
      Originally Posted by jacktackett View Post

      Matt - do you have any metrics to back up your likes? Marketing Sherpa provides some - and Dr. Wilson does every once in a while too. Things like open rates on content vs sales emails, do you track response metrics over time (i.e like if I send out an email on Monday, I get 50% of my responses withing 12 hours and by 36 hrs I've got 90% etc). I'd agree this is none of our business but inquiring minds like to know ;-)

      again - thanks for a great post!
      --Jack
      I don't track things to that degree. I'm sure as I scale up I'll eventually start analyzing every aspect of my campaigns though.

      I honestly don't think that most marketers need to analyze their campaigns to this level. Sticking to the basics + a few tricks has done wonders for me so far...

      Originally Posted by jamawebinc

      But, this quote means many big name people in the industry people are marketing the wrong way including...

      Morin, Filsaime, Brunson, Rasmussen,
      I don't follow any of those markets. I do believe they primarily market to marketers, which I do not do. Marketing to that audience is much different than most every other niche out there. I've never sold a make money related product in my life so I can only vouch for what is working for me.

      If spamming the hell out of people does it for them... cool. I'm more about moving the free line.

      EDIT: 1 in 3 of my mailing are sales pitches. Or at least that's what I am currently moving toward.

      Cheers,
      Matt
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    • Profile picture of the author drmani
      Originally Posted by jacktackett View Post

      Matt - do you have any metrics to back up your likes? Marketing Sherpa provides some - and Dr. Wilson does every once in a while too. Things like open rates on content vs sales emails, do you track response metrics over time (i.e like if I send out an email on Monday, I get 50% of my responses withing 12 hours and by 36 hrs I've got 90% etc). I'd agree this is none of our business but inquiring minds like to know ;-)
      --Jack
      I normally wouldn't share this information, but Matt simply blew me away with this valuable post - so I'll add a tiny little increment by sharing some data from a few of my niche lists, drawing on recent experience/data.

      Take this with the proverbial pinch of salt - and test it for your list. This data varies with niche/list/sub-list/time period, so nothing is 'golden' or 'cast in stone'.


      EFFECTIVENESS OVER TIME:

      On a typical autoresponder sequence of mine, here are the data:

      Message #1 - 14% open, 22% clicks
      Message #2 - 19% open, 21% clicks
      Message #3 - 21% open, 5% clicks
      Message #4 - 0% open, 6% clicks (non-HTML email, so open not tracked)
      Message #5 - 37% open, 21% clicks
      Message #6 - 25% open, 12% clicks
      Message #7 - 16% open, 4% clicks
      Message #8 - 6% open, 5% clicks

      ... and it goes downhill from here!

      So 'front loading' a sequence with powerful and working emails is a GREAT tactic to boost profits.


      CONTENT VERSUS SALES PITCH:

      Over the last 30 days, I sent one of my other niche lists 16 emails. Here's the data:

      Message #1 - 5.5% clicks - content
      Message #2 - 3.3% clicks - pitch
      Message #3 - 5.3% clicks - pitch, free offer
      Message #4 - 2.0% clicks - pitch, free offer
      Message #5 - 2.3% clicks - pitch
      Message #6 - 2.0% clicks - pitch
      Message #7 - 1.2% clicks - content
      Message #8 - 3.0% clicks - content
      Message #9 - 1.5% clicks - content
      Message #10 - 1.6% clicks - content
      Message #11 - 2.7% clicks - content
      Message #12 - 9.1% clicks - content
      Message #13 - 2.1% clicks - content
      Message #14 - 2.0% clicks - pitch
      Message #15 - 5.2% clicks - pitch
      Message #16 - 3.3% clicks - pitch

      Hard to find any consistent relationship between what the message is about and response rates, right?

      Right.

      Bye-bye, theory about "content ALWAYS wins!"


      OPEN/CLICK TIMING:

      With my IM niche lists, this data is typical:

      20% (on average) clicked on links within the first 15 minutes.
      80% of the clicks happened over the next 12 hours.
      Less than 0.5% clicks take place over the next 36 hours.

      That's contrary to most of my earlier experience, where the first half hour used to get the highest activity. This observation is independent of timing of my mailing, I've tried out variations.

      Seems more people are filing away emails to review 'later'.


      Interesting variations from Matt's 'recommendations':

      * My 'content' emails are 1,200 words in some niches - and work better than short content!

      * My 'subject lines' haven't made a big difference in open/click rates - UNLESS they had the word 'free' in them!

      * A metric that autoresponder stats won't tell you - but (in my opinon) matter more - is ENGAGEMENT with your audience.

      - How many subscribers email you or comment on your message on social media?
      - How often do you get requests to re-publish your content?
      - How often do people tell you your content touched them, shifted a paradigm, inspired or motivated them?

      That' matters. For a related (if not email marketing connected) presentation I watched on TED last night, go to see "Measuring What Makes Life Worthwhile" (17 minutes long)

      Chip Conley: Measuring what makes life worthwhile | Video on TED.com

      "Not everything that can be counted matters. And not everything that matters can be counted."

      All success
      Dr.Mani
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  • Profile picture of the author Mangozoom
    People are paying to learn this stuff ... thank you.

    John
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  • Profile picture of the author Ben_R
    your very generous - thankyou I hope to strat email marketing asap
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  • Profile picture of the author jamawebinc
    Originally Posted by Matt MacPherson View Post

    If you're marketing the right way, most of your mails should have quality content in them
    I think your post was great.

    But, this quote means many big name people in the industry people are marketing the wrong way including...

    Morin, Filsaime, Brunson, Rasmussen,
    Signature


    .
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  • Profile picture of the author Big Al
    Dude ... that's a wicked post - really like it.

    Thanks for sharing.

    I've found the Warrior Forum a good place to find subject lines for emails too and got some good results using them simply because a lot focus on instant gratification and get attention from the market.

    Have had mixed results with Digg - depends on the niche but it's a great tip.
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    • Profile picture of the author RasiFranks
      Definitely going to be using this in the future, especially nice since I do Digg marketing myself.

      Thanks a lot man.
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  • Profile picture of the author pethanks
    Thank you for sharing this. I've learned a lot and I am sure some warriors also.
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  • Profile picture of the author TashaTymchuk
    Hi Matt, thanks for taking the time to give us all this great info. I really appreciate it. After the first week, you said that you only send out mailings once/week. Do you think this is enough? (obviously you do). I would think that 2-3 times a week will end up with more sales? You can pre-sell more etc.

    I know that selling is not the only purpose of email, but once a week doesn't seem enough to really create a sound relationship. I'm really not sure.

    Thanks again
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    • Profile picture of the author Matt MacPherson
      Originally Posted by TashaTymchuk View Post

      Hi Matt, thanks for taking the time to give us all this great info. I really appreciate it. After the first week, you said that you only send out mailings once/week. Do you think this is enough? (obviously you do). I would think that 2-3 times a week will end up with more sales? You can pre-sell more etc.

      I know that selling is not the only purpose of email, but once a week doesn't seem enough to really create a sound relationship. I'm really not sure.

      Thanks again
      You very well may be correct Tasha. I'll consider that. These are by no means rules... just guidelines I use for myself. I've been doing email marketing for over three years now to one extent or another and only recently have I taken it more seriously. So, my beliefs and such are still evolving.

      P.S. I originally grew up in Nova Scotia myself. Hows she goin' bi?

      Cheers,
      Matt
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  • Profile picture of the author bryllescot
    Hey Matt,

    Thanks for sharing some email marketing tips, it would really help a lot. It really helps a lot, guidelines like this can be very beneficial to many internet network marketers and for those who venture into internet attraction marketing.
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  • Profile picture of the author entri3
    whoo hoo...Nice post
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    • Profile picture of the author JTVee
      Originally Posted by jamawebinc View Post

      I think your post was great.

      But, this quote means many big name people in the industry people are marketing the wrong way including...

      Morin, Filsaime, Brunson, Rasmussen,
      Great point.

      It seems in IM a lot of people don't practice what they preach.

      In my experience you do get mainly sales pitches from most big names.

      And nice reply from the OP. I like the bit about moving the Free Line. If you put in the ground work you will get the returns.
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  • Profile picture of the author nelaffiliate
    Thanks Matt! These are really good ideas. I especially like the one about using video to boost opens, clicks and sales.
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  • Profile picture of the author thebitbotdotcom
    Downloaded the pdf. I am going to read it before sending a blast each week for the next four weeks. Hopefully, I will see an increase in opens, clicks and conversions. Thanks for the nice information.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt MacPherson
    Here's another one I just used over the weekend and brought me in a rather large return.

    Basically I'm against doing hard sells to me list over and over again. This lowers response over time dramatically and gets you lots of spam complaints.

    But I've found something that's just as effective...

    Send out either a PDF report or an article that seems like content (people click on content not ads). The content itself should be a subtle pitch. I can't give you an example, but I like to create mystery and some questions in the content that leads into a call to action. They should still come out thinking "that was a good article / report" though.

    Include your JV / affiliate / links in the article or content itself.

    I've also contacted a few JV partners and asked them to send me a free sample chapter I can send out. I haven't sent it out yet but when I do I'm going to construct an email series like such:

    Send out PDF report on topic, two days later send out free sample chapter, 2 days after that send out hard sell. And I can always experiment with the order as time goes on.

    Cheers,
    Matt
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