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A Question For Experts In Email Marketing...

by Dayne Dylan Banned
21 replies
Hey Warriors, I have a question for those of you who are good at building not only email lists, but also gaining trust and converting subscribers into customers through email follow-ups.

I have an infoproduct that is in the $80+ range. I also have a squeeze page that gives away a free email series on the same subject that my main product is about (just more comprehensive of course).

Which of these 3 follow-up methods should I use for the best success/conversions?

A. OFFER RIGHT AWAY + FOOTER IN EMAILS

In this method, the subscriber opt-ins to the ecourse and after they confirm their email address, they are sent to a "thanks for subscribing" page where I thank them, tell them what to expect in the ecourse, and soft-sell my main product in case they want a "fast track" to more information. Not pushy or "salesy". All the rest of the emails in the ecourse will have footer info on the main product as well. Also not pushy, and not lengthy.

B. OFFER IN FOOTER OF EMAILS ONLY

In this method there is not a "thank you for subscribing" offer or information on my main product. Just a "thank you" and what to expect in the ecourse. All the rest of the emails in the ecourse will have footer info on the main product like I've done in option A above.

C. OFFER ONLY AT END OF THE ECOURSE

In this method, there is no mention of my main product at all until the end of the ecourse.


Thoughts? Advice?
#email #experts #marketing #question
  • Profile picture of the author Coby
    Test all three to see which works best for your product...

    But my experience is Option A normally works best for me and my students.

    Hope this helps and good luck

    Cheers,
    Coby
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  • Profile picture of the author SeanSupplee
    With all honesty you should be hitting them with an offer right away. Not one that is required but something that is geared to helping them out and save them time in what your about to teach them. This most likely will be the bulk of your conversions as in many cases the longer someone is on your list the more your emails go unnoticed/unopened (not always the case but most of the time is)

    You can always send them to a different offer later on mix in value with a time saver always converts well for me.
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    • Profile picture of the author yakim1
      Originally Posted by SeanSupplee View Post

      With all honesty you should be hitting them with an offer right away.
      I agree, You should send the new subscriber right to the sales letter as soon as the submit button is clicked on your squeeze page.

      A thank you message is a waste of valuable virtual real-estate. The purpose of the squeeze page was to get the visitor to your site on your list so you can continue to promote to them.

      There are to many distractions that can keep your message from your subscriber. So make sure they get to your sales letter.

      Best regards,
      Steve Yakim
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      • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
        You'll only get the right answer by testing out the three
        options with YOUR list and YOUR offer made in YOUR
        way with YOUR current skill level.

        However, here's a few things to think about...

        People buy when they're ready to buy.

        Some people are ready to buy right away once they
        subscribe. Others will buy later via offers in your e-mails
        and of course some people will never buy.

        Option A allows people to buy when they're ready but
        you need to have the sales skills to be able to make an
        enticing offer that attracts buyers to you instead of
        turning people off.

        You mention that your offer is an $80 infoproduct. You
        may want to test out offering a lower priced front-end
        offer to increase the number of new subscribers that
        you turn into buyers and then move them through your
        escalating funnel over time.

        So, you use the low-price front-end product you offer
        as a way of gaining a customer quickly, building trust
        and demonstrating your expertise and the real value
        you provide.

        Dedicated to mutual success,

        Shaun
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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    I would not be offering them a free course. It's very unlikely someone is going to buy your paid stuff when they know they still have free information to go through. So option A just doesn't make sense.

    The best way to do this is like this.

    1. Give away your BEST tip/secret only. Not a course. The more you giveaway the less likely it is someone will buy your paid stuff because they need to go through the free stuff first.

    2. Once they optin take them to a sandwich page that gives them exactly what you promised. The free tip should be able to be given in just a few short paragraphs or a quick 2-3 minute video. Remember, quality is what is important in the freebie, NOT quantity.

    3. Under that free tip have a link for them to continue which would then send them to your offer page. The free information should be short and succinct and good. It should also be presented in a way that it preframes the paid offer.

    You can then use the content from your ecourse to create some followup emails and each time directing them back to the paid offer.
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  • Profile picture of the author helisell
    Dayne (OP)

    Take Shaun's advice and test all 3 methods.

    I often deliberately embarrass myself by asking myself this question.

    'So you do marketing on the internet do you?....what aspects of your business are you split testing at the moment?'

    All marketers know that they should test everything but it is staggering how many, despite them handing out all sorts of advice our here on WF, never test a damn thing.

    Me again.....Am I testing right now? YES.

    Am I testing everything I COULD test? NO.


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    • Profile picture of the author JeffreyBenson
      Originally Posted by helisell View Post

      All marketers know that they should test everything but it is staggering how many, despite them handing out all sorts of advice our here on WF, never test a damn thing.
      Testing, testing, testing is the way to find things out for yourself. Marketing is not a one size fit all thing. What may work for Mr. A may not work for Mr. B even if they are selling the same product and targeting the same type of people. But I find that when you give a free gift away, let it be something related to what you are selling and only WET THEIR APPETITE with the free gift.

      It's always better to have a free report or video that leave people hungry for more after they have read or watched your free gift. That way you get higher conversions. LEAVE THEM WANTING MORE.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dayne Dylan
    Banned
    Awesome advice Warriors. Thank you!

    Does anyone know of a way to do this...

    I was thinking in one of my email follow-ups, after my ecourse, I would send an email out to subscribers and give them a link for a 24 hour only discount on my main product. BUT...I would want that link to only work for them, in 24 hours. Does that make sense? So basically, once THEY click it, it activates the 24 hour discount only for them, maybe by IP address or something?

    I don't want to just create a generic coupon code that just sits there and can be passed around.

    I hope I'm making sense. Any ways to do this?
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    • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
      Originally Posted by Dayne Dylan View Post

      I was thinking in one of my email follow-ups, after my ecourse, I would send an email out to subscribers and give them a link for a 24 hour only discount on my main product. BUT...I would want that link to only work for them, in 24 hours. Does that make sense? So basically, once THEY click it, it activates the 24 hour discount only for them, maybe by IP address or something?
      It depends upon the shopping cart you're using for payment,
      your autoresponder and the way that your website is set-up.

      For example, if you have a site based on WordPress, you can
      use a plugin like Scarcity Samurai to create time-sensitive
      pages and e-mail links that contain offers that expire. (It only
      integrates with AWeber, Infusionsoft and SendPepper at the
      moment though).

      Rather than having a time-sensitive offer later on in your
      e-mail series, consider having a time-sensitive offer at the
      start to encourage as many new subscribers to convert
      into new customers as quickly as possible.

      Dedicated to mutual success,

      Shaun
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Originally Posted by Shaun OReilly View Post

        Rather than having a time-sensitive offer later on in your
        e-mail series, consider having a time-sensitive offer at the
        start to encourage as many new subscribers to convert
        into new customers as quickly as possible.

        Dedicated to mutual success,

        Shaun
        Shaun beat me to it. Either a timed discount or fast-action bonus to get people who are almost ready to buy to get off the fence. Then, send them a reminder, not pushy, that the discount or bonus is about to expire.

        In your course, you should give solid, actionable information. You should also take the opportunity to slip in "while this way works, Main Product includes a tool/shortcut that makes this process easier/faster/more accurate" type comments. Then add the footer.

        No one can really give you a blanket one-size-fits-all answer, though. Keep trying stuff until you find your sweet spot.
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  • Profile picture of the author Stuart Walker
    Test all three. A variation of all three would work. Definitely have it in your signature, offer is straight away when you first get their attention then offer it again at the end.

    I do all three currently. Different ways get different peoples attention.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dayne Dylan
    Banned
    Is Scarcity Samurai the only plugin that will do this?

    I think having an ecourse is a must. I want to give them good content, for free, to build trust. My only issue with showing my offer right out of the gate, is I don't want to put them off. I think as long as it isn't pushy, I will be fine. I may try it a few different ways.
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    • Profile picture of the author WillR
      Originally Posted by Dayne Dylan View Post

      I think having an ecourse is a must. I want to give them good content, for free, to build trust. My only issue with showing my offer right out of the gate, is I don't want to put them off. I think as long as it isn't pushy, I will be fine. I may try it a few different ways.
      Honestly, how many optin pages or marketers do you see offering free ecourses nowadays? There's a very good reason for that. It may have been great a few years ago but people just do not have the attention span for that stuff anymore and the word 'free' has been tainted because it has been used and abused so much over the last few years.

      Give away ONE thing and make it your best tip and/or secret. Make it quick and easy for them to consume. Then send them straight to your offer and if done correctly, the free thing will perfectly prefame and roll into the paid product. It should all flow logically.

      You can the send them followup emails with content from your ecourse after that.

      Remember, the time someone is most interested in what you have to offer is the moment they opt in to your form -- that's why they opted into your form. Some people will want to buy stuff right away. If you don't give them the option then you will be throwing money away and doing a disservice to those people.

      If you ran a shop in the real world and someone walked past, saw something in your shop window and then came in to ask you about it, what would you do? Might you show them how it works and then tell them the price? Or would you instead say "hang on, I know you're interested but don't buy anything yet. Why don't you leave me your phone number, I'll call you over the next 7 days and let you know how this might actually benefit you?".

      I think we both know which one makes more sense, right?
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  • Profile picture of the author Dayne Dylan
    Banned
    Will, I see people offer e-courses and free reports all over online. Why? To get that subscriber and THEN to build trust with subscribers with solid content and value. So I have to disagree with you.

    It comes down to the law of reciprocity ;-)
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    • Profile picture of the author WillR
      Originally Posted by Dayne Dylan View Post

      Will, I see people offer e-courses and free reports all over online. Why? To get that subscriber and THEN to build trust with subscribers with solid content and value. So I have to disagree with you.

      It comes down to the law of reciprocity ;-)
      Dayne,

      You are totaling missing the point of what I am saying.

      Did I ever say to not give something away?

      No, I said give them your ONE best tip right away and make it easy for them to consume so they can read it in two paragraphs and be done with it.... and then show them your paid stuff.

      Some of the best free reports I have ever read are those which were 1-2 pages long and included more valuable and useful information in them than a lot of those long and boring 15+ page reports. I'll also let you guess which of those reports get read by more people more often. There is no point having great content if no one ever gets around to consuming it. The bigger your content, the fewer people will consume it and the less amount of that content those people will consume.

      You are making the classic mistake of thinking value means quantity of content, not quality. Your subscribers want quick and fast solutions. I could build more reciprocity and trust in 2 paragraphs than someone could in a boringly long ecourse that most people never get around to finishing.

      Show me any of the better known Internet Marketers that are offering long ecourses nowadays? They may have old pages up from where they used to, but show me any that have it as part of their current plan? No, they are all giving away videos or short reports or things that can be consumed right away.

      It's up to you as to what you do. I'm just interested in what works.

      I learnt this the hard way -- take it or leave it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dayne Dylan
    Banned
    Will, well said. I see what you are saying. I wasn't meaning any disrespect. I may consider taking the best of my ecourse parts, and putting them into one great report. Give that away and then just do follow-ups via email with other tidbits of info, along with promoting the main product.

    Thanks again for your input, I do appreciate it
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    • Profile picture of the author WillR
      Originally Posted by Dayne Dylan View Post

      Will, well said. I see what you are saying. I wasn't meaning any disrespect. I may consider taking the best of my ecourse parts, and putting them into one great report. Give that away and then just do follow-ups via email with other tidbits of info, along with promoting the main product.

      Thanks again for your input, I do appreciate it
      No problems at all.

      As I said, I just learn from my mistakes and that's why I pass it on to you as well so you don't have to learn the hard way. I had issues with a product a while ago that was getting heaps of optins but very few sales. It wasn't until I ran it past another marketer that they were able to see what I wasn't seeing. I was giving away too much free stuff on the front end and as a result, all of those people who opted in were too busy off consuming my free information that they didn't need any of my paid stuff.

      So I learnt to strip it back. Don't focus on quantity instead focus on quality. Someone will like, respect and trust you if you are able to solve a problem they are having. Whether you solve that problem for them in 30 pages, a 7 day ecourse, or 2 paragraphs of text, the result is going to be the same. So why put them through such a long process when you can just give them the results right away and then have them ready and wanting to look at your paid stuff.
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  • Profile picture of the author Coby
    You should also consider not putting your "sales message" in the footer every single time...

    It's good idea to mix it up so they don't get "ad blind" or "link blind"...

    Sometimes pitch the product at the beginning, sometimes mention it in the middle, sometimes as a "P.S."... You get the idea.

    I also agree with Will - I usually prefer to take a video from the product and give it away and then pitch them on the rest of the product. However I also follow up with some other tips but I'm always pitching them on that main product in the emails.

    But like Shaun said - you really just have to test all three (or four or five or six) and see which gives you the best result... Then you can take the winner and tweak it more for even higher conversions.

    Good luck and happy list building

    Cheers,
    Coby
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  • Profile picture of the author Dayne Dylan
    Banned
    You guys are helping me greatly, great advice! Thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author JasonBennet
    For me personally, I feel that the Option A will works the best. Of course you might need to test out all 3 of them if you want to be really sure which gives you the best conversion.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dayne Dylan
    Banned
    I think this is what I will do, after getting some really solid advice here...

    Since I already have the ecourse setup, before I jump to just the single report route, I think I'll test these things first to see how it goes...

    - On the "Thank You" page after they have confirmed their optin to the ecourse, I will give them a 12 hour limited discount rate (or maybe less time than that) on the main product using Scarcity Samaurai.

    - In the ecourse emails, I will make the "lesson" readable in the email, and also create a link to a PDF version, and also an HTML version on the site. This way they have 3 ways to consume the info.

    - I will mix the promotion of my main product within the content of the emails as well and tie it into the ecourse. Basically "tease" them on the information that they are missing (which is in my main product). Maybe mention a testimonial in one, maybe a handful of bullet points in another to wet their appetite, and in another a teaser in the footer, etc.

    If I don't see this work, then I will move to making a single report instead.

    Thanks!
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