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Do you send emails to your list without promoting anything?

by smedia11
25 replies
Emails with no hard or soft sell - nada. Straight up here's a few tips have a nice day?

I haven't yet in my first 15 or so emails, I always includes a "P.S. check this out" link at the bottom that goes to an "alternate" sales page with a free video or article.

Wondering if anyone has found any value in backing off promoting to their list every once in a while?
#emails #list #promoting #send
  • Profile picture of the author ron200
    I am a list newbie, finally getting started with it. From what I have read you should not hound them with offers all the time, you have to provide good free content that keeps them engaged to build a relationship.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve B
      I have found success doing just the opposite of what you're doing.

      I'm not saying there is a right and a wrong way. I only mail an offer once in awhile and only when I have something that is special.

      Here's my reasoning: what does the customer really want from me? I don't think it's a sales pitch every time they get one of my emails.

      I personally don't like that kind of treatment myself.

      Granted, I know there are a lot of marketers that would never be heard from if they didn't send a sales message.

      But for me, and the way I have nurtured my customers, they don't expect me to push a sales message at them all the time.

      I personally feel that if you send too many sales messages, the customer becomes blind to seeing them. If that happens, your conversion rate suffers greatly.

      Here's the bottom line for me: I want my customers to have an enjoyable, valuable, and "can't wait to hear from you again" experience. For my business, that means mostly great content with a few offers sprinkled in, not the opposite. I believe this approach has garnered some loyal customers.

      You're mileage will vary. Why don't you test some different approaches and see what works for your customers?

      Steve
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      • Profile picture of the author XponentSYS
        Originally Posted by Steve B View Post

        I have found success doing just the opposite of what you're doing.

        I'm not saying there is a right and a wrong way. I only mail an offer once in awhile and only when I have something that is special.

        Here's my reasoning: what does the customer really want from me? I don't think it's a sales pitch every time they get one of my emails.

        I personally don't like that kind of treatment myself.

        Granted, I know there are a lot of marketers that would never be heard from if they didn't send a sales message.

        But for me, and the way I have nurtured my customers, they don't expect me to push a sales message at them all the time.

        I personally feel that if you send too many sales messages, the customer becomes blind to seeing them. If that happens, your conversion rate suffers greatly.

        Here's the bottom line for me: I want my customers to have an enjoyable, valuable, and "can't wait to hear from you again" experience. For my business, that means mostly great content with a few offers sprinkled in, not the opposite. I believe this approach has garnered some loyal customers.

        You're mileage will vary. Why don't you test some different approaches and see what works for your customers?

        Steve
        Right....... but you DO email the list often right? Just not with a blatant promo every time.

        You said you nurture your list so it's implied that you do.

        Your ideologysounds similar to mine, that I posted above.
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        • Profile picture of the author marketingdynasty
          The key is to add value to your list and build up trust with them. The more value you provide to your list with helpful info and tips - the more they will begin to see the value you provide and trust you. Once you build up that trust - your list will buy from you when you suggest a product to them.
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  • Profile picture of the author XponentSYS
    Sure, I send emails that don't PROMOTE anything.

    Sometimes I send something of value.... be it a TIP, video, ebook, mind map..... whatever.

    It's true....sometimes I do give stuff away no strings BUT.....

    1. When I do, it's something I created not some crap I found (that anyone could find). It's something I did myself to create value and build my brand

    2. It has to build my brand (above). I call it "subliminal promotion" because that's what it is. Let's face it - were in the game to make money (a lot of it) so everything I do has to somehow lead to that goal or I'm wasting time.

    So even if I'm not "promoting" something per se, I'm always "promoting" my brand by building value so when I do promote something outright...... my conversion rates defy logic

    To that end, depending on how many hairs you want to split, the idea that (technically) I am promoting every time I email is a plausable one.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    Every email i send out i'm promoting something.... even on the first email.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jarvis Edwards
    Having the prospect thinking,

    "I can't wait to open this email, to see what good tips he has THIS time!"

    ...sounds FAR better than,

    "damn, another sales pitch. Let me open this email and prepare to hit delete."

    ---
    Since I hate getting floods of email from people who can't resist the urge to push products every single day, I assume my prospects are the same way. I only send out offers IF they are both relevant to my niche, and PROVEN to back up their claims.

    In other words, rarely.
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  • Profile picture of the author JCorp
    Well, on very rare occasions do I send emails that don't at least have 1 link to an offer. And I email a lot!

    You've got to find your groove with a balance of Value and Promo.

    Once you've got that, then you can decide what's more profitable to you and at the same time, provides value... because don't get it wrong, YOU CAN have both!
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    • Profile picture of the author Cool Hand Luke
      Nope.

      I'm a marketer, not a teacher. No free info or "Hi, just want to chat" emails here.

      My lists exist to:

      a) Provide those who are lucky enough to receive my emails an incredible opportunity to purchase high-quality solutions to their problems.

      b) Make me money for the simple act of being kind and gracious enough to present these offers to those who can benefit from them, in an entertaining and pleasing manner.

      That's it, that's all.

      And yes, I've tested the "give away free info most of the time, and just pitch every now and again" way of doing things that everyone seems to echo as the holy grail of email methodology around here and guess what?

      It SUCKS.

      You can make money giving away info.... you just make a lot LESS than you do when you're constantly pushing for the sale.

      Those are the ABCs of marketing folks: ALWAYS. BE. CLOSING.
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  • Profile picture of the author amuro
    Yes. I just referred them to my blog posts from time to time.

    This is so that they get to know me as a real person, might relate my own experiences to their own like how I got started making $ online and problems I faced initially.

    There are also times whereby I don't leave a single link at all.

    Simple pure content sharing.

    Like writing to a friend.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nail Yener
    I am not an email marketing expert and I do send non-promotional emails more than promotional emails. Emails that provide tips, ask opinions, share something or just to say something nice. The feedback I am getting is that my subscribers like the fact that I don't promote something in every single email. I will never do that and I would never stay on a list of someone who promoted something in every single email unless it is a daily deals type of newsletter that I know I will get a promotion in each email. Others may think differently, some marketers may have good results with sending a promotion in every email, it is just something I will never do.
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  • Profile picture of the author barbling
    Nope. I always promote. I always include other things of value as well.

    This is part of my business.... so I always make it work for me.
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  • Profile picture of the author jamescanz
    Originally Posted by smedia11 View Post

    Wondering if anyone has found any value in backing off promoting to their list every once in a while?
    It's a rarity...

    But if I do it will be to build up some buzz by preselling a product...

    Or a simple "How can I help you out?" email.

    Which from there, you can then figure out what you need to promote
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  • Profile picture of the author FingerPicker
    I'd say 80% giving value and 20% promoting.

    There are some who do it different, me personally gets quite annoyed with their approach and make me unsubscribe.

    Maybe they sell massively to others.. I don't know
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  • Profile picture of the author Sheryl Bagley
    You are always promoting yourself. If you have a good data base and you have their dates of birth you could send happy birthday messages to the list. Happy Easter, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and so on - always a good idea.
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  • Profile picture of the author Stuart Walker
    90% of my emails are links to my my blog posts. Showing people awesome content they might have missed before.

    There may or may not be an offer in the blog post. Usually not.

    The other 10% are email exclusives and promo emails but even the promo emails are usually packed with value and offering the product as an extra.

    A few promo emails are hard sells.
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  • Profile picture of the author Daniel Szalok
    You can send emails without promoting stuff, but don't forget that you won't make any money if you don't try to sell anything.
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  • Profile picture of the author NK
    Make sure you actually have a reason to mail them, not just for the sake of idle banter. Give them tips, suggestions, highlight an interesting but relevant blog post, send them for a survey to build a free report, etc. Saying, "Hi! How are you?" doesn't really do either of you any good IMO.
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    • Profile picture of the author Crowsnest
      Wow, this is a great debate; it has changed my thought on mailing as I would have said that you must nurture a list in order to develop trust and that "knowing" kind of relationship, but I think this debate has opened my eyes to my weaknesses as a marketer! We are indeed marketers and if someone is lucky enough to be on my list, then I will be sending them quality products that I know work, if they use them!
      Thank you for opening my eyes.
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      • Profile picture of the author Sarevok
        It's a philosophical debate... Email marketing is both art and science.

        But here's my motto - I give a damn about my list...BIG TIME.

        But if I go out of business, THEN what will my customers do?



        I fight for them. Just my $.02.

        Originally Posted by Crowsnest View Post

        Wow, this is a great debate; it has changed my thought on mailing as I would have said that you must nurture a list in order to develop trust and that "knowing" kind of relationship, but I think this debate has opened my eyes to my weaknesses as a marketer! We are indeed marketers and if someone is lucky enough to be on my list, then I will be sending them quality products that I know work, if they use them!
        Thank you for opening my eyes.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarevok
    I promote SOMETHING in every email.

    Now... It might not be an affiliate link.

    Maybe it's a link to my linkedin, or a blog I just wrote, or another autoresponder sequence that I'm setting up.

    But - I always promote at least SOMETHING.

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  • Profile picture of the author DeborahDera
    You can, and should, definitely send newsletters without sales pitches in them.

    I'm on a few lists and a lot of them send junk with spammy headlines all the time - daily - sometimes more than once.

    I'm also on a couple that I know are sending me valuable information. Check out tiffanylambert.com, for example. She sends stuff daily, talks about her life, and talks about what she's working on. If she has something new to sell, she'll link to it. Sometimes she's giving a heads up. Sometimes she's telling you about something someone else is selling or offering. But it's not all-sales-all-the-time.

    Build relationships with your newsletters. Earn trust. Offer genuine, real information. It works.

    Originally Posted by smedia11 View Post

    Emails with no hard or soft sell - nada. Straight up here's a few tips have a nice day?

    I haven't yet in my first 15 or so emails, I always includes a "P.S. check this out" link at the bottom that goes to an "alternate" sales page with a free video or article.

    Wondering if anyone has found any value in backing off promoting to their list every once in a while?
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  • Profile picture of the author Brent Stangel
    I mostly send short "promo" emails linking to a blog post or online newsletter that contain ads.
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Manetzke
    Prove to them that you have something to offer. I always give away really good tips and tactics that other people charge for. That way when I send them something that I'm promoting they know it must be really good. Personally I unsubscribe from a list when everything I get is someone pushing product after product.
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  • Profile picture of the author brutecky
    I send out non promotional emails. Normally it works well for me. However I know lots of people who are very successful promoting every day.

    One thing I did notice is that sometimes it does seem that people almost want to get promoted to. Here is an example:

    Sent out an email to a small list giving away some free squeeze pages I had my designer create.
    287 opens / 152 clicks / 5 opt outs

    Sent out a promotional email to the exact same list two days later
    286 opens / 184 clicks / 4 opt outs. 21% more clicks, and 20% less opt outs
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