Email marketing is powerful. You can dramatically increase your revenue and sales with a solid autoresponder sequence.
Note: These are strategies for people who have given you permission to send them marketing material, not cold emails.
So, here are my 17 rapid-fire answers to the most common questions…
How often should I send emails?
Daily. Or at least 3 times per week. Competition is fierce. If you don’t show up in your lead’s inbox, your relationship will wither away. However, your stuff must be good. If you send rubbish, your subscribers will quickly unsubscribe.
Won’t I annoy people if I email them too often?
No. People get annoyed if they receive irrelevant or boring content. Delight, entertain, and educate.
What should I say?
“Providing value” is not enough. You must wow people. Give them ah-ha moments. Send valuable information that your prospect has never seen before. This is key. Do this in the form of stories, share lessons, case studies, etc. The goal is to become a go-to expert that actually stands out.
What’s the best time to send emails?
Read 20 articles and you’ll get 20 answers to this question. In reality, there’s only one way to test. One of my clients (who has 60,000 people on their list) finds that 7 AM and 10 AM EST, works the best for him. His audience is majority US. He finds that sending to un-opens at 8 PM doubles his open rates.
Should I send broadcast or autoresponder messages?
Both. Most of your emails should be autoresponder messages. You don’t have the time to send fresh new broadcasts every day. An autoresponder is an asset to your business. Then, send broadcast messages for one-time promotions.
What’s better HTML or plain text emails?
Plan text.
That’s how you write to a friend. HTML emails and having too many images will land you in Gmail’s promotions tab.
Or worse, the spam folder. People signed up for the knowledge in your head, not your graphic design skills.
What’s a good open rate?
Industry standard is 20%. Above that is great.
What’s a good click-through rate?
According to Campaign Monitor, the average click-through rate is 2-5%. I created an email campaign with a 12.26% average CTR rate. CTOR (click-to-open rate) is a much more useful metric. This means, of the people who opened, how many clicked.
How long should my emails be?
Under 300 words.
How many links can I put in my emails?
Two or less. Always.
What software should I use?
Depends. I use ConvertKit. It’s easy and user-friendly. I chose it because I don’t have the time to fully plan out automation sequences. ConvertKit has basic automation functions, which is nice.
Aweber is fine as well. If you want to laser target your messages to subscribers based on their actions and behavior, use automation. However, these types of ESPs (Email Service Providers) are more complicated.
Also, be warned, ActiveCampaign has a very sluggish, slow interface that can be frustrating at times.
Should I set up automations, or send a basic email sequence?
Automation is powerful but complicated. Be careful. If you have the time, resources, and team, invest in automation. Otherwise, just send basic emails. Drip emails out one after another. It’s much easier to start with something like ConvertKit and move on to something with automations later on if you want.
What is email deliverability?
Deliverability is the art of ensuring your emails are actually received by your subscribers. ISPs (Internet Service Providers) often block emails if your emails are flagged.
How do I improve my email deliverability?
Make sure your emails get opened, read, scrolled, clicked, replied to. Do everything you can to reduce your spam complaints and unsubscribes.
How do I stop people unsubscribing from my list?
You can’t. Some people will always unsubscribe. Set the right expectation BEFORE people subscribe so there are no surprises for them. Fulfill upon the expectation. For example, if you plan to send daily emails with occasional promotions, tell people before they sign up.
Isn’t social media better than email marketing?
No. They serve different purposes.
Social media is a lead acquisition strategy. (Stranger to acquaintance). Email marketing is a lead nurturing and conversion strategy. Email is more intimate and personal.
Plus, it’s an asset you own. Social platforms will come and go but email has stood the test of time (so far).
I know I need to create emails but I don’t have time. What can I do?
Download Otter and record your thoughts in emails. You get 10 hours free each month (more than enough), and it’s near perfect. Even for my Aussie accent.
So there you have it, answers to the 17 most common questions about email marketing.