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In this episode of GradBlogger, Dr. Chris Cloney is talking about direct email campaigns. Specifically, why is direct email such an important way to go? Why is this such a good conversion method, or a good conversion tool to use in your business? And what a direct email campaign might look like.
Disclosure: Some of the links in the podcast show notes and transcripts are affiliate links (indicated with [Affiliate] in front). If you choose to make a purchase through these links GradBlogger will earn a commission from that purchase at no extra cost to you.
The source of these tips is an email campaign that we’ve been running just over the last couple of weeks for the Digital Dust Safety Conference, which is an online event that I’m hosting through DustSafetyScience next year.
We will be returning to the subject of the Conference over the next several months as Chris talks about the lessons learned in selling and delivering DDSC 2020 and keeping people engaged. The first step, of course, is getting people to register for the event.
It doesn’t have to be an event that you’re selling. You could be selling a product, a service, or a mastermind, or a coaching program. But all of these are really great to start with direct email.
Direct email is:
- Low energy and low cost to set up. Simply start emailing people.
- Easy to adjust. Whether you’re receiving feedback that can benefit the email campaign or you learn something new along the way, emails aren’t set in stone.
- A great conversion tool. You’ll have much higher conversions than a funnel with a lower-priced product and a kind of ascension model, where you’re bringing people through.
Tip #1: Focus on benefits, not features
In Brian Tracy’s book, [Affiliate] The Psychology of Selling, Tracy reminded us to focus on the benefits of something that you’re doing, not the features.
An example from the book about selling person to person suggests thinking of this in terms of a spotlight. Imagine when you’re selling, the times you’re talking about yourself, this big spotlight shines on you instead of the person you’re selling to.
When we look at in terms of an email, if you’re writing about the features, the spotlight would almost be entirely on you. Talking about the features of what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, why it’s important, all keep the spotlight on you as it isn’t actually relating to the benefits that it serves for the audience.
When you write about the benefits, the spotlight shines on the audience.
ACTION: Make a list of all the features of what you’re doing, or what you’re selling. Then, in a second column, write down the benefits from that feature.
Tip #2: Focus on key objections
Time, money, effort. These are all common objections that you hear. So, in case of price, or the cost associated with DDSC2020, we said right in the email there’s no travel or lodging required for presenting at this online conference. Therefore, it’s going to be much more affordable to participate than other events.
ACTION: Make a big list of the objections that you think your audience may come up with NOT to sign up or buy. Then, identify ways to overcome the objections and things you could do to help.
Tip #3: Get really specific on what to do next
Give a really specific off-ramp to what they need to do next. This way, the chance of them just shelving it and putting it away is really, really minimalized. And make it really easy. In the case of DDSC2020, it was simply to click on a link to register.
When we say simple, we mean it. One person who agreed they wanted to present, hadn’t registered a week later. We sent a reminder, but a couple of days later, still nothing. Finally, in the third or fourth follow up email, we said, “This will only take five minutes to complete. We don’t need anything else from you.”
And they said, “Oh, you should have just told me it took five minutes.” And they went and did it right away. So, give an off-ramp on what to do next, and again, belay those objections.
Tip #4: Send a follow-up email
We regularly send a really simple follow up email two days after the original email. Why only two days? Because we want to get people going through the process. If they’re on the fence, we want them to get off the fence. If they’re looking to register, we want them to start that process.
When you’re sending 50 emails, you kind of need to get people through the whole process as fast as they’ll go. You kind of need to follow up and kind of give them a little pat on the back as they go through.
Sending a follow up will also tremendously increase your sales. Returning to our example of DDSC2020, we sent 50 emails over the last two and a half weeks. Our total sales right now are 24 registrations, and 11 of those came on the follow-up email.
Tip #5: Set aside an appropriate amount of time
It takes a lot of time to email 50 people that 50 interactions, to have follow-up emails or replies, to do phone calls, to talk about the product and service that you’re selling, to take that feedback and synthesize it. It takes a lot of mental effort.
You’re probably going to have to block off every morning for at least a week, maybe two weeks, to go through this process. It takes a lot of effort to do these direct email campaigns, which is maybe another barrier that stops people from doing it. But as you can see in the previous tip, the outreach is well worth it.
Bonus tips:
Send emails in small batches – by sending to a small portion of your audience, you’re able to apply anything you learn to the next batch, such as a pain point you weren’t aware of or a question you can answer within to save time.
Don’t be a perfectionist – It’s better to get something out and get feedback and it read.
Resources from this episode
Companies
DustSafetyScience
GradBlogger: Twitter | Instagram
Books
[Affiliate] Tracy, Brian. The Psychology of Selling.
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