There's a certain rhythm to email marketing that most people don't recognize. Sending your very best material at the beginning of a campaign may not yield many sales. Once subscribers determine that they've received the best of what you have to offer, they may choose to opt-out and find another marketer with even better information. Building up to your best information can help you build long-term business relationships with subscribers, which could generate more sales.
Information Leveling
When building an email campaign, consider the types of information you want to provide. This may be based on market research, trends affecting the market, subscriber requests or interest, reactions from blog posts and social media page comments, and the information that's currently available about particular topics.
Break information up into categories. These categories may include:
- Beginner information
- Intermediate information
- Advanced information
- Most requested
- Trends
- Theoretical information
- How-to/Instructional information
If starting a new campaign, send beginner information unless your product/service is geared towards those with intermediate or advanced knowledge of a topic. As the campaign progresses, start sending more advanced how-to advice, tricks, or new research that people can't find easily online. It is at this point that you can create a webinar or other event to get people really interested in what you have to say.
Mixing in Sales Information
After demonstrating the value of your content (you can do this by the third or fourth mass email message), send a sales email that provides product/service descriptions along with ordering information. As you continue to provide new and better information, you can send additional sales messages. The key is to build relationships that lead to sales, not just to make sales.
Keep sales emails brief, but provide enough information so people clearly understand how your products/services work and why they should invest in them today.
Ebooks and Other Reference Materials
You can choose to give away or sell ebooks, whitepapers, case studies, and special reports as often as you like once you've established a relationship with subscribers. If offering a free special report or ebook to get people to sign up for your mailing list, don't make another offer like this until you've established a relationship. Giving away too much information may cause people to take the info and run - without ever making a purchase.