Killer Serial? Get it? Like what I did there? Okay–so sometimes my Dad's silly puns and wacky wording get the best of me. I purely blame genetics and too much Dexter.
I've been thinking a lot about email automation and how you can make the most out of your email content management system. I don't know about you, but I want Aweber to work hard for my $19 a month. I work hard to earn it, so should they. So what to do beyond just a monthly newsletter?
You've got great options with Aweber:
You can set up “Blog Broadcasts.”
Once setup, this is basically an email containing a short snippet of your blog post article which is pulled from the RSS feed, sent to your subscribers anytime you publish a new blog post.
PRO – It's automatic! After you click the publish button on your blog site, boom, it alerts subscribers.
CON – It's automatic! If you're like me, I do several revisions within my article to fix spelling errors or weird sentences. You don't want to be sending 3 drafts of your article to readers. You can get around this by using the “Save Draft” button in your blog software, but that too can be cumbersome if you eventually forget to hit “Publish” and think you sent out the article, when in reality you didn't. (Been there, done that.)
Also, the email that's sent to subscribers is rather generic. Something like, Hey–I just published a great article on my website! Here's a preview and click the “Read More” link for the full story. *Yawn.*
Personally, I like to have more control of when it's sent, and how it's said. And I like to add photo interest, too.
You can setup an auto-drip campaign.
This is a series of pre-written emails and delivered over a specified period of time. Set it up once, promote it, and you can use this campaign style again and again in your marketing.
PRO – You can use this campaign over and over again–and it could even be a delivery method for a course your clients pay for–all you have to do is promote it to get subscribers to opt-in.
CON – It can be cumbersome to create in the beginning, especially your first time around. There's up front work to be done. However, once your system's in place–Aweber will do the work for you. I'm going to walk you through the process of how to create your first automated campaign series.
How to create your first campaign.
First step in creating a campaign is discovering your topic of your series. You need it to broad enough to warrant several emails, yet targeted enough so you can give great value on one subject. Ask yourself:
- What do people ask me about the most in my business?
- What subject can I write freely and passionately about that will give my readers maximum value?
- What are my readers wanting to know more about?
- What is the end result the readers will get from being apart of this campaign series? What's in it for them?
Once you've uncovered your subject, create an outline according to logical steps. Sometimes it helps to start with the desired outcome/end result in mind and reverse engineer to the beginning.
Say our topic is Home Organization. Our desired outcome is “Master your House Clutter Forever in 5 Easy Steps.” I know that by the end of my series, readers should have takeaways on mastering clutter. I've got 5 easy steps, so logically I'll break my campaign into 5 emails.
Email 1 – Paper clutter and an easy system to tackle it.
Email 2 – Laundry management – purge your closet and have a weekly schedule to manage clothes.
Email 3 – Toys & Books how to sort, shelve, and tame kid (and adult) chaos.
Email 4 – Cleaning strategies from pro house cleaners–essential tools for cleaning.
Email 5 – The 1 comes in, 2 go out strategy for keeping clutter to a minimum and results statements.
Now that I have my email outline, I open up Word and start writing out each email, making sure to proofread and edit for errors. It helps to read things out loud when proofreading to catch mistakes. Once that's complete, I brainstorm the subject lines for each email.
Create a new list in Aweber related to the series topic, and opt-in web form specific to the series.
Create your Follow Up emails to someone signing up – Emails 1-5, and put in the number of days you in between each email (7 for one a week).
Finally–I get crazy with it. Who says email has to be just words on a page? Nobody. Make a video to replace one (or all) of your emails, using the words you wrote as a guided script. Or record an audio script. Mix it up! Perhaps include a bonus email (#6) that has a handy cheat sheet or guide PDF that readers can print and refer back to (with your branding information, on it of course.) Gather testimonials about the campaign series by creating a very short survey or ask for feedback via replying to the last email of your series.
Then, dear reader…
Make them an offer they can't refuse.
That's right. Upsell them. If they got value from your free campaign, now is the time to ask for the sale. Make it related to the content of your campaign, yet more in depth. Perhaps it's an ebook, worksheets, a special webinar, a boot camp, a paid membership or a video training series. Don't be afraid to go for the jugular (sorry, another serial reference), this is the perfect time to sell, in a nice way. Be direct, list the benefits and results they can expect, and close them.
Now, dear friend–go forth and create awesome campaigns!