I’ve had an email mini course as my frontline lead generator for the past couple of years (Actually as I type this it occurs to me that it might be time to freshen it up). If you’ve never heard of an email mini course it could be that you live under a rock or it could be that you’re not doing any online marketing but these are the only two reasons I can think of.
I recently changed the first email that goes out in my email mini course and I’m going to share the results with you because it’s been huge.
1. Deliverability
Email deliverability and open rates have been eroding. Which is actually part of the reason I send a series of emails via the email mini course right out of the gate; because it gets people used to opening and clicking on my emails and email providers like to see that.
When the recent Gmail inbox changes came out I started looking into how to get mini course emails out of the “promotions” tab and into the “primary” tab. In addition to this I’d reeeally like to remove the “via (my email service)” that’s next to my name.
Google makes 3 technical and/or strategic recommendations on how to get your mini course emails to the inbox.
- Configure your DKIM correctly (out of luck on that front, I use infusionsoft – for now)
- Create your SPF correctly – done.
- Get people to REPLY to you… ya know, like people would if it was a …er… regular email – which of course it is.
You might look at this and say that Gmail doesn’t have enough marketshare to pay this much attention to what they say but the fact is if it works for Google It’s going to work for other providers.
2. Oh My Goodness the Learning
There’s another problem with the way I’ve been doing things, namely, if all the communication flow is coming from me, it’s not really a conversation is it?
I shudder to think of what I’ve missed and how much further along I’d be had I done this sooner. Over just the last 2 weeks I have heard from more than 100 people who are telling me exactly what they’re looking for out of my mini-course and why they signed up which is really just an extension of my product, or a mini-snapshot of it anyway.
How much better will my sales copy be? How much more in tune with the audience will I be after collecting all of this language from all of these willing and eager participants?
You can send out surveys and do a lot of different things to get this information but what’s happening here is that in their own words my subscribers are telling me about the struggles they’re having, why they signed up in the first place, and what they hope to be able to accomplish with the information in the course.
Look at this inbox.
Probably the most valuable thing that I’ve learned from all these reply emails so far is that there is a much bigger segment of my audience seeking information on one particular topic, a topic that I have been treating as an after thought or sideline in my business. So that’s going to stop…. like now.
How much have your customers told you about what they want in their own words?
3. Build Trust
More than half the emails that I’m getting are people thanking me for having the information available.
Is there a better early relationship to have a with a customer than to have them thanking you for sending email marketing to them? If you’re sending junk don’t expect this kind of response but if you’re putting out coherent, well thought out emails that are answering the questions that they have then you will.
4. Um… More Sales!
If people regularly open your emails and read them, if they trust what you have to say, if they like the information you provide and the way you provide it and therefore they like you AND you’re providing a good paid product then what else is there but an increase in sales?
My New Mini-Course – First Email – and How to Write Yours
I know you know how to write an email but I wanted to share my though process with you about this one. I think there are a few key reasons it’s working so well. I haven’t yet calculated the response rate but it is extremely high.
Go Forth and Sell Educate One Email at a Time
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that 62% of my sales come from-or-during the email mini course so if you’re wondering if you should put something like that together for your product, stop wondering.
You are spot on with the notes (in scribble font) in your first email. I recently joined your list and got this email and I responded. I use Apple Mail not the Gmail web UI. But I just took a look and all your emails are in my Primary tab while many other emails from other lists I joined are in the Promotions tab.
I have a couple questions.
(1) Does that first email go to the subscribers’ Primary or Promotions tab?
(2) If I send an email (not a first email) asking my subscribers to reply now, will that start moving my emails to their Primary tabs? Will the older emails be moved to the Primary tab automatically, or do they stay in the Promotions tab?
Also, thanks for mentioning Bryan Kreuzberger and his breakthrough emails. There are a lot of insightful tips and psychological nuggets there.
Keep up the awesome work!
Hey Raymond,
1. I don’t have any way of knowing if it’s getting there or not but I hope so 🙂 – did it go there for you?
2. I don’t know the answers to these questions but what I take from the google info is that a reply will help get you out of promotions. If I were you I’d send an email and ask for a reply. I do not think any previous emails will move for you.
Thanks!
(1) I just subscribed to your list with my @gmail domain Gmail. Your first email ends up in my Primary tab. So that is awesome for you!
(2) I am doing two tests on this:
(a) I moved the latest email from one of my list from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab. I will watch for the next email and see which tab it goes to.
(b) I just replied to an email from another one of my list in the Promotions tab. The threaded conversation stays in the Promotions tab. I will watch for the next email and see which tab it goes to.
I will follow up with results when the next emails come to let you know.
(2) (a) After I moved an email from Promotions to Primary, the next email still goes to Promotions. The one after that goes to Primary. I guess it takes some time for Gmail to learn – Okay, I consider emails from this person useful and they aren’t promotions. I guess the time it takes for future emails to appear in Primary may vary depending on sender, scam reported, history, trustworthiness, …
I will follow up with (2) (b) when I receive the next email on that list.
(1) I just subscribed to your list with my @gmail domain Gmail. Your first email ends up in my Primary tab. So that is awesome for you!
(2) I am doing two tests on this:
(a) I moved the latest email from one of my list from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab. I will watch for the next email and see which tab it goes to.
(b) I just replied to an email from another one of my list in the Promotions tab. The threaded conversation stays in the Promotions tab. I will watch for the next email and see which tab it goes to.
I will follow up with results when the next emails come to let you know.