How To Create A Killer Email Series That Turns Subscribers Into Clients
The main purpose of email marketing is pretty obvious: get leads onto your email list so you can sell them your services.
Get this right, and you have an engaged list of your ideal clients, primed and ready to buy from you.
Get this wrong and their fingers will be teetering near the unsubscribe button, or worse… your email will be relegated to the junk folder.
But fear not, before you break out in a nervous sweat, I’m going to share with you the 3 step system I use to convert new subscribers into paying clients.
In this post you’ll learn:
How the way we buy services has changed (and why email marketing is so important)
The most effective way to fill your list with pre-qualified leads
Over 15 emails you can send to your list right now to turn subscribers into clients, and how often to send them
The secret to converting new subscribers into clients
Psssst. Want to know exactly what I send my list? Download my free Email Series Cheat Sheet. I’ll walk you through 11 emails you should send your list to turn your new subscribers into paying clients.
WHy is email marketing essential to get clients?
The way we purchase services has changed. Before we buy, we like to do our research. We like to ensure we trust the service-provider before giving them our cash.
This fact is incredibly important when it comes to your marketing. It means that when someone finds you on social media or visits your website, they’re still in the ‘I’m just checking you out phase’. They are not necessarily ready to buy from you then and there.
You’ve gone to all the hard work of getting someone to your website, only to have them leave without buying your services.
They’re unlikely to return. After all - out of sight, out of mind.
The answer? Get them on your email list.
Then you can pop into their inbox on a regular basis, keeping you and your service front of mind until they’re ready to buy from you.
how to fill your list with pre-qualified leads
A poor quality email list is unlikely to get you many clients. The best way to avoid this is to qualify leads before they join.
How do you do this?
By creating a free download (also called a freebie, opt-in or content upgrade) which directly aligns with the service you provide.
You provide something incredibly valuable such as a free guide in exchange for their email address and access to their digital living room.
By showing an interest in your value added content, they’ve pre-qualified themselves for your services.
EXAMPLE 1
I help mums in business find consistent clients. If someone visits my website and downloads my freebie on 12 Ways To Find New Clients, chances are they need more clients. Now they’re on my list and I get to position my services as the solution to their problem.
Put your freebie on your website, share it on social media and put a link in your email footer.
You can also use your FB group to grow your list (my biggest list builder). When people join your FB group you get to ask 3 questions. Use one question to ask if they would like your freebie in exchange for their email address. I’d say around 80% of people who join my group, leave their email address.
Make sure your freebie directly relates to the service you provide. If not, you’ll end up with an email list full of non-ideal clients. To find out what your freebie should be, ask your ideal clients:
‘What is your number one challenge around [your niche]’.
Whatever the answer is, make sure your freebie addresses that. Guess what my audience said: finding clients.
EXAMPLE 2
In a blog post you can offer a content upgrade - bonus content your readers can download in exchange for their email address.
Just like this one. Click on the button below to download my free cheat sheet on exactly what emails to send your list and when, to turn new subscribers into paying clients.
Once you have someone on your list, you can send them an automated series of emails (also called an autoresponder or a welcome series) with the aim of nurturing them towards buying your service.
Exactly how do you nurture your email list? Well, stay tuned, and I’ll tell you exactly that.
how to Nurture your email list
You are aiming to build that know-like-trust factor with each email you send.
If you don’t plan this:
Each subscriber will get a different email experience.
You’ll end up pitching your services before your list is ready to buy from you.
You’ll leave your lead generation up to chance.
That said, I didn’t build my email series for the first 6 months of my business. I wanted to know what my most effective emails were before I automated the process.
I wouldn’t recommend waiting this long (it was part laziness), but don’t let not having a welcome series stop you from growing your email list now.
Once a subscriber has completed your automated email series, they can join your regular newsletter.
Remember that when people first join your list, they’re not ready to buy from you yet. You need to earn their trust.
How do you do that? By providing insane value, educating them and connecting with them on a personal level. Then, and only then, are you positioned to make an offer.
what to send your list: The CEO marketing model
There are three things you need to do in order to turn leads into paying clients. I’ve combined them into what I call The CEO Marketing Model.
If you follow this model, you’ll craft each email with a specific purpose and position yourself as an expert in your field so people are ready to buy from you.
(NB. This isn’t intended as a rigid model. As you get more confident writing emails, you’ll start to experiment with different email types and learn what works for you and your business).
Step 1: CONNECT with your audience
Let your audience get to know you on a personal level. Send emails that engage, inspire and entertain.
This step is essential to get your audience to know who the hell you are and start to like you.
EXAMPLES
Welcome email - who are you and what they can expect from subscribing to your newsletter.
Your backstory, your why, and what makes you different
Your values and vision
Anecdotes from your life
Behind the scenes
An ask campaign: ask your audience a question or ask them to complete a survey e.g. what’s your biggest challenge with [your niche] right now?
Ask for feedback on something e.g. your latest launch, why they didn’t buy, your product
Step 2: EDUCATE your audience
Provide free value by educating in your area of expertise. This positions you as the expert and builds trust.
This is the cornerstone of your email marketing strategy. Share your best tips, strategies and tools.
Don’t worry about giving away too much value. Lead with generosity, actionable strategies and complete solutions. Your readers will stay loyal, and you’ll become their go-to expert.
EXAMPLES
Link to your latest blog
Content round-up: organise your best content for them by most popular, by theme, or by most important
Teach what you know in bitesize amounts
'Learn from my mistakes' email
'The best decision I ever made’ type emails
Step 3: OFFER your services to your list.
After connecting with and educating your audience, you can offer your services.
Use case studies and testimonials to reinforce your credibility and write a compelling offer they’d be crazy to miss out on. Include one clear call to action.
EXAMPLES
Case studies
Testimonials
Soft sells - discussing your solutions and frameworks, your service and the help you provide
Hard sells - one time offer, inviting them to a consult, promoting your course
If you’re not confident crafting compelling offers which sell, do some research online as to different strategies you can try.
crafting your first email series
Keep it simple. I’d recommend starting with a 5-6 email series. It might look something like this:
Connect: Welcome email
Educate: Solve a problem
Connect: Your story
Educate, plus work in a mention of your service
Offer: Hard sell - offer your services, with a clear call to action (for example, book a consult).
Once you’ve crafted your first email series, track how your sequence performs and tweak as required. The two most important metrics to track are:
Open rate - what percentage of your list opened your email
Click-through rate - the percentage of your list that clicked on a link in your email
Not sure what to write in your emails? I’ve created an Email Series Cheat Sheet which walks you through an 11 part automated series you can start sending your list. Just click the button below to download.
How often should you email your list?
Typically, you might email your list weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
Personally, if someone emails me more than once a week, I feel my fingers quivering near the unsubscribe button. For this reason, I email my list once a week - every Friday morning.
Remember that email is sacred - it’s the equivalent of your digital living room, with most people checking their emails multiple times a day. Email too often, and you’ll come off as spammy. Email too little, and you risk them forgetting who you are and unsubscribing anyway.
The most important factor in deciding the frequency of your emails is consistency. How often can you commit to emailing your list?
Decide how often you will email your list, on what day and what time. Stick with it long enough (1-2 months) that you have some stats on open rate and then you can experiment with frequency or time of day.
You can find advice online as to the best time of day to send your emails, but considering every man and his dog will follow that, I tend to play by my own rules and measure the results myself.
When launching a new programme, course or event, you will email your list much more frequently,
the secret to converting subscribers to paying clients
Relevance + Generosity = Sales
RELEVANCE
The absolute key to converting new subscribers into clients is ensuring your content is relevant for them. It will affect your open rate, click through rate and sales.
If you’ve pre-qualified your leads, you’ve taken one positive step to ensure the people on your list need your service.
In most email marketing providers, you can also segment your subscribers based on interest. For example, say one subscriber downloaded my freebie on 12 Ways To Find New Clients, and another subscriber opted for my Productivity Planner. This gives me an insight into the challenges they might be facing, and what content is going to be most relevant for them.
Segmenting your email list allows you to send highly relevant content and can significantly increase your open rate and click through rate.
Write every email as if you are talking to one person. Including the recipient’s name in the subject line and body of the email can make your email seem a lot more personal and has been shown to significantly increase clickthrough rates.
GENEROSITY
Lead with generosity - provide so much value that buying your service becomes the obvious choice. The only choice.
Your readers end up thinking, “If this is what they give away for free, imagine how good their paid service is!”
The most important thing to remember when crafting your emails is your subscribers must experience a reward every time they open your email.
This reward, and your consistency, trains your readers to expect your emails and open them.
a final takeaway: take the first step
Perfecting your email series will take time. If you’re still sitting in the fear of “What do I send to my list” and “Do they even want to hear from me?”, take one baby step:
Write your welcome email.
In my Email Series Cheat Sheet below, I tell you exactly what to include in your welcome email and what emails to write next. I walk you through a template for an 11 part email series, which you can starting using today.
Your email list can be one of your best assets for cultivating new clients.
What one action can you take to start your email series today?
