Tag: email marketing

Never Fear The Double Opt In

Patrick Griffin Leave a comment

Double Opt In

At RocketResponder we don’t fear the double opt in of subscribers to a new email list. In fact our members rather like it.

In double opt in when somebody signs up to your list they are sent an email with a link which they must click to confirm that they actually do want to be on your list.

The thing about this which some list builders don’t like is that it is a two step process and having to click on the link is an extra hurdle that people must navigate before they are actually on your list.

Typically you can expect some people to sign up for any given list and then not go on to click the link to fully opt in. The main consequence of this is that your list would be smaller than it would be if only single opt in was used.

In the single opt in process there is no confirmation email and the subscriber is on your list as soon as their email address is entered into the opt in form.

Here are some reasons why you might prefer the double opt in approach:

  • all of your subscribers have already taken action in order to be on your list. Sometimes we enter an email address without really giving it any thought. With double opt in the subscriber has had to physically check their email account, look for the confirmation email and click on a link. This suggests that they really want to be on your list.
  • it prevents malicious sign ups. Some people might sign up their friends or colleagues to lists as a prank. This is bad for the person who has the list and for the “victim” who ends up signed up for information they don’t want in the first place.
  • you weed out tyre kickers. If someone signs up to a list and can’t be bothered to confirm then they are probably not worth having on your list in the first place. It they were on your list then they would most likely never even open your emails so you are better off without them.

What do you think about the opt in process and what are your experiences of the issue?

Four Things You Could Do When A Customer Buys From You

Patrick Griffin Leave a comment

Customer sales strategy

Customer sales strategy: Congratulations…your customers are buying your goods or services.

It is a nice feeling when a complete stranger decides that what you have to offer is worth paying hard cash for.

But don’t be too pleased with yourself just yet.

Maybe they want to buy some more and are waiting for you to tell them what else you have to offer.

Well your RocketResponder email series can do just that.

Here are four things you should consider informing your customers about when they have just bought something from you:

  1. An upsell – They have gone ahead and bought your basic service and that is good. But take the opportunity of informing them of all they are missing out on by not taking the next higher level and provide them with that opportunity to pay and upgrade right now.
  2. A bonus…just because you can – People love to get something for nothing. Maybe someone has bought a three month subscription from you…then say as a special bonus you will offer them four. Or offer them something else – maybe a month’s free access to a related product or service you provide.
  3. A discount on future purchases – The customer has just bought something so they are in the buying mode. Take advantage of this and suggest other things they could buy from you. Then offer a time sensitive discount to encourage them to do so – e.g. “If you buy “x,” “y,” or “z” within the next 48 hours you can take an additional “x” per cent off with this discount code.
  4. Ask for feedback – Customer feedback is invaluable as it can tell you what you are doing well and where you need to improve. Good feedback can also be used as testimonials to attract other customers.

 

 

Email subject lines – six real life examples

Patrick Griffin Leave a comment

Why email subject lines are so important

Why email subject lines are so important: I can’t stress enough how important the email subject line is to your entire message.

Remember it is either your best friend or your worst enemy. At best it will encourage people to open your email and find out what you have to say. At worst it will prompt your subscriber to hit the “delete” key and possibly even the unsubscribe button too.

So I thought this would be a cool thing to do. Every so often I will take a smattering of emails that I have received…share the subject lines with you and let you know what I think of them.

Maybe you will agree with me. Maybe not. However the whole point of this is to get you to think carefully about the subject line each time you send out a RocketResponder email.

So here is today’s list to get started:

  • FREE 12 Dollars! Free Traffic and More Cash! – Using two exclamation marks and shouting out the word free makes this look just a little too desperate to get my attention. I would have opened it just to see what it was all about but I am already thinking: “Nobody just hands out $12 at random so what do I have to do to get my “FREE 12 bucks.”
  • Patrick Did You Check Out Click My Offers Yet? – Well actually, now that you come to think of it, I don’t think I did. I like this subject line. It is personal and engaging. I go to my inbox and here is a question for me to answer. Now I am thinking that maybe I should at least check out these offers to see what they are. I would open this email.
  • Building Residual Traffic & Commissions is simple – This is the opposite of the last one – generic and totally unengaging. If I had the time I might open this email but I would probably actually leave it in my inbox “for later” and then just delete it when I got bored of still seeing it after a few hours.
  • Give Away Lead Generating Systems & Get R I C H – Generic and off putting. Spelling out the word “rich” like that and putting it in capitals makes me think the sender is trying to get around spam filters. I would not open this one.
  • Patrick Join Us in The Womens Lounge – As I am not a woman I think I may give this one a miss.
  • New Gpt Site – I have no idea what a Gpt Site is so if I don’t understand the subject line I certainly won’t open the email. (Ok so being a curious kind of person I had to look it up – Gpt stands for “Get Paid To…”) However it is best to avoid this kind of shorthand in subject lines unless you are absolutely certain that your readers will understand it too.

OK that’s it for this month – I will be back with another selection of email subject lines next month.

Five Types of Autoresponder Email Series

Patrick Griffin Leave a comment

Autoresponder Email SeriesAutoresponder Email Series: One of the purposes of these blog posts is to encourage RocketResponder users to really think about how they use email communication.

We want you to think about how you use your email to communicate with your subscribers or customers.

For example we recently covered why you want to send emails when people join your list and went on to discuss the types of things you might say in an email series.

However did you realize that there are several different types of email series such as there are different breeds of cats or dogs?

Here are some that I have noticed:

  1. In your face – I have called this ‘In your face’ because it is pretty blunt and to the point. Here you promote a product and link to a sales page. You might do a short series of emails all promoting different aspects of the same product and link to a sales page each time. If you use this then be careful that you don’t just promote one affiliate product after another as people will think you have no focus at all and think you just want to get affiliate commissions at any cost. This is most effective if you are getting behind one product or service (especially if you use it yourself) and want to show others why you feel it is so beneficial.
  2. Reel ’em in slowly – This is a more ‘softly softly’ version of the previous method. You might still be promoting the same products or services but this time your approach is more subtle. So instead of even trying to sell from the start you might write two or three emails explaining your frustrations with a common problem people in your niche need to solve. Then the next email can tell how you use a certain product or service to solve that problem and only at that point do you link to the sales page.
  3. Show the real you – This would be a series that nobody else could copy. There is no real agenda here as each email is not leading up to anything in particular such as working towards a sale. You might give information about products or services, chat about your life, write about milestone events or talk about how you overcame problems. People will either love this or hate it. If they love it then the “know, like and trust” factor will be extremely strong with your subscribers and when you do recommend products or services they are likely to be extremely receptive indeed.
  4. Give and take – Just because you are sending out emails to a list, an autoresponder series need not be a one way street. Many people are content to just talk and talk to their subscribers but you can also ask for their thoughts, views and opinions as well. If you blog ask your subscribers what sort of content they would like to see, or whether they like video blogging or what they think of the products you promote or own.
  5. Mix and match – You don’t have to stick to one type of series. Mix and match from the ones above as seems appropriate. Remember there are no hard and fast rules. How you communicate with your list is entirely a matter for you.

Do you have a different approach? We would love to hear about what works for you so feel free to leave a comment below.

 

 

The Top Five Things To Tell Your New Subscribers

Patrick Griffin 4 Comments

new email subscribers

Dealing with new email subscribers: Imagine you invite someone into your home for the first time.

What might they think if you ushered them into your front room, invited them to sit down and then left them alone to twiddle their thumbs while you went to your office or study to work?

Well they would begin to feel:

  • uncomfortable
  • ill at ease
  • unwanted and
  • be left wondering why they ever accepted your invitation in the first place.

It is exactly the same situation if someone signs up to your RocketResponder list and you don’t immediately send them a welcome email.

They are in your front room so go ahead and talk to them to make them feel wanted, special and loved.

Your “welcome” email should be sent out immediately anyone joins your list and it should contain the following information:

  1. An introduction – say “hello” to the new subscriber by introducing yourself and briefly introducing your business. You want to give the main headlines here and not the whole company back story.
  2. Points of contact – tell your new subscriber how they can contact you. Phone, email, toll-free number, Twitter, Skype, FaceBook, support ticket are just some examples. You choose how accessible you want to be but seriously consider giving your customers multiple ways to connect with you.
  3. Set a schedule – If you are smart you will have an initial follow up email series set up so you can say something like: “Over the next few days/weeks/months you will be hearing from me every “x” days or so so look out for those emails. I have lined up some great free tips for you. You are going to love it.” Obviously you don’t have to say exactly that, just give them an idea of what is coming up.
  4. Anticipate problems – When people are new to something they get confused, make mistakes or just want some help quickly. So if you have a website with a FAQ page you could point them to that or give them your preferred method of contact to get their query answered quickly.
  5. Keep it short – Just say what you need to say and keep it at that. Remember you could have this subscriber for months or even years, so you have plenty of time to establish a dialogue with them. Don’t bombard them with information on the welcome email. Remember it is a welcome email so simply make them feel welcome and then stop writing.