Ever signed up for a company’s special discounts? If you have, you’ve likely received an email sequence. “We appreciate your subscription” or “Thank you for your purchase” are common openings companies will send out to new subscribers like yourself.
Creating your own welcome sequence is one of the easiest ways you can increase both your company’s sales and conversions. By making your subscribers feel welcome and appreciated, your business not only shows common courtesy but increases the probability of buyers returning.
Recently, I received an email notifying me about a Tiffany Garside LinkedIn article on this subject. I’ve been subscribed to Garside’s weekly newsletters for quite some time now, and I found her new piece on email sequences to be particularly interesting. I agree with many of her takes on the effects of these sequences and thought I’d also share some of my own tips.
Let’s take a closer look at what your email sequence should entail.
Lengthy or Short Email Funnels?
Whether you create a long email funnel or a short one is up to you. You know your audience best and the types of customers you have determines the length of your funnels. If you are looking to make a short email sequence, try aiming for 3 – 5 emails. When aiming for a long sequence, go between 10 and 35 emails.
The 35 number can sound intimidating, but some large companies successfully work off these longer funnels. If you feel you have a lot of products or services that you can provide to your consumers, then having a long funnel can be a good thing!
Just keep in mind, you should only be making lengthy funnels if this is the case (or your ideal clients are interested in long funnels). Don’t send an excess number of emails just because your competitor is.
If you have a smaller business and only offer a few products and services, trying to spread all your content out into an excessive number of emails isn’t the best strategy. Every email should be interesting and engaging for your audience. If you don’t have enough content to make all of your emails entertaining, then you may actually lose some subscribers. Bigger isn’t always better.
How Do I Appeal to My Audience?
If you don’t know your ideal client, what they want, and when they want it, it can be difficult to determine if you want short or long funnels.
There are two main ways you can get to know your audience.
Varying Drip Campaigns
- By releasing drip campaigns of different lengths and times, you can analyze what hours work best to send emails and what lengths garner the most reactions.
Different Blogs and Guides
- Send your audience some varying content like blog posts and guides to your product. Deduce from these articles what your audience likes best.
- Not only are these forms of content great for determining your ideal client, but they can also help your viewers better understand your product. The more informed they are, the better educated they’ll be to make purchases.
What If I Lose People in The Welcome Process?
Sometimes, you lose people in the welcome process. That’s okay. I’ve had clients over the years that have claimed if you’re losing people, you need to rework your welcome. I would argue no.
If you’re experiencing a large percentage of people leaving or your sales and conversions are not going through, then certainly make adjustments. However, losing a couple of subscribers is almost always to be expected.
No matter how hard you work to make your welcome perfect, at some point, there’s bound to be someone that realizes the product isn’t best for them and opts to leave. And that’s a good thing! Having subscribers that aren’t contributing to your brand can mess up your analytics. It’s better to just have subscribers that are interested in your business. That way, you can establish who your ideal client is easier.
Types of Customers
When you’re setting up your welcome sequence, you also need to keep in mind that there are many different types of people looking at your product. Some customers may be interested in your content for one reason, while others may be invested for a completely different reason. You want to make sure you appeal to not just one of these groups of subscribers, but a variety. 
There are four main groups of buyers you should keep in mind.
The Analytical Buyer
Characteristics
- These buyers are looking for the statistics, credibility, and figures of your business.
- They need their purchase to make logical sense before they go through with it.
- Typically, they will be a slower-decision maker about investing in your business since they are more cautious with their money.
How to Appeal to Them
- Try providing some of your company’s statistics in an email sequence.
- Discuss the general logistics of your brand in your emails as well.
The Legacy Buyer
Characteristics
- These buyers are looking to build a legacy.
- They are looking for a product that is going to appeal not only to their happiness, but the happiness of the lives of those around them and the lives to come.
How to Appeal to Them
- Discuss in your emails how their life will look once they are invested in your business.
- Appeal to their love of community.
The Emotional Buyer
Characteristics
- These buyers are seeking a product that makes them feel good.
- They could also be invested in your company because they feel it can help them in some way.
How to Appeal to Them
- Make your content emotional. Some quality pathos can really hook in these buyers.
- If your product is fueled by some ethical motive, talking about those ethics may also appeal to this group.
The Ready Buyer
Characteristics
- Have been following your business and are ready to invest in your solution.
- They are on the path to becoming a paid client and recommend your business to others.
How to Appeal to Them
- Try making a unique retention sequence for these buyers – you don’t want to lose them!
Nurture Your Current and Potential Customers Through Email Sequences
At the end of the day, no matter how many emails you’re sending, who you’re marketing to, or how you are marketing your content, you need welcome email sequences. Every webinar, conference, or statistic I’ve seen about these sequences demonstrates the success they bring. If you don’t have a sequence, make sure to set one up. Otherwise, you’re leaving money on the table.
If you’d like to see Tiffany Garside’s original article or check out more of her content, make sure to check out the links below. Good luck marketers!
Resources
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-write-welcome-email-sequence-automatically-4x-your-garside
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffygwrites?trk=pulse-article_main-author-card
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