Sending emails that offer no value will cause people to stop reading and unsubscribe from your list. Here’s how you can prevent that from happening.
You’ve got the first stages of a great email campaign nailed down.
The landing page is up and running and you’re doing a great job of pointing people towards it.
And thanks to a lot of tweaking, you’re getting plenty of prospects to sign up for your email list.
But that’s where it seems to fall down.
You send out emails and get far fewer responses than you expected. Worse, many of those new prospects choose to unsubscribe. And the few who stick around don’t seem like they’re in any hurry to raise their hands.
There’s a very likely culprit if this sounds familiar to you…
Your emails may not offer the amount of value that they should.
An email that has no value does nothing to move somebody through your marketing funnel. Furthermore, the recipients of these emails get frustrated.
They signed up because you promised to help them. But your emails aren’t delivering on that promise, which means they no longer trust you!
Your content feels like spam to them. And even if it isn’t, it may not even have relevance in the context of their problem.
You need to solve this puzzle now or risk losing more prospects.
Use these techniques to add more value to your emails.
Technique #1 – Leverage Case Studies
You can’t expect somebody to just believe you when you say your service offers great value. They want to see proof that you can deliver before they part with their cash.
This is where your case studies come in.
With a case study, you’re highlighting a case where what you do helped somebody else achieve a transformation. That means you’re not trying to pitch your services directly. Instead, you’re proving that the service offers what you say it does using the words of others. You can even expand on the case study to include additional tips, sometimes from the subjects of the case study themselves.
The key here is that this is social proof.
A prospect will trust an independent party, such as one of your clients, ahead of you. That’s especially the case when they’re still at the beginning of their customer journey. Your case studies prove that you’re more than just talk.
Technique #2 – Find a Mutual Connection (And Reference It in the Email)
Perhaps you’re emailing somebody as part of your referral program. A happy customer gave you the prospect’s details, and you have a chance for a sale.
Don’t waste the opportunity.
Reference that mutual connection in the very first email you send.
This creates a level of personalisation that few first emails can match. You’re creating trust straight away, because you can say that this mutual connection vouches for you.
You’re also showcasing confidence in what you do. That’s because you’re basically telling the prospect to check with the connection to verify what you say.
When they find out you’re legitimate, you’ve created instant trust. And now, you can focus on moving this prospect through your funnel.
Technique #3 – Focus on the Customer (Not on Yourself)
“Our service includes blah, blah, blah…”
“We’ve won awards from x, y, and z…”
Do those phrases sound like something straight out of your emails? If so, you’re making the mistake of talking too much about yourself and not enough about your prospect.
Don’t get us wrong.
The prospect does need to know about you and your story. But if you are the main focus of every email you send, the prospect will soon lose interest.
To avoid this problem, ask yourself a simple question before creating an email:
“What does this prospect need?”
With that need established, you have something to focus on that’s relevant to the recipient. This gives you a base from which you can build the rest of the email’s content.
Just make sure that you ask this question for each type of prospect on your list. Needs vary depending on the person and situation, so you can’t assume one answer will fit all.
Technique #4 – Share Client Wins (To Create More Social Proof)
Maybe you don’t have enough information about a current client to create a case study. Or, perhaps they’re not too keen to participate, even though they’ve had plenty of wins thanks to you.
That’s okay.
You can still use the results you helped the client achieve as part of your emails. This requires less work than a full case study, which means clients are more likely to get involved. Plus, you can share quick wins faster than an entire case study.
Again, this is all about providing social proof. Why talk about yourself when you can let your happiest clients do it for you?
Technique #5 – Solve a Problem (But Don’t Solve Every Problem)
Prospects sign up to your list because they think you may be able to help them to solve a problem. They’re not 100% sure yet, which is why you need to prove it with your emails. But the point is, they need a solution and you’ve positioned yourself as the person for the job.
But that leaves you with a problem of your own.
Your solutions are your business! If you give them all out in emails, what reason does the prospect have to buy from you?
This thinking may lead to you not solving problems with your emails at all. Instead, you just keep promising them that you’re the person for the job. But you’re not proving it, so prospects won’t believe you.
The solution to this conundrum is to solve some of their problems. Give them something they can implement quickly and that will provide fast results. But keep the really in-depth stuff for when they convert. The quick solution you offer shows that you know your stuff, which means they’re more likely to buy into the rest.
Technique #6 – Respond to All Enquiries
When somebody sends you a message, they’re always saying the same thing:
“I have a problem and I need help!”
If you don’t respond, you’re telling that person that you can’t help them. If you respond by pitching something to them, you’re telling them that you don’t want to help them.
So… how do you manage responses?
Answer the question as well as you can without compromising your business. If the specific answer involves something you’d normally charge for, tell them upfront. You could even provide them with a sample of the solution to build trust.
Just make sure that you respond. Somebody’s reaching out to you, which means they’re already engaged and believe that you can help them. These are usually the hottest leads that your business has.
Technique #7 – Make Tactical Suggestions
There’s one thing of value that you can bring to a prospect without them even asking for it:
Your insight.
They (hopefully) know that you’re an expert. But what they don’t know is just how easily you can spot specific problems in their businesses that even they can’t see.
Let’s say you’ve interacted with a prospect several times. They’ve told you what they think their problems are and you’ve offered some potential solutions via email. Those problems are likely common to those that you’ve seen with other clients. And there’s a good chance that the problem the prospect identified has links to other problems that they haven’t talked about.
For example, a client may tell you that the problem is that they’re not getting the clients they want.
The immediate issue here likely comes down to their lead generation strategy. But there are other issues that sprout from that, such as poor qualification or a bad sales process.
So… pose the questions.
“Do you also find that you don’t get the types of customers that you want? Here’s an idea for you to try.”
Or…
“Think your sales process could be smoother? Try this…”
Identify the problem that they likely have and offer a tactic that will help them. You give the prospect more value than they expect and at the same time show them that you really understand their challenges.
Value Leads to Conversions
The more value you can provide in your emails, the stronger the engagement with your prospects. And it’s that heightened trust in you that will lead to more sales for your business.
It’s up to you to figure out where you best offer value. And the Automation Agency team can help you create email campaigns that put your value in front of other people.
Not only that, our design team provides imagery that expresses your value visually too!
Send a task to our Concierge Service to start working towards more valuable email campaigns.
And if you’re not yet a member, talk to our Right Fit Chatbot to learn about us.
