But the folks who stick around to read your second, third, etc messages are actually more engaged and committed than the folks who only read your welcome message.
I’m going to share the 3-message welcome series
blueprint that my friend developed for her client, who is a coach who offers consulting services to her clients. This series could be easily updated for anyone who writes helpful content as a way to grow their audience and ultimately sell something.
Message 1 - Deliver a Lead Magnet
The main way this coach grows their list is by offering a free online
evaluation of their business health. The results are delivered by email.
An offer like this that incentivizes someone to sign up for your list is called a “lead magnet” because it attracts readers with an explicit reward for signing up for your list.
Also include in message 1:
- A promotion for your paid offering. In my friends example, her client is a coach who includes a call to
action to book a 30-minute discovery call in every email.
- Invite your reader to ask you a question about your area of expertise. If you can get someone interested enough to actually reply to your welcome message, you’ve got a really engaged subscriber.
Message 2 - Your Best Piece of Advice
This second message is the easiest place to lose a
subscriber’s interest. Your first message is a layup because it comes so soon after someone subscribes, and they’re eagerly expecting your email.
Second messages can be all over the place. Sometimes they’re a list of other places to find someone online, a link to a recent blog post, or a product or service promotion. I want to suggest a better way.
When I think about any message, I think about the value it provides. The value the first message provided was delivering the thing your reader signed up for in the first place. How can your second message provide even more value?
Ask
yourself what question people ask you most. Your second email should answer that question.
There are a few ways to identify your “most asked question.”
- Personal experience working with your clients. Think back to the things they tell you they need the most help with.
- Survey your clients during
onboarding or send a survey to your current audience asking what their most pressing question is (this is another reason to prompt new subscribers to ask you a question in your welcome message).
- Find your most popular blog or social post using Google analytics or another analytics tool and identify the question you answered in that post.
Also include in message 2:
- A promotion for your paid
product. IMO you should always have some way for a reader to get to your paid offerings in your emails, even if it’s just a little callout at the end.
- Links to the places you post helpful or interesting content online. Think of things like your blog, Facebook community, or store.
Message 3 - Promote Your Product
I mentioned above that you should
have some sort of pathway to what you’re trying to sell in each of the messages in your welcome series, but here’s where it really gets to shine.
So far, you’ve given someone a valuable tool or piece of information in message 1, and answered a pressing question in message 2. So you’ve established a level of helpfulness and expertise.
Now’s your opportunity to show folks how they could grow or progress even more by booking time with you, buying a product, joining a course, etc.
Don’t shy away from talking about the life-changing potential of what you’re selling - ideally this is a great place for a
testimonial from a happy customer to tell that story for you.
Those three messages are a solid foundation to get you started. But you should keep experimenting as you build your list and learn from how people interact with your email.
