Today, I’m giving you a free sales rep.
And this sales rep never gets tired, he never eats, and you don’t have to pay him.
BOOM! How sweet does that sound?
No, I’m not talking about a cyborg.
I’m talking about an email nurturing campaign!
If you’re not nurturing your prospects, you’re missing out on the holy grail of automation techniques.
But don’t worry, I’m here to help.
Let’s nerd out and dive in!
Key Takeaways
- Lead nurturing campaigns help you automate deal flow.
- Lead nurturing campaigns, when set up right, will help build your brand.
- A great lead nurturing campaign starts with great lead magnets. I'll share mine below.
- See the "step by step" section for my million dollar lead nurturing campaign setup.
What is a Nurture Email Sequence?
An email nurturing sequence is a series of automated emails sent to prospects to nurture (guide) them through your sales funnel.
A nurture sequence is about warming a cold lead into a paying customer.
Example:
Someone visiting your website opts in for a free guide, webinar, or other lead magnet.
The prospect would then receive a series of emails over the next several weeks/months until they choose to buy.
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Nurture sequences typically include educational content, intro offers, overcoming objections, etc.
Why Are Nurture Email Sequences Important?
Over 75% of website visitors aren’t ready to buy.
This means there is a huge opportunity to turn those potential customers into paying ones over time through email nurturing.
With nurturing, you can:
- Automate your email process for efficiency
- Segment leads over time
- Reach a wider audience
- Close more deals
If that doesn’t get you excited, I don’t know what will!
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My Step-by-Step Process for Setting Up a Million-Dollar Nurturing Sequence
Here’s my step-by-step process for nurturing success.
Step 1: Identify Your Audience
Before creating your nurturing sequence, you must identify your target audience for the campaign.
This includes understanding their needs, wants, challenges, and how your product or service fits into their life.
The more you understand your customer’s pain points, the more targeted your lead magnets and sequence can be.
What does that mean?
A better chance to close them.
When I was running TGA, we targeted attorneys.
Here’s a sample customer persona. Nothing fancy, just a reminder of who you’re targeting.
Step 2: Create Lead Magnets
Creating lead magnets is an essential step in building an effective nurturing sequence.
A lead magnet is an irresistible offer that provides a piece of valuable information to the prospect in exchange for their contact information (email address).
My favorite lead magnets are:
- Guides
- Resource library’s
- Checklists
- Templates
- eBooks
- Webinars
- Free trials
- Free tools
The key to a successful lead magnet is relevance based on your customer personas.
A guide to building a tiny home is useless to an attorney. Make sure your lead magnets are relevant to a specific audience.
And don’t worry; you can have several lead magnets for different audiences and several sequences to match.
But start with one.
The next step is to promote your lead magnet.
Ensure your lead magnet is easy to find and access on your website.
Utilize every marketing channel at your disposal to reach potential customers.
This could involve organic social media posts, paid advertising, SEO, and email marketing.
Here’s a lead magnet post promoting lead magnets (lead magnet inception).
Pro Tip: The more quality lead magnets you have, the better! Don’t be afraid to provide too much value.
Step 3: Set Up Your Email Sequence
Now, it’s time to set up your email sequence.
A typical sequence might look like this:
- Email 1: Welcome and introduce your brand
- Email 2: Share valuable content (guide, tools, etc.)
- Email 3: Address common objections (based on your target audience)
- Email 4: Offer a low-risk, introductory offer (a discount, perhaps?)
- Email 5: Share testimonials and success stories (list people you’ve helped).
From there, you can rinse and repeat the sequence.
Create more valuable content, send more testimonials, etc.
How often should you send emails?
I would probably send one a week.
For longer sequences, I might taper off into one every two weeks.
Conduct tests and create a sequence based on the data you collect.
Step 4: Write Compelling Emails
The next step in the process is to write compelling emails.
If you don’t see value in what you’re sending, why would your customers?
Step 4.1: Create a Great Email Subject Line
The subject line is the first thing your audience sees when they receive your email.
It must be compelling enough to incite curiosity and prompt them to open the email.
A few tips to consider: keep it short and sweet (under 50 characters if possible), use action words, and create intrigue.
Example: How We Helped BestBuy 6x Their Inbound Leads
Step 4.2: Craft Valuable Content
The content of your email should provide value to your audience.
The goal is to build trust with your audience and show that you understand and can solve their problems.
Be sure your content aligns with your audience’s needs and interests, and remember, it’s not about selling but providing value.
If you think you’re giving away too much, then you’re on the right track.
Step 4.3: End With a CTA
Your email should always end with a clear call-to-action (CTA).
I’m a huge fan of the “soft sell.”
Try this:
Write at the bottom of each email: “There are a few ways we can help you when you’re ready.”
Then list off your offers & links to buy, sign up, set up a call, etc.
Step 5: Test and Tweak
After launching your campaign, closely monitor the results.
Pay attention to open rates, click-through rates, and conversions.
Use this data to tweak your emails for better performance.
If you notice people are dropping off after the 3rd email, swap it out!
While automation is great, you’ll need to continue to tweak this process as you go.
Email Nurturing Best Practices
In addition to the step-by-step process, there are a few best practices to follow to make your email nurturing campaigns more effective:
- Keep Them Semi-Short: While providing value is important, respecting your audience’s time is equally important. Keep your emails semi-short and to the point. Make sure every sentence serves a purpose.
- Personalize Your Emails: Personalization goes beyond just using the recipient’s name in the email. It’s about making your emails relevant to recipients based on their behavior, interests, and needs.
- Segment Your List: Not every email will be relevant to every person on your list. You can send more targeted emails by segmenting your list, increasing engagement and conversions. A great way to do this is by creating targeted lead magnets or asking segmentation questions in your first email.
Final Thoughts
By following these steps, you’ll be well on your way to creating an effective email nurturing sequence that can help you convert more leads into loyal customers.
Remember, the key is understanding your audience’s pain points, creating valuable lead magnets, and crafting compelling emails that provide value.
And don’t forget to test and tweak as needed to improve your results. Happy nurturing!
I hope this guide has been helpful!
LFG!