Simply put, email marketing is still the highest ROI activity a marketer can do. Period. End of sentence.
Even with the changes in content consumption, emerging MarTech, and articles consistently claiming email is dead or dying, we’ve seen (as have many others) that email is one of the single most effective channels in moving people through the Customer Value Journey.
In our YouTube series, Marketing Mastery with DigitalMarketer, I talk about 4 of my favorite email campaigns that any company can add to their marketing promotions to see a boost in opens, clicks, and sales.
Number 1: Goodwill Campaign
This is a series designed to be more benefit rich and content heavy. This uses some really solid email subject line types, specifically Blind & Direct which I covered in another video where I talked about my favorite types of email subject lines.
The REALLY important thing about goodwill emails is to make sure they are providing VALUE and that whatever you’re offering is FREE.
You shouldn’t be using a goodwill campaign to pitch a new product or sale. This is meant to engage your audience and provide value upfront.
In this three-part email series, you’re going to lead with a blind email to spark interest and curiosity. The subject line doesn’t reveal the topic of the content but gets people excited enough to open.
Subject lines like “This flat-out works” and “Kinda weird but very [insert word] like profitable, effective, etc.” … are a great start.
The body copy then needs to connect the dots. Remember, subject lines are meant to sell the open and the copy is meant to sell the click. You’re going to want to be SUPER direct in your body copy in order to spark more action from a blind open.
Here’s an example:
Okay, the next email you have to go super direct with a subject line like, “Presenting…”, “Free Report”, “Free Video”, “Case Study”, etc.…
From there, you just deliver on the promises in the body copy. You’ll lead with the desired end result and then deliver on the promise (or how to get there).
The last email uses another direct subject line and really stresses the value of the content and teases some of the learnings in the body copy.
If you’re looking to boost email engagement with your subscribers, this is the perfect campaign to send out. Test out a few different pieces of content and when you have one that works super well, you should consider automating this for new subscribers (or subscribers who take particular actions… or who DON’T take other actions).
Number 2: News Jacker Campaign
What convinces people to buy? Well, lots of things. But time and time again people buy what’s NEW and what’s relevant.
A news jacker campaign helps you do BOTH of these things. If you’re sharing a current event, then you’re making what’s old new again and what’s even more powerful is you’re making it RELEVANT to your prospect.
For this email, you’ll want the subject line to call out the source and piece of relevant information immediately.
You can use these 2 formulas:
“According to [Person in News Article/Video] [Relevant News]”
Or
“[News Source] LOVES/HATES [Topic]”
From there, the email leads with the relevant part of the news story and you can include an image with a link to the article. You can choose to link or not. If you link, you could potentially lose clicks to your offer, but you could also alienate your reader because you didn’t provide the source information.
Another way to do this would be to footnote your source with a link at the bottom of the email or in a P.S. with some copy like “Want to read the article?” or “Want to watch the video?” You can do that here.
Next, is where you make the pivot. Generally, you want to compare two binary options with one being the clear option. From there, you just link to your related sales page and offer and you’re off to the races.
This is a great campaign to run midway through a promotion to re-engage prospects who haven’t seen the relevance of your offering yet.
Number 3: Gain/Logic/Fear Campaign
Ah, the old “Gain, Logic, Fear” campaign. This campaign is one of the single most effective ways to generate conversions from your email list.
You generally send this after a subscriber has received a free piece of valuable content from you (either new subscribers who signed up via a lead magnet or someone who engaged with your Goodwill Campaign).
The email cadence breaks down like this:
First, you send an email following up to see how they’re doing with the free resource and to make an offer to a related product focusing on the product benefits and what’s in it for them. For example:
“Oh, hey you like Facebook ads? Well, we have this course about scaling Facebook ads you should check out.”
Next, you’ll send an email that covers all the logical reasons why they should take the offer. These normally perform the worst, but it will appeal to your more “logical” subscribers that would scoff at making more emotional purchasing decisions.
Finally, you bring in the fear. This is best done with scarcity. Generally, you’re offering the product at a discount during GLF campaigns. At this point, this is where you let them know that the price is going to go up.
A lot of people say there’s no inspiration like the deadline, well that couldn’t be any truer in this case.
GLF is a proven email strategy that works great with new subscribers you’re trying to turn into new customers.
Number 4: Need Help? Campaign
To round this out, let’s look at a standalone email that is designed to sell higher ticket items and is perfect for anyone selling coaching or done-for-you services.
Simple subject lines like “Can I help you with [result]?” or “Need some help?” are enough to get subscribers to open and give your message a read.
The important thing is, you want to send this email to a segment of your audience that meet a certain qualification. You wouldn’t be using this as a broadcast email. YOU HAVE TO KNOW the details about the subscriber, their problem, and have indicators that they’re at a point in the Value Journey where this message is relevant!
So, to recap:
- The Goodwill Campaign
- News Jacker Campaign
- Gain Logic Fear Campaign
- Need Help? Campaign
Want more campaign examples or swipe copy for the campaigns I just talked about? Become a DigitalMarketer Insider and you’ll get that and more! Check it out here.
And head over to our YouTube channel for more Marketing Mastery tips with me, Justin Rondeau.
