In this article, we will discuss Email Marketing Automation and How to Send Automated Emails.
You may have learned how to grow an email list, or perhaps how to segment your list so that each subscriber receives relevant emails.
And you know how to send highly effective emails with a high open-rate.
You are now ready to automate this process and make your campaigns money-making machines.
An online marketer’s best tool for increasing sales is the autoresponder series. It enables you to engage and build relationships with your prospects and turn them into buyers.
It’s easy to forget about the best part: Once you have it created, you can now focus on the essential aspects of your business.
Table of Contents
ToggleWhat is an Autoresponder?
An autoresponder is an email sequence that is automatically sent to your subscribers. It is activated by a particular event such as joining your mailing list, browsing behavior, abandonment of cart, downloading a PDF, or purchasing a product.
Email autoresponder series content is prepared in advance and ready to be sent at the right time using your email marketing software. An autoresponder set is essential for every online business.
- By helping you build trust and likes, you can turn prospects into customers. This will allow you to make your pitch in the most compelling moment possible without being pushy or salesy.
- It provides valuable insights and information to nurture your leads and teach them to make better decisions via an automated on boarding process.
How do you make a highly effective autoresponder series? These are the four basic steps to follow:
Step 1: Set a Goal for Your Autoresponder
You can have many goals for your autoresponder. Here are the most common.
Before you create your autoresponder series, choose one or more of the following goals.
1) Promote up-sells/cross-sells: You may set up an autoresponder sequence for someone who purchases a product through your email. This will help you get repeat customers.
You can offer upsells or cross-sells depending on which products you sell.
If someone purchases a digital camera, they might be interested in adding a tripod, a lens, and other accessories before the order ships.
If you sell disposable products, such as diapers, or food, you can send offers for new products when they are due.
2) To welcome new subscribers, send them a “welcome” sequence: This is the message you send to new subscribers right after they sign up for your email list.
This message could include a link to your lead magnet for an easy download, thank you for subscribing, or a call to action to visit your most popular blogs posts.
A welcome email series is a must for every email list. Don’t miss the chance to “woo” your new subscribers and make them loyal fans.
3) Automate your sales process: A sales funnel is a strategy that information marketers use to make money. Software businesses, eCommerce businesses, as well as service providers can use it.
It could include a series of educational videos, a sales video, and follow-ups to help you sell your information products.
You could also create a series of educational emails and invite people to join a recorded or live webinar in which you offer a deal.
Your sales sequence for an online store could include promotional offers for products that your subscribers just viewed on your site.
4) You can explore it as a lead magnet or free mini-course: You may use an autoresponder as a lead magnet for new subscribers to your email address.
You can do this by offering a “mini-course” or a “challenge” that promises to send a series of emails with valuable lessons for days or weeks.
A mini-course or challenge like this is highly perceived as helpful, making it an effective lead magnet.
You are looking for the best LMS plugin in WordPress to deliver your course without having to do any work.
Step 2: Map out Your Entire Email Sequence
This step will help you create an outline of your sequence.
First, determine how long your sequence should be. How many days? How many emails?
No one rule will dictate how many emails you should have in an email sequence. Your sequence should not be longer than necessary to achieve your goals.
You should determine its length based on its purpose, segments, subscribers’ preferences, and so forth.
Next, determine how far apart you will send each email.
For educational emails, it’s OK to send one email every two days. If you’re making a large sale, you can send up to four emails per day. It all depends on your goal.
Ensure to strike a balance between your “value” and your “offer” email (sales).
It doesn’t matter how many emails you send, as long as you send more value emails than sales emails.
This will keep your email list from becoming too busy.
You can simplify the process by using the 80/20 rule. 80% should be valuable, and 20% should be about selling.
Next, create an outline of the sequence, from start to end. This will include a description of what topics each email will cover and the call to action for each email.
Your call to action could be to click on the link, share your blog post via social media, reply in your email or purchase your product.
Here is an example of how to launch an information product.
Email 1: Introduction, thank you for subscribing!
Email 2: Make sure to explain why you are writing about this topic/problem. This will increase demand for your product.
Email 3: Describe what you can do to resolve the problem/achieve a goal. This helps you build credibility and allows you to help others in advance.
Email 4: Describe the problem and give more details. Move on to the sale. Mention that you are launching a new product/program within the next few days.
Email 5: Launch your product. Inform your subscribers that your product has been launched and is available for purchase within the next few days. You will then close your cart, and the product won’t appear again.
Email 6: Inform your subscribers about the product. Let your subscribers know how many have purchased it, what others think and how many are remaining.
Email 7: Inform your subscribers that your product will not be available for purchase after the closing time of 24 hours. Remind your subscribers what they will learn and the benefits.
Email 8: You can now shift into scarcity, knowing that only a few hours remain. Your product will no longer be available after that point.
Email 9: Two hours before closing – This is where to focus on the positive changes people are looking for in their lives. What do they desire to accomplish their goals/solve their problems?
Email 10: Cart closed – Send an email explaining to customers that the product is not available. You can share data about how many people enrolled in your program. We are grateful for everyone’s support.
Step 4: Monitor, Improve
It is hands-off but not something you should forget about. Monitor the performance of your email to find areas that can be improved. Next, split test to improve your results.
These are the things you need to pay attention to when you examine your autoresponder campaign:
Open rates: If you don’t have the open rates you desire, think about this – Is this autoresponder relevant for your list? Are your subject lines as effective as possible? Are you sending your emails at the correct times?
Click through rates: Are your subscribers taking the actions you want them to after opening your email? Your body copy may not be as effective if you see a low click-through percentage.
The following is a question to consider – Does your email copy relate to the subject? Was the email of real value for your subscribers? Does your call to action make sense? Is it easy to find the link?
Unsubscribe rate: Unsubscribes will always happen, no matter what. This is usually fine because they probably wouldn’t buy from you anyway.
A high unsubscribe rate could indicate that you’re losing customers. Consider the following – What is the reason people signed up for your list? Are you keeping that promise?
Are your autoresponders relevant to the segments they are being sent to? Are you sending too many sales messages with little value?
You can now automate and target every email marketing campaign, making them a sales machine.
Create an Autoresponder Series that Converts
The most challenging part of the job might be writing the emails for your autoresponder series. It is possible to have it outsourced to a professional copywriter.
Here are some things to keep in mind if you want to learn how it’s done yourself.
First, think about the reader: You should address your subscribers’ needs in your emails. Don’t discuss the products only, but offer solutions. Ask yourself: What are my subscribers’ most significant problems? What can I do to solve their problem?
Use personalization: Personalization will make your emails more valuable and relevant to them.
Personalization does not just include putting your subscriber’s first name in the email.
It means tailoring the content of your email to their specific needs.
An online retailer might find it more valuable to receive an email with the subject “How to drive real traffic to an eCommerce store” rather than a generic “How to drive real traffic” subject.
Create great subject lines: The subject line in emails is extremely important. It has to grab your attention, or you won’t read it.
Spend quality time crafting and perfecting your subject line.
An email subject line that is compelling and interesting will entice curiosity about the contents of the email. It is personal and relevant to the recipient.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Question) about Email Marketing
These are the top questions regarding email marketing.
Do I need to send email newsletters?
Absolutely! Email newsletters are a part of the content marketing strategy of more than 83% of B2B marketers. Email marketing can be a cost-effective way for businesses to communicate with customers.
Newsletters are an integral part of an ideal email marketing strategy.
When is it appropriate to send marketing emails?
Timing can also vary depending on the list. I recommend that you experiment and find the best way to deliver your subscribers’ emails.
Google Analytics can help you find the most active times for your subscribers and send your email at those times.
What email metrics should you track?
These are the top 3 metrics you should track in email marketing:
- Deliverability: It is the percentage of emails that reach the intended recipient.
- Open Rate: This shows how many recipients opened your email.
- Click-Through Rate: It is the percentage of subscribers that clicked on a link in an email. This is usually a link to a landing page.
What is the difference between single and double opt-in?
A single opt-in is when a visitor clicks on “Subscribe,” and they are added to your mailing list.
Double opt-in is when they click “subscribe,” and they must confirm their subscription by clicking a link within a confirmation email or any other transactional email sent to the email address they provided.
How often should I send out marketing emails?
There is no set rule for how frequent you should send marketing emails. I recommend asking your subscribers how often they would like to hear from you. To determine which frequency is most effective, you can do A/B testing.
You will want to contact new subscribers more often, as they are just getting to know your brand. Beyond that, you should only send emails according to the established schedule.
How can I create an email marketing strategy that follows best practices?
This guide will help you create the best email marketing strategy. I encourage you to use it!
You should also learn how to create a successful email campaign. Here’s what you will find:
- Your email campaign should have a goal
- Choose the type of email that you will send
- Choose your audience segments
- Choose the right technology
- Make eye-catching opt-ins
- Follow up emails and plan emails
- Create the perfect subject line
- Write your email marketing copy
- Create your email design
- Track and test your email campaign
Wrapping up Email Marketing Automation.
I hope you found this post handy in creating an email marketing campaign that works. To engage subscribers and keep them interested, keep your email copy simple.
If you are looking for more Email Marketing tips you may want to check out the Wealthy Affiliate Community where they have over 2 MILLION members always willing to give you their tips to success.
I strongly encourage anybody interested in Email Marketing to complete the Wealthy Affiliate training program and use the tools and resources to build your first Email Marketing Campaign.
To put it simply, it’s the best, most user-friendly platform on affiliate marketing that I am aware of.
If you’re serious? Invest in yourself, and you will be well on your way to success.
Any/all links on this site may be affiliate links, and if you make a purchase through one of them, I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read the full affiliate disclosure here.
If you have any questions let me know in the comments or you can hit me up on email at mark@theretiredaffiliates.com and I will be more than happy to help.
Mark
CEO and Founder of The Retired Affiliates
8 responses to “Email Marketing Automation: How to Send Automated Emails”
I still haven’t gotten the gist of email marketing. I have heard a lot about it but I am not sure how to start my very own email list. Could you be so kind in assisting me with that, I would greatly appreciate it. Once I have mastered that, I will then move onto auto responder
Happy to help Daniel.
Shoot me an email at mark@theretiredaffilites.com with what you need help with and we will get you sorted.
Mark
This is enlightening. I’ve never considered doing anything beyond notifying my readers of a new post! A welcome, reorder or simply a “we’ve received your email” contact would be a valuable tool to spur sales and build confidence. While these suggestions and the flow is very well explained here, I’m wondering how I would set up an autoresponder. Is it something I do through my email service or is it a separate plug-in?
Hi Cynthia,
Your autoresponder is best done through a plugin. I use either AWeber or mailchimp for my websites.
As a beginner in affiliate marketing, I always find it a pleasure to come across your site because it’s a pleasure and you always give me helpful tips which serve as an inspiration to me and helps me continue this journey and also helps me not to quit when I have bad days. Email marketing is indeed a great stuff.
Thanks Collins we are glad you enjoy our website.
Excellent web site you have here.. It’s hard to find good quality writing like yours these days. I seriously appreciate individuals like you! Take care!!
Thanks for the kind words Sunita.
I do try to keep it real and non spammy.
Mark