Lessons

Lesson Info

Tips for Email Marketing

let's talk about the actual email tips how to write these emails so the first is to personalize which I mentioned earlier there's there's really several types of personalization um uh one is that you can personalize yourself so I always encourage it include a head shot even in that email maybe trying to include the head shot in the upper right and then start your tax to have it spill over admit in the email to something about yourself you know remember jason and gene on their website they had it there completely addicted to chipotle do that kind of stuff in your e mails personalize it so they know it's coming from you and not this big brand not this automated system they're not a part of some automated thing personalized email on your side tell them something about yourself even if you're emailing let's see your emailing about an evening you're hosting with a real estate agent and you think that they would have find value in that talk about a struck the struggles you had after you got ...

married trying to find the right real estate is because you had no clue how to look for admit something share something personalized that email personalize your brand and what I mean by that is your brand is you even though you have a company name and it might not be your name let's make that send email address from you from your name that way they don't feel like they're getting email from a brand they feel like they're getting email from a person at this point they've already bought you they've already bought your brand they already paid you all that kind of stuff even if they haven't and it's still engaging in the life cycle portion send that e mail from you it helps so much to have it from your personal name personalized to them use their first name and contextualized so contextualized thing we haven't talked much about that contextualized helps remind them that this is not some automated email it's not some drip campaign it's not some system that they're getting entered into enough that's that's a bad but contextualized helps them see that you care about them and you want them to have value right now right right here today and right here in this email it gives them that added value what's an example contextualizing well ifyou're emailing here in the spring you can say something like spring is coming spring is here here in san diego the what rain we never get rain forget it you know it's already ninety five degrees and there's already drought warnings welcome to spring in san diego you know you can contextualized contextualizing adds context connection ization to be based on a season that committee based on you know a sports team you know another year where actually this is the first year of the padres were supposedly not supposed to be terrible so you know we'll see right exactly I mean we'll see because in san diego is pretty much like another year with the padres are going to stink and we'll just wait for the charges season to come around I mean that's contextualizing your email so it's not just personalizing it's contextualized that segment I already shared about this I think it's very important that you segment things segmented lists according to hub spot performed thirty nine percent better segment in your list means learning something about your entire list that can break it apart into smaller chunks that allows you to be more specific with that smaller chunk you could segment you know jason talked about how his couples come from all over the country to get married in denver in the surrounding mountains he could segment about what parts of the country that they're from and create list from different parts of the country you could segment based on how long ago your couples got married and moved them through that segment as they go you could segment a whole number of things delivering the right content to the right person at the right time is what is most valuable and when you deliver away you're going to solve a problem to them contextualizing it segmenting it personalizing these are all things that help people go yes they do they know me they are talking to me you want to keep talking to them one on one you're entering into the in box never before has it been so important to be incredibly personal and segment team is yet another way that we can be incredibly personal different c t a see th is is a marketing term for call to action and that's what you want people to do inside of your email you want them to take action to do something and so what I would encourage you to do is have different types of that some people respond differently to a link where you hyperlink something other people like the big button to click other people will click on the image you post on and actually follow through that way make sure that you're a linking out all of those so that everyone has their own way of doing it and be kind of measuring what your audience likes best I know that shoot got at it that photographers like the buttons two times more and they like the actual text links I don't know why that's not some industry standard it's not something that hub spot talks but I just know that if we get three clicks on an e mail two of them would be from the button and one would be from the text link that's kind of the average so I make sure we have both in there because apparently they both they find both relevant ironically enough they don't click on the pictures very much who would've thought mobile friendly band guys people are opening those emails on their phones they are opening on their tablets and if your email have you were open an email on your phone and that text is so tiny because it didn't render for your phone do you read that email I'm sorry I don't know what my scroll in and then go back and forth for each line there's no way um most of our consuming part or all of your content on their mobile device when they're in like the grocery store while the driving seventy five miles an hour down the freeway whole starts make sure that it's mobile friendly so they don't get in an accident when they're reading your tiny print on the freeway I mean we wouldn't want that make sure stuff is mobile friendly what's the easiest way to do it send any mail to yourself and read it on your phone if his mobile friendly it'll be it'll be nice there if it's not you need to fix that how to fix it that's going to be very dependent on what must offer using what website you have all the different factors so as not a class on that but make sure it is mobile friends number five included p s you know ps is one of the most sought after and seeing things in an email I include a ps my last live did you guys notice that yeah you know did you read it before you read other stuff optimist who will read the p s before they really actually email included p s don't don't overuse it don't include a ps every time understand the ps could actually be your most valuable tool for sharing the most relevant piece of content that in that email you're sending number six sense of urgency we're going to talk about this one in the upcoming slides it's hard when you have these past customers to create a sense of urgency and I don't want to overplay kate and over hype this sense of urgency what I really wanted to do is just talk about the psychological side of things that says that when we get a ton of e mails every day we don't have time to read and consume all of them we don't have time and like me when I get it when I get any when I get a voicemail I'm just like I don't want to listen to that I just don't even if it's my best friend con I just don't want to do it so a sense of urgency not from a side of things of gaming the system but from a side of things of onley delivering content and emails to the people when that matters will create the need in them to read your email when it comes through that's what I'm talking about don't email them about something that really doesn't matter only email about things that matter so when they show you create an expectation that when they get the email there going oh you know what kimmel e e mails me about things that are important that have a some sort of time frame I'm going to read this one over all the other emails I'm going to make sure I read that one you want to create that you want to create that in them as they're going to their inbox why should they read yours well we've gone through a lot of reasons why this every years one of them is because if they wait a week it's gonna be too late to do whatever it is you wanted to do I'd probably listen to more voicemails if I knew that if I didn't listen to that voice mail today or tomorrow or some like that something was gonna happen well you could have in there like you know but if I got a voicemail from somebody and the only time you ever called me as if it was important I'm gonna listen to that voice mail right and we have those people when they call your life who um hold on a sec I've got to take this really quickly on so we all have those people usually it's about sinbad but hopefully you will be doing good all right quick aside and we're gonna get the brainstorming a lot of different things that you guys can do I want to talk about this because you know this is a side we'll just spend ten minutes on this or so but this is out of jeff walker's book called launch and it's a wonderful book that was introduced to me pretty recently by by a couple friends in the industry they read it there like jared you really get a lot of this book it's a book all about saying e mails probably not applicable honestly for photographers I thought was a very interesting read this part that I thought was very interesting for all different types of anybody saying emails in general really anybody who's trying to interact with people and stay in touch them so I want to just go through a couple of these things these are what we call mental triggers they're kind of like the nine psychological reasons why we take action so for about ten minutes I thought I'd go through that again are you trying to get people to take action you're really just trying to engage people and I wanted to go through the psychological reasons why people want to be engaged why people are engaged in life we'll do things because if you can hit upon these things in a way that genuinely intersects with your brand authentic intersection with your brand then you're going to find that people are gonna want to do what you ask them to do they're going to want to engage in that that that guy that you're gonna release them they're gonna want to come to your evening where you're hosting a real estate agent they're gonna want to come to your party we're going to get all the customers from that one you're gonna want to do these things so spend a little time talk about and then we'll get into all those tips in this tricks there I think from a standpoint of good there we go of the first one we talked about the power of authority it's being the expert and people follow others in a position of authority again this isn't authority like you rule over them this is authority as in you're the expert and so throughout the throughout the experience they've had of you by now in that post customer phase they believe and trust you to be the expert and that's really important people take action because you're the expert people are going to follow your photography advice because you're the expert and this is a great way to continue to interact with them is to do things like publishing guides or doing things that continue to show that hey I'm going to continue to help you in the areas that I have expertise not going to try to help you now is I don't have expertise I'm going to try to help you neary's I have expertise and try to solve problems for you in areas that I can solve problems for you in number two is reciprocity so we've talked a lot about this already reciprocity is what we've talked a lot about in social media which is the social reciprocity if somebody gives us something we feel obligated to give something back in return now again this is not about gaming the system folks I'm not tryingto advocate that you send send e mails that are built inherently upon making them feel like they need to give something to you that's not at all how it is what it is is is just understanding the way the social economy works and understanding when you give and give and give you continue to establish that love your customer relationship and you continue to establish this wonderful circle which is what we talked about with social media when you share the benefits of this wonderful instagram photo and share that with the other vendors that were involved they're going to be appreciative and they're going to be thankful and if you continue to give without expectation of return there is a reciprocity factor that does start to play and that's a social and mental trigger that we all go through when we receive a gift from someone and I don't have a gift to give you I'm kind of like oh my gosh like why'd you give this to me well I just I appreciate you you automatically appreciate that person more that's the mental trigger side of things trust trust is the ultimate way to become an influence in their lives we've talked a lot about trust I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about trust I did like this line that came that jeff walker talked about that I thought I would influence into our conversations is that time creates trust prove that you're reliable and honest over a long period of time and at this point guys at the post customer phase you have proven that trust over a long period of time if you've done a lot of things that we're talking about with content marketing you have given them no reason to doubt you your emails will have significant impact on them email is a really hard thing to do out of the gate because he wouldn't necessarily have that trust for you yet but boy at this point in the game you have built that trust over and over and over again this is why email could be so valuable it is tough to send an email that people have never heard of you before you know that doesn't really have much effectiveness but at this point in the game they trust you because you've given to them so much you've proven your reliability you proving your honesty and you've proven that you're not trying to take advantage of them because you're not trying to do things that are you know you're trying to represent the authentic brand and only share with them it's content that's delivered at the right time at the right place and the right medium anticipation this is more that we're anticipating things that were way anticipate certain things that we were excited about think about a kid on christmas you know I think that's a wonderful example or even I remember I could never get to sleep the day before we went to disneyland I don't think I ever slept I probably did eventually fall asleep but felt like my head never even hit the pillow I was just so you know I wish I could get that excited about something nowadays it just don't seem to have that same level of excitement more that anticipation it's what happens when we when we have this happen it's because we kind of want something so badly or were so excited about it and you know I think that there are brands that are able to do that obviously we can look at apple is a wonderful example when they're releasing a product the anticipation that they create a line out the door at all their stores around the country is absolutely fascinating but all sorts of brands create this kind of anticipation jeff younger and I were talking just last night about jeff and I share love of craft whiskey cocktails and we were talking last night about this wonderful craft cocktail bar in in chicago that I've never been to that he has been too and he said it's jared it's it's it's in an area of town that its hard building that you'd never even know it's it's like a speakeasy type of place but there's a line out the door and there's anticipation for all those people who are interested in waiting in line to get into a place that doesn't have an entrance there's anticipation is building anticipation comes in baltimore factors but what we really want to do is we want to create a brand and create a message that builds anticipation you can do this in email by making sure that you're only sharing things that are very relevant anticipation is a social trigger and if you only share things they're relevant it means that when I can e mail from you I want to open it I'm anticipating the next email that's when you're really doing it right is when I'm anticipating the next email I'm wondering when the next email is going to come likability were more influenced by those that we like is not the truth isn't that the truth the more likeable that you are the more influence that you have if you have not yet read how to win friends and influence people by dale carnegie you need to it is an old classic is written on the note is written by the nineteen fifties uh even earlier yeah you're right it might even be earlier but it's basically talking about I mean the whole book is basis summarized when you're in a ninja action with someone keep your mouth shut and ask them about who they are and try to learn about them don't talk about yourself and be very invested in who they are and you're likeability will skyrocket but what a great model for what content marketing really is get out of the way of yourself invest in them and give give give to them make sure you're using that in your emails increase your likability by giving to them and don't don't don't get in the way of yourself it's not about you and your image is in these emails it's not about union images and everything that you're doing it's about giving to them events and rituals so I talked about earlier and this is something that we love to do it she got it we've noticed that you know I mean life gets boring if we just keep doing the same thing so why not make an event out of it why not make a launch out of it why not make something fun out of it we talked about how when you release that guide make it a launch make it exciting make it fun people they love to be a part of events they love to feel as if they're part of something bigger when people attend events together it becomes a ritual which pulls it all together you guys are the power of doing that by getting together events by pulling together people to come together in the name of something like a real estate agent financial planning night you can also email people tips and tricks that have to do a lot of things even if you don't want to create an event but an event creates more power around that what would be better do you think email somebody five tips from financial planner or to have a night where they can come and enjoy community in the name of meeting and listening to a financial planner people are going to be more apt and more enjoyable tio come to the evening that you've hosted and you can always create the five tips of financial planner said based on what they said that night that's the evergreen nature of content number seven community we talked about this with events and rituals community builds on that people want to be a part of something I love what caitlin james did we talked about her website yesterday and how she actually addresses this phenomenon that has started that is becoming a cage a bride of caitlin james bride they are part of a community you can bet that caitlyn has spent some time making sure that being a part of a community means something you guys have that same exact power because you're interacting with people that have so many things in common but we haven't talked about is we've talked a lot about how to attract people that meet your target market but we haven't talked about is that the end of the year when you shoot twenty weddings or fifty portrait sessions how these people all have the same things in common there is a natural community there mike alone I don't know if he still does this number when he was talking he would talk about how every year he would get together last year's brides and this year's brides all together in the same room at the same time and it was wonderful because he just got to step back and last year's brides would talk to this year's brides about all the different things they learned and really they also talk about how amazing mike wass and how amazing these pictures were and how in love they were with the pictures they got and oh my gosh here is my favorite image and but they had a community because they were all like minded what a fantastic event you khun use email not email itself but the active emailing past customers to create that community sense let's talk about scarcity so scarcity is interesting scarcity is used mawr in terms of selling things on email I think that we've already touched upon the scarcity thing which is the basic ideas when there's a perception of scarcity people are motivated by that I think the more the more apt use of the scarcity is more the anticipation thing it's not a matter of you're in limited supply or anything but I do think that you want to grilled up is that it's a privilege to be a part of that community that you created I think there's a lot of value and making them feel special and making them feel unique so rather than looking at it from a scarcity standpoint which is what jeff walker talks about I think it's celebrating their unique dennis I think it's celebrating the things that make them unique and really unique this is a form of scarcity that's the angle I think is best used for what you guys are doing is a photography business and the last is social proof we talked about this already is well yelp why is it the people before they will pick a restaurant will go on yelp to get the advice thoughts and sharing of people they've never met before who are not experts in this space they're not people they're not food connoisseurs yet we're willing to take what they say if they say the flapjack texas pancakes are great we'll go get that doesn't matter if we've never met this person that's top of the list on yelp will go in and we'll order that and it's this concept of social proof we see others taking action we will too way see it all across the board and so you can really use that as you build out these things so that I think just sometimes I want to spend on building out the ideas that go into what people take action on and what people respond to you have to understand that people if they're going to be if they're going to find things interesting in your emails if they're going to want to continue to stay engaged with you you've got to be a person that continues to want to engage them