By Karen Cioffi
You know, many don't realize that email marketing is a huge part of book marketing. And, publishers are realizing this also.
It's the subscribers to your email list who are a ready made audience.
And, the very first email that you will send to your new subscriber is the Welcome Message.
A while ago, I listened to a number of five minute podcasts from marketing experts. This setup was an ‘ethical bribe’ to sign up to the campaign of the day. But, that’s another story.
One of the podcasts discussed the effective use of your Welcome or Thank You message when someone opts onto your mailing list.
I’ve written on this topic before, on how to optimize your welcome message. But, this podcast reminded me of a couple of strategies that are well worth passing along.
Information that should be included in your Thank You message:
A Reminder
The first bit of information, aside from thanking the person for signing up, should be a reminder about what they signed up for. You’d think this wouldn’t be necessary, but people are overwhelmed with all the information they get in their inbox that it’s easy for them to forget why they opted-in in the first place. So, give them a reminder.
I start my Welcome/Thank You message with:
Welcome to The Writing World and thanks so much for subscribing.
Here’s the gift promised. I hope you find it helpful:
Title of Gift
URL to download
This is also the place to let the subscriber know what to do. Does she need to click on a confirmation link to join? You might add: “There’s one more step. Please confirm.” Also, you might explain how to download the gift: “To get your gift, simply click on the URL and download The Title to your computer.
Make everything easy.
Let the Subscriber Know What She’ll Be Getting
You will also want to let the subscriber know that along with receiving the gift (ethical bribe), he’ll also be getting daily, weekly, monthly, or other scheduled emails with lots of helpful information. Here you’ll want to give a brief description of what he can look forward to. Maybe you’ll be providing writing tips, health tips, fitness tips, information on your books, great offers, or other information. Let him know exactly what to expect.
Unsubscribe Ability
Another important bit of information to include is to let the subscriber know he can easily unsubscribe to the emails. Email services, such as GetResponse, AWeber, and iContact, provide this content. You can tweak it if you like or leave their wording. This takes the pressure off the subscriber, knowing he can easily unsubscribe reduces anxiety.
Security
One more strategy to reduce anxiety is to let the subscriber know that his email address is safe and secure. Email services provide this content also.
Your Welcome message is a key email marketing element and should be part of your book marketing strategy. It affords lots of opportunity to build relationships with your readers and subscribers and to make ‘one time only’ offers. Take advantage of all you can do with the opportunities, but remember, the main goal of the Welcome/Thank You message is to do just that - genuinely thank the subscriber for giving you his valuable email address and being a part of your online world.
If you need to get your email marketing going, the first think you need is an opt-in box. I use Get Response. The have the best opt-ins and you can design them to meet your needs. I'm love them so much, I'm an affiliate for them. So, if you need to get your LIST started, get on board with GET RESPONSE!
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4 comments:
Karen, one of the things I notice is that authors tend to give unsubscribe notices but forget to include SUBSCRIBE notices. I mean, what if one of an author's subscribers forwards a newsletter to someone and that someone wants to subscribe. Without SUBSCRIBE info, too, we've lost that reader except as a one-time admirer!
Best,
Carolyn
Author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers
Karen,
I signed up for a newsletter the other day from someone I met through an online group I was part of. I got the first newsletter and along with it came a short email inviting me to introduce myself. I thought that was really nice and something I don't often see when I sign up for someone's list.
Carolyn, that's an excellent point, especially with the share buttons on the newsletters now. The potential for reaching non-subscribers is huge.
Thanks for mentioning this - it's an important tip!
Suzanne, this is another great tip. And, with the amount of marketers and newsletters out there, what a unique feature to be included in the first message. It's sure to make you stand out.
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