Take Your Subscribers Back to School
September 3, 2010
Filed under Email Marketing Best Practices
It’s the start of September, and teachers everywhere are scrambling to pen lesson plans for that first day of school. So maybe it’s a good time for you to prepare for your new students, too.
What’s that? You don’t have any students? Maybe not technically, but everyone who signs up for your emails is like a student walking into your classroom, ready to learn how your business can help them.
So, are your pencils sharpened and your apples polished?
It never hurts to double-check, so here’s a little something to help you through those bumps of a new beginning: A Guide to Welcoming Your New Students (aka Subscribers).
Write Your Name on the Blackboard
For most kids, this isn’t their first First Day of School. And for most of your subscribers, these probably aren’t their first marketing emails.
But this time is different. It’s your classroom. Everything’s new, and they’re not quite sure what to expect. What will they be doing? How much will they learn?
Answer their questions up front, on your sign-up page or web form. Explain your schedule, what they’ll be reading, and what you hope they’ll learn.
Sort Them Into Classes
Schoolchildren have different class schedules based on their strengths and interests. When they grow up and start signing up for emails, guess what? They still have different strengths and interests!
Get them into the right groups by setting up custom fields on your web form. Later, you can segment them so you can send each the “lessons” they need most.
Set Assignments
Teachers work hard to get the attention of a classroom of children. It would be foolish for them to go through that just to say, “Okay, talk to you later!” and leave.
But that’s what marketers do every day on their thank-you pages. They leave new subscribers to their own devices until the next email goes out.
When people sign up, their eyes are on you. Take advantage of that on your thank-you page. Offer something to do – articles to read on your site, things to go buy, something to think about for next time, questions to email you about.
Pass Out Textbooks
If you promised an incentive in exchange for signing up, distribute it with a link on your confirmation page (here’s why).
This could be an e-book, a music file, a whitepaper – whatever is most appropriate. If you didn’t offer an incentive, it’s still a good idea to offer materials. List sites that relate to your topic – instructional videos, lists of suppliers and the like.
Instruct Them to Raise Their Hands
In your welcome email, invite feedback. Your subscribers are the type of people your brand attracts. If they tell you what they want, you’ll be able to attract even more of those people.
And by asking at the get-go, whenever readers have constructive criticism or a question, they’ll know to bring them straight to you.
Send Them Out To Recess
In your first few emails, invite your new readers to drop by your social media pages, the comment areas on your blog, or your site’s user forum, if you have one.
There, they can play around a little, start their own conversations and get to know each other.
Make sure to moderate those spaces, answering direct questions and deleting spam comments, but hang back a little – the playground is everyone’s chance to play.
Your Homework
It’s time to grade yourself. What score would you give your current first-day experience?
Your homework is to think carefully about each of the suggestions above. Which make sense for your campaign? Do they all?
What else do you think could make things with your new subscribers run smoothly?
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