In this digital space when you’re building an email list, you need a solid email strategy. You can’t just create a freebie and call it a day. Or create one newsletter sign up form, pop it on your website, and then these strangers on the internet who willingly handed over their email address never hear from you.

Or what about having a product page go live and sit there until someone—who has no idea who you are or that you’ve created something—stumbles onto your cart page and clicks the purchase button… oh how I wish. We’d all be millionaires, right?

Or…calling out podcasters…having a podcast and expecting that people just know what your paid offers are.

Today we’re going to dive into why you might be losing leads, regardless of your business model, and how to fix it.

In episode 2, we discussed growing your list organically and fun lead magnets to help you do just that.

But once you’ve got that lead magnet (or opt-in, if you prefer to call it that) created, what happens next?

They sign up, receive your thing, and then….never hear from you again?

Nope. I’m not letting you get away with that.

I need you to have a Welcome Sequence. Now, it does not have to be a million emails long. We’re not doing that. If you want to, go for it. Slay those emails.

I want you to have a solid 3 if you’re just starting out. I write 5-6 for my clients and for myself, but if 5 stresses you out, stick with 3.

In a later episode, we’re going to go over Welcome Sequence Secrets, but for the purpose of today and your 3 welcome emails, these are the three things I want you to do.

Welcome Sequence Basics

First, send the promised freebie they signed up for. Second, introduce yourself and why you’re the expert. And third, set up expectations for how often you will be sending emails and share about an offer that pairs well with the freebie they just downloaded.

This is going to build trust and nurture that relationship with them. And much better than just chunking a free PDF at them and then ghosting them.

Next: stay consistent & show up

So now that you’ve got the welcome sequence checked off the list, I want you to stay consistent and show up with valuable content.

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel here. If you have blogs, podcast episodes, or really helpful Instagram posts, turn those into a tip or piece of advice for your email.

I want you emailing on the same cadence each month. For some of us that might look like 1 email a month; for others it could be up to 2 emails a week.

No matter what you decide fits best for you and your business, stick with it and stay consistent.

If you remember, in your welcome sequence that we just talked about, you’re going to be setting up those expectations with them so they already know to watch for your name in their inbox once, twice, or 8 times a month. 

Being consistent with your email frequency keeps you top-of-mind with your subscribers. And I said this, but I’ll say it again, you will find the right balance with what that looks like for you and your business.

I just signed up for a newsletter recently where they email 3 times a week. They told me that before I ever hit the subscribe button, so I do not feel bombarded with their email frequency because I was well aware what this email relationship would look like. They are true to their word and have been showing up every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday with marketing lessons and other fun marketing content.

Call to Actions

Let’s talk about your CTAs – which means your Call to Action. What is it that you are asking them to do? Do you want your audience to go check out a sales page? Do you want them to go listen to a new podcast episode, or simply reply back with an answer to something.

Clear. Noticeable. Persuasive.

Including clear, bold, noticeable, and persuasive calls to action make it easy for your reader to know to click over and check out your offer or go listen to your episode. If you simply gloss over your CTA or even avoid it all together, you are losing the possibility of making a sale or increasing your podcast downloads. Never forget to keep your Call to Action as the entire point of your email and build the email around it.

Cart Abandonment Emails

I’m going to switch gears a little bit here and dive into Cart Abandonment emails. This is specific to those of you who have digital products or courses. 

If you don’t have at least one reminder email set up for someone who started the checkout process, then you’ve left money on the table. You don’t know what just happened on the other end. That person could have been in the middle of buying your product and then everything hit the fan because a kid spilled milk, or another kid stole their siblings Kindle and took off running which ensued an entire dramatic chain of events that had kids screaming as if something really horrible had just happened (ok, that might be a true story from just this morning at my house… but you get the idea).

So if things just went haywire when they were trying to purchase, then they set their phone down and their brain shifted into parent mode or whatever happened and they forgot what they were just doing. Popping into their inbox to say “Hey friend, did you forget this?” can get them back on track and remind them “Oh yeah, I WAS buying this! Let me do that now that my kids aren’t trying to tear the house apart!” 

We’ll have another episode one day where we dive into all things cart abandonment so keep an ear out for that, but it truly is an important component of the full digital marketing strategy.

In case you’re worried about it, people don’t get mad. How many emails do you have from Target, or Amazon, or in my case, Draper James with the subject line “OMG Magan, you almost missed this.” and sometimes I truly did forget, and other times I was reasoning with myself if I truly needed that t-shirt that asks what Dolly would do. (Though I imagine Dolly would buy the t-shirt.)

Those emails are quite effective with me, but I’m easily persuaded when it comes to certain brands.

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I want you to take these tips from today and see where you need to start implementing things. Is it that welcome sequence? Or simply getting more consistent with your emails?

No matter what, just take it one step at a time to stop losing those leads! You got this, friend.

In our next episode, we’re going to discuss If Passive Income is REALLY Passive. 

If this episode inspires you, leave a review and share your biggest takeaway with me! And while you’ve got your phone out, go ahead and do these 3 things:

1. Give this podcast a follow (click here for iTunes or here for Spotify, or look up “The School of Marketing Podcast for Digital Entrepreneurs” wherever you listen to your podcasts). 
2. Head to the Email Template Shop™ and use code PODCAST15 for 15% off your first purchase.
3. Go ahead and open up your instagram app and come follow me: @themaganward. I’d love to hear from you and I’m known to reply back via DM, sometimes even with a voice message, so make sure you hit me up there especially if you’ve got a topic you’d like me to cover in an upcoming episode.

Want more of where this came from? Check out other show notes here.