Email 1 — The Welcome Email

Who is your target market?

They probably use a label to describe themselves. Maybe they’re hippies, or renters, or online business owners… Whatever their word is, you probably already know it.

The main priority of the first email is to get the reader to self-identify with your brand. You want them to think “Hey, this is for people just like me!”.

Some phrases you can use to jump off for this email are

“If you’re someone who…” or “If you’re someone who cares about…”

“For people who…” or just “For…” (Eg For Foodies who need to lose a few pounds)

“Are you a…?”

“If you’re a…, this is for you.”

After you can get the reader to understand you’re speaking to their group, you move on to telling them you’re in the right place.

Some points you can bring up to emphasize they’re in the right place…

How can you help with their problem?

What do you know about their problem?

Why do you care about their problem?

What is your mission?

What about your background makes you understand their problem?

Always try to make the email as much about them as possible in the beginning. Keep in mind this is probably one of the first times this reader is having contact with you, they are not going to want to read a long biography about you.

That’s why I listed “What about your background makes you understand their problem” at the end.

Sharing about yourself is certainly an important part of developing trust with someone, but in the beginning you’re going to want to keep information about you strictly need to know — meaning they only need to know it if it relates to them!

After assuring the reader they’re in the right place, you can move on to introducing yourself or brand as a figure (if you haven’t already).

Otherwise, it’s time to set the expectations.

What do they have to look forward to in your coming emails?

Fun stories? Reports or videos with useful information? Easy to use reference printouts? Discounts?

Lay it all out here, along with how often your reader should expect to hear from you (and when if you have a regular schedule for releasing newsletters, or other email marketing messages).

Now, sometimes in this email I have a call to action to follow on social channels. It really depends on how the email was written.

There are many times where you will want to include a link in the first email you send to readers, there is a theory in marketing that you are “training” your readers to respond to your emails by clicking on the links if you lead the first email with a link out to your website.

In one email sequence I wrote, the “keystone action” was to call for a free 15 minute consultation — so pretty much every single email in the sequence had the same call to action (call for a free consultation) at the end of different emails (with information about the industry, it was an education product so the emails are stories about the research-backed principles incorporated into the education product).

But, if you write this email and you don’t wind up having any call to action for it then you can use the first email as the platform to say “While you wait for our next awesome email, why don’t you join our community? You can follow us on Facebook, etc, etc…”

Email 2 — Deliver Value

So the first email was all about them, them, them — and this won’t be any different.

The goal of this email is to provide something unexpected, but awesome to your reader!

What exactly “value” means is going to vary widely depending on your industry…

But generally, you’re looking to give away some A+ advice here.

You can have the advice contained in the email, or you can go with the “training” theory from before and offer the information as a PDF — where the reader clicks on a link out to your site to get the guide.

The biggest goal of this email is to show the reader again that you get what they’re going through.

By delivering them some value or advice, you want them to see you as an authority they can trust in your industry.

If you don’t have something more complicated like a PDF guide, or a video series, you can also substitute some links out to popular blog posts as well!

Email 3 — Responsiveness

I like to incorporate some element of having the reader response into my sequences.

Having the readers reply to an email helps the reader understand there is a person on the other end of that screen writing to them, and can help them form a closer bond with your business’s future communications.

You can also just get some straight up useful info from this.

My go-to is to try to find out “How did you find us?”, because sometimes it uncovers lucrative marketing channels.

You can also use this opportunity to find out how you can help them better.

You can try asking “What’s your #1 struggle with (the topic of your business)?”

So “What’s your #1 struggle with losing weight?” or “What’s your biggest challenge marketing your business?” or “What’s your #1 struggle cooking healthy meals at home?” for example.

Using the opportunity to ask for more details about their problems can give you new product ideas, as well as just a better understanding of what type of content your audience is interested in.

Email 4 — Educate

What does your prospect need to know before they would perform your “keystone action”?

If you are aware of the main reasons people decide not to buy from you, you can create emails that address these objections or misconceptions and incorporate them into your email sequence.

I mentioned before that one product I was selling was an educational product, so we educated the consumer on the scientific research behind why the program works. Here is a snippet of what some of that copy looked like:

“The real secret to why we work so hard to incorporate fun and laughter into our training is because it absolutely super powers the learning process!

That may sound like salesy junk, but here is the neuroscience way to say that:

‘A common theme in brain research is that superior cognitive input to the executive function networks is more likely when stress is low and learning experiences are relevant to students. Lessons that are stimulating and challenging are more likely to pass through the reticular activating system (a filter in the lower brain that focuses attention on novel changes perceived in the environment)’— Judy Willis (link to the research paper)”

Now, you may spend a few emails educating your customers and I encourage you to do so.

You can educate them on the benefits they will get from your product, the thought that went into your product (as I did by educating readers on the research principles behind the training program I was marketing), and you should even educate them on what it’s like to have your product.

Leading the reader through the experience of owning your product is a great way to educate them on its benefits. Here is another section of copy to show you how I talked about the actual experience of the training program I was marketing:

“Now, onto the day of the event!

At TRAINING COMPANY, we strive to lead high energy sessions that leave a lasting impact on your team members. Expect EVERYBODY to have at least one ‘AHA!’ moment by the end!

When your team arrives at your TRAINING event, it’ll start off with a cocktail hour! (See — better than your boring old corporate snooze fests already!)

We find that giving all of your team members time to get comfortable, and say ‘Hey!’ to their friends really gets the energy flowing. Breaking down people’s barriers, and getting them into an open-minded state is a key part of teaching them!

Getting everyone laughing and having a blast is a killer way to start the session.

Then we move on to the kickoff. You want to get your team settled down, and to get everyone on the same page about expectations. What learning outcomes do you have for them? Do any of your team members have learning outcomes for themselves?

The comedian and facilitator will then take it from here! You just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

Next, you’ll move into your event’s shared exercise. When you’re coordinating these events with TRAINING COMPANY, you’ll have the ability to consult with your facilitator and create a truly custom experience for your company.

Your facilitator will come prepared with a game or group activity that 1. Is directly related to the skills being taught and 2. Was uniquely selected for your event.

This exercise will introduce your team members to the skill being taught and get them curious about it.

At the end of the activity, the facilitator will encourage your team members to share their personal takeaways from the exercise. The discussion is fun and light hearted, and designed to get everybody on your team on board.

It’s such a fun way to get everybody’s wheels turning about the topic of the day! You will definitely see your team’s faces light up!”

Finally, The Ask…

After getting your reader to join your tribe, dishing out some A+ advice, and educating them about the ways your solution is designed to best solve their problem, and each of your emails only asks for them to do one thing you’re ready to ask the reader for your “keystone action”.

We’ve talked in the past about using stories to sell in emails, and I say that’s the route you need to go down with The Ask for your “keystone action” as well.

Here is probably the simplest formula for writing an ask email that anyone can follow:

Tell your founding story

How did you arrive at your “mission”?

Roll into the benefits of the product

Ask

Instead of giving you more general advice, I’m going to chop up some copy from an automation sequence I wrote and organize it so it fits this format a little bit more closely. Then you can use this as an example to try to write your “Ask” email!

Tell your founding story…

“I started helping my mom with our family business, a spicery. At the spicery I was developing new flavors, creating custom blends for our customers, and managing our supplier relationships + seeking out new ones.

I was meeting lots of private chefs working at the spicery, and I was sucked right into the food world. I met a lot of private chefs and caterers. For 3 years I had 2 jobs — working full time at our family spicery, and running catering gigs of 80+ by myself.

One day my mom and I were visiting one of the chefs we knew, Chef Michael, for a ciabatta bread recipe.

While he was teaching us to make this bread, I started to feel a little guilty. We were messing up the “flow” of the baking for the rest of his day, afterall. So I started lining up pans, greasing them, readying ingredients, and setting up some of the prep stations. I didn’t think anything of it… But apparently Chef Michael did.

I will NEVER forget when he pulled my mom aside and said to her

“I haven’t had someone come into this kitchen, and be able to be that consistent so fast. I want her to work for me.”

So I started my training as a pastry chef with Chef Michael. He’s a 40 year pastry chef from the military who has won many gold medals in military baking competitions, and consulted with all the biggest hotel chains.

Soon Chef Michael put me on our corporate accounts because of my speed and accuracy. I was pumping out between 2,500–5,000 pieces of pastry by hand every single day…”

How did you arrive at your “mission”?

“While I was working in the industry, my main source of annoyance and frustration was shopping. I have scoured every William Sonoma, grocery store, and high end mall near my house and I have just never been able to find spices that impress me.

It’s impossible to find truly fresh spices anywhere.

My drive to solve that problem put me on the path to creating Food Crate. Now I am lucky enough to do what I’m passionate about single day — helping cooks make more mouthwatering meals!”

Roll into benefits of the product…

“Every seasoning in your Food Crate is ruthlessly hand selected by me. And I promise you — McCormick does not have higher standards than I do.

You get a featured spice (which changes monthly), a hand crafted seasoning blend, and a delicately infused herbal sea salt in every Food Crate. Each bag is filled by hand so month to month quantities are variable, but you’ll get 3–5 ounces of amazingly fresh spices in each Food Crate.

Your health is directly impacted by the food you eat, so it’s my mission to keep all of Food Crate’s seasonings filler free, coloring free, and 100% NO added chemicals.

These are unadulterated spices, people!

I really do pride myself on the attention to detail to every single piece of Food Crate. I am personally involved in every step of the process, from creating new formulas to packaging and shipping.”

Ask

“But don’t just take my word for it, I want you to taste the difference.

I want there to be 0 risk for you. I’ve been able to put together a special deal, but it’s only for new members. Believe me, if I gave such high grade seasonings away like this every day I would go out of business!

I will send you 3+ ounces of the-best-damned-dinner-you’ve-ever-had at no cost to you. If you cover the cost of shipping, I’ll send 1 Food Crate straight to your home ASAP…”