If you’re getting started with email marketing, you might just have a thank you email set up for new inquiries or a very basic newsletter that leads and clients can join. And while that may have been “ok” in the past, you’re ready to take it up a notch, right? Right. And you’re in the right place.
If you’ve been emailing “whenever you have time” or “if you have a sale” and you want to take your email marketing to the next level, the first step is building sequences.
Why does this help you take your email marketing to the next level? Because with email sequences, you can strengthen your relationship with different audiences (like your leads, new customers, former customers, and more). It’s your opportunity to create an ongoing touchpoint with them, continue offering value, and make sure they don’t forget about your business! That last one maybe being the most important thing.
TL;DR: Without email sequences, you could be missing out on a ton of opportunities from growing your email list.
Today, we’re sharing:
- What are email sequences?
- 5 must-have email sequences
- Best practices for effective email sequences
- Email marketing mistakes to avoid
- How Enji simplifies email sequences
What Are Email Sequences?
In case we got a little ahead of ourselves, let’s back up. Email sequences are a series of emails sent to a particular audience with a specific goal in mind. It sounds a lot more straightforward than what you thought, right?
Unlike your weekly newsletter or thank you emails, sequences give your audiences more information about your business, services, and products and lead them to take action.
Email sequences are also automated—and actually are one of the few parts of your marketing you actually can automate. Because they get sent to recipients on a timeline that you create in advance so the journey is well thought-out, deliberate, and timely to what your subscriber is going through right now.
With that said, though you should automate your email sequences, that doesn’t mean they’re totally a set-it-and-forget-it tactic. You still need to continuously review your email analytics to determine if the emails are meeting their goals or if you need to make changes. But don’t worry, when you sign up with Enji, we’ll remind you to look at those numbers on a monthly basis.
5 Must-Have Email Sequences
So, what are the email sequences you can start setting up today? Below, we’re sharing five different email sequences that are great for a variety of audiences, especially as your small business and email list continue to grow.
Welcome Email Sequence (Also Called a Nurture Email Sequence)
A welcome email sequence is just what it sounds like—for people who may have just joined your email list or subscribed to one of your products or services. This audience probably has no information about you or your brand, so they need a solid introduction.
With your welcome emails, you can give an overview of what you offer and how your customers benefit. You can also link to different pages throughout your website so they know exactly where to learn more and continue engaging with you.
We typically recommend a welcome email sequence of 5-7 emails, but you may need less if your business is less complex or more if you’re selling something that needs more customer education.
Sales Email Sequence
While your welcome email sequence and nurture email sequence are for new leads, you should also have a sales email sequence that’s for warmer leads. Maybe this part of your email list has a higher engagement rate with your nurture emails or you’ve already had an initial conversation with them.
Just know that depending on your business, how you define a warm lead will vary. But in general, these are the people who are more primed for purchase. So while your nurture sequence should encourage conversion (read: sales), it’s a bit softer, with more education and content.
Within your sales sequence, you want to make it as easy as possible for your audience to book with you or make a purchase. In particular, each email should have a strong offer (you might even want to include a special time-sensitive discount), and a clear call to action. These emails are your opportunity to position yourself as the ultimate solution to their pain points.
Post-Purchase Email Sequence
Once someone converts and purchases from your business, the communication shouldn’t stop. Let us repeat: you shouldn’t ghost the people who bought from you. A post-purchase email sequence can keep your customers engaged, offer an opportunity for feedback, and encourage their loyalty and repeat purchases or referrals.
Pro-tip: Turning someone into a customer is the hardest part of marketing. So once they have purchased from or booked you, it is much easier to get repeat business vs. trying to go win another new customer. Here are tips to help you generate more sales without finding new customers.
Re-Engagement Email Sequence
Next on the list, is a re-engagement email sequence. A re-engagement email sequence is similar to a lead nurture, but it’s for cold leads or customers who aren’t engaging with your business anymore.
By segmenting these leads into a unique sequence, you can re-engage them with more specific, targeted content. Plus, if these leads still aren’t engaging with you, you can remove them to maintain a healthy email list. We personally use and love Flodesk, but if you’re using an email platform that charges you based on the number of people on your list, this is definitely something you’ll want to do!
Within this sequence, you should reintroduce your brand and provide educational content, followed by an offer. Remind these subscribers what you do and how you can continue to provide value to them, then give a special offer that encourages them to engage with you again.
Abandoned Cart Sequence
Last but not least, you need an abandoned cart sequence. Because let’s be honest, we’ve all done it—you get so close to making a purchase, then you realize it’s not the right time or get distracted by a squirrel. Maybe you decided it’s best to save your money or you want to wait and do your research. Maybe it’s because your dog walked into the room and stole your attention. Whatever the reason, the same thing will happen with customers who are so close to purchasing from you.
With an abandoned cart email sequence, the relationship doesn’t have to end when they exit your page. Instead, you can prove your value and guide them to finally make that purchase. BDOW! is a great tool for capturing those people.
Within your abandoned cart sequence, you can remind them about the service or product they have waiting for them, educate them about how your offer compares to others (do the research for them), and provide a special discount that sweetens the deal.
Best Practices for Great Email Sequences
Each email sequence will have a different goal, content, and tone, but they should all follow the same best practices. Here’s what you need to know:
- Personalize as much as possible: The more you can personalize, the more effective your emails will be. We all want to feel like we’re being communicated to 1:1, and though you don’t have the time for that, you can get the same feeling by segmenting your audiences as much as possible and including personal details like their name.
- Offer value: Basic advice, but it works. Focus more on value for your audience instead of your business. Sure, the ultimate goal is more purchases, but to do that you need to show that you have something great to offer. Unless it’s your sales sequence, focus less on salesy copywriting and language that can feel more like spam.
- Use storytelling: Your email sequences are a communication tool, and one of the best ways to communicate is through storytelling. As often as you can, focus your emails on the story behind your services, your customers, and your brand.
- Test and optimize: Automating all of these email sequences in one place will make it easier to monitor their impact. Make a point to review your analytics (once a month is great) to see how many people are opening, clicking, and taking action.
- Create a sense of urgency: Especially in the emails where you want to drive action, create a sense of urgency. Ultimately, you don’t want people to be stuck in the same email list forever—you want them to convert! Offer limited-time deals or other incentives to help move them forward.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
The same way there are best practices when it comes to email sequences, there’s a list of common mistakes too. After all, there is an art to email marketing, and it’s easy to go overboard or ignore some of the most important things. Here’s what not to do:
- Sending too many emails: Listen, we want you to be unapologetic about emailing your list (the people that signed up to hear from you!) but we all get enough emails as it is, so try not to overload your audience. Somewhere between 1-2 emails per week is often enough, but we recommend testing the cadence and frequency to see what works best for your people.
- Offering too much information: Even if you’re sending the right amount of emails, you could be including too much information in each one. Make sure each email has a unique goal and purpose to maintain the focus. And remember people are likely skimming.
- Ignoring your email list hygiene: As your email list grows and people take action from your sequences, it’s important to keep up with the changes. Over time, you should continuously remove people who aren’t engaging and make sure people are segmented in the appropriate sequences. It sounds small, but ignoring this improves your chance of a strong ROI from your list (and can keep you out of spam filters).
How Enji Helps With Email Sequences
Creating the right email sequences can be a lot to juggle, but the right tools make it easier. With Enji, you can create a strategy to grow your email list with easy-to-use Campaign Templates, plus get notifications when it’s time to email your list.
Coming soon, you’ll also be able to access a personalized Email Marketing Strategy as well as AI Copywriter prompts that fast-track the entire process of building and creating your email sequences. If you haven’t already, what are you waiting for? Sign up for a free trial here.
