In the last post we talked about what you should send to your email list – emails that are entertaining/educational AND that help you segment your subscribers based on their interests.

But, what do you send once you know their interests?

That's what this post is all about!

What To Send

Once you know an individual's interest(s) you'll be able to send tailored content that caters to what they want to learn about.

For example, if I know someone is interested in sales funnel development – I'll start to send more information about sales funnels to help the lead become more educated on the topic.

I'll also begin to send action producing emails that drive the lead to my various sales funnel courses and services.

Between providing value and presenting solutions in the form of courses and services – I'll be able to convert more leads into customers.

The Problem: Driving Action/Sales

The concept is pretty simple – right? When someone is interested in something, you send them more information on that topic and then try to sell your related products and services.

Sending helpful emails is easy. These normally link to things like blog posts and videos that are educational/entertaining and people tend to enjoy receiving them.

Sending actionable emails is a little harder. These normally link to things like sales pages and order forms for products and services that are helpful BUT cost money.

So, you have to send actionable emails because the whole point of running a business and implementing a sales funnel is to sell things … but what's the best way?

The Solution: Marketing Formulas

Marketing or copywriting formulas are blueprints that help guide your email writing and structure.

These formulas help you approach your subscribers from different angles so you can better connect.

For example, some individuals may be more logical in their purchasing behaviors so they compare features. Others are driven by what the product or service will do for them – ie. benefits. Some want to make sure they're getting the best bang for their buck and they're looking at what your product can do compared to your competition – ie. advantages.

The example given above is the Features-Advantages-Benefits formula – and here are a few others you can use in  your email marketing campaigns …

Before-After-Bridge

  • Before – What life is like before your product/service enters it
  • After – How great life is after your product/service in your subscriber's life
  • Bridge – Your product/service … aka … How to get to the “after”

Problem-Agitate-Solve

  • Problem – Identify the problem in your subscriber's life
  • Agitate – Make the subscriber “angrier” about their problem
  • Solve – Present your product/service as the solution to this aggravating problem

Attention-Interest-Desire-Action (AIDA)

  • Attention – Grab your subscriber's attention by being bold
  • Interest – Give your subscriber interesting information on the problem your product/service solves
  • Desire – Present the benefits of the product/service and provide proof it does what you say
  • Action – Ask them to buy

More Formulas

The good news is there's a ton of information on these copywriting formulas … so, I don't need to cover them all here. Instead I'd rather show you how to implement the formulas into your emails.

By the way … here are a few more resources:

How To Use The Formulas

How you'll apply these formulas to your email marketing campaigns will depend on your audience and what you're trying to sell.

Some audiences enjoy receiving long, thorough emails while others want a short blurb with a link to more information.

Complex/expensive products tend to take more “convincing” than simple/cheaper products and may require more emails and therefore, more angles.

1 Email, Short

In this scenario you would include the entire marketing formula in one email … in as few sentences as possible.

The goal is to get people to click through in order to get more information.

This scenario comes in handy when your audience doesn't read long emails and/or mainly checks their email on a mobile device and they don't want to have to sit there and scroll through a long winded email.

For example (AIDA): Missing out? 99% of small businesses don't have a sales funnel. Stop leaving money on the table! Click Here to learn more!

1 Email, Long

In this scenario, you would include the entire marketing formula in one email … but, it would be presented in several sentences/paragraphs – more like a sales page.

The goal is to really “sell” in the email. It can even link to the order form as opposed to a sales page.

This scenario comes in handy when you want to try a different angle than the normal sales page or if you're trying to sell an affiliate product. When you don't control the sales page, but want to provide as much information as possible to your subscriber in your own voice before sending them to someone else's sales page; this is a good method.

Email Series

In this scenario, you break up the marketing formula across several emails.

The goal is to introduce different angles to the subscriber in order to try and drive them to either your sales page or order form (if it makes sense to do so).

For example, with the features-advantages-benefits formula, the first email could identify the features of the product, the second email the benefits, and the third the advantages … selling your product/service from three different angles.

This scenario comes in handy when you're trying to sell something complicated and/or expensive and you need more time.

Summary

At the end of the day, the point of your email list is to increase sales of your products and services. By following marketing/copywriting formulas, you're able to write and structure your emails in a way that motivates your leads to take action and buy your stuff!