So, you’ve probably heard the sayings: “The money is in the email list” or “The fortune is in the follow-up”, right? There’s a nugget of truth in them. The cold hard fact is, very few people whip out their credit cards and buy on the first visit to your site. Who can blame them? It’s a bit scary to drop your hard-earned money on something you’re not 100% sure about. The dread of buyer’s remorse can be powerful, right?
Now, here’s the thing – we’re not just dealing with spontaneous buyers. Some customers need to justify their purchase to others. So, they need solid, persuasive reasons to hit that ‘buy now’ button. Sure, having snappy copywriting and killer product images can help. But here’s the real secret: not everyone buys on impulse.
This is where capturing their email addresses comes in handy. It gives us more opportunities to win them over, beyond that initial visit to the site. And how do we do this? With email automations, of course!
With automated follow-ups or email sequences, we can gently nudge our potential customers to make a purchase. These sequences are triggered once someone visits the site and then leaves without buying. It’s like leaving a breadcrumb trail leading them back to your products.
Once you’ve created your signup flow, most of your leads will come from there. This makes creating your follow-up emails simpler. The aim here is to create a sales automation sequence – think of it as an upgraded version of your abandoned cart sequence.
But, beware – some people mix things up at this point. They add their leads to their newsletter and send them general news and updates and then wonder why the sales aren’t pouring in . Let’s be clear, a newsletter is not a sales tool – it’s an entertainment one. You don’t want to ask for a sale in a newsletter. It’s like asking for a dance in a library – it’s just not the right place.
The Segmentation
Before crafting your killer sales email sequence, it’s crucial to set up some rules. We want to make sure that once a lead becomes a customer, they are automatically removed from the leads list. Because seriously, who wants to receive sales emails once they’ve already made a purchase? Not cool. Trust me, you don’t want snarky replies or, worse, cancellations because of this.
Once upon a time, I used to manually move people between lists whenever someone made a purchase. If this is you, let me tell you – there is a better, easier, and more efficient way. We live in the future, my friend – let’s make the most of it.
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The Emails
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to how many emails to send or how often. But here’s a glimpse of what we do at BusterBox, which works really well. We have a 4 email sequence that gets sent after visitors leave our site without buying.
Email 1 – The Reminder: “Did you see this?”
Sent 45 minutes after their visit, this email gently nudges the customer, reminding them of the offer on our site when they visited. It’s a chance to showcase the value of the product and the offer – a friendly nudge with a dash of social proof at the bottom in the form of positive reviews or photos of happy customers (or both). Add a strong CTA – ‘Get your box’
Email 2 – The Details: “What’s actually in it?”
Sent after 1 day, this email is all about showcasing what’s in the box. It’s for the customer who just skimmed your site, missed some key info, or simply didn’t see the value in signing up. It’s like a product tour, delivered straight to their inbox.
Imagery is your friend here, this email should not be a novel. Short bullets about what they get and why it’s valuable. “2 Unique exciting toys your dog will love. 3 delicious treats sourced from local suppliers. Delivered to your door in a cute monthly theme to make your dog go crazy for their BusterBox!” Use an image for each bullet to drive home the message → Get this – receive this benefit. Add a strong CTA – ‘claim offer’
Email 3 – The Personal Touch: “Are you sure you want to miss this?”
Now, here’s where we switch gears. We make this email more personal and text-based, adding some novelty to keep things interesting. We even write it from the perspective of the customer’s dog – fun, right?
You can try something similar yourself. I’ve seen some of my clients get success with messages from ‘your future self’ thanking your present self for signing up and receiving these benefits. Be creative, see what works.
Email 4 – The Last Call: “This is going away soon”
This email is all about making that final push. We create a sense of scarcity and urgency, encouraging those still on the fence to finally make a decision. The key here is credibility. If you say a sale is ending soon, make sure it really does end soon!
Again we re-state the offer, value and benefits and give a dose of social proof to show that other people think your product is amazing.
So there you have it, a glimpse into our successful email automation sequence. Give it a try, tweak it to suit your business, and let me know how it goes!