I grew my business from 0 to $3M in annual recurring sales in 6 years
Sometime on that journey I realised email marketing strategy is my most powerful weapon available to me
Now I’m giving it to you
Here’s a step-by-step guide to acquiring, retaining, upselling and winning back your subscription customers using email
1. Acquire
To acquire subscribers for your business, first need to optimise your website to convert.
>Clear high res imagery
>Good quality site design
>Emotion and benefit-driven copy (what result do you sell?)
>How it works
>What exactly do I get
>A strong offer
Next, we need to build several entry points into your email list
> Signup Flow / Quiz
> Lead magnet / discount popup
> Exit intent popup / wheel
> Abandoned cart capture
> Newsletter box in footer
Finally, we build sales automations to remind people to come back and buy
>Email 1 is a reminder to go back and purchase your subscription
>Email 2 focuses on the benefits of your product/service and why they should buy it
>Email 3 draws attention to all the good reviews you’re getting
>Email 4 is an urgent push of FOMO
Bonus tip: Fire an SMS to make sure your message is not missed.
2. Retain
A. Welcome Sequence:
Customer retention begins from the moment they sign up to your subscription.
You need to welcome your new customers to help them feel part of the family
Send them 2-3 emails:
>Introduce yourself and the team
>Tell them your story and why you started your biz
>Remind them where they can reach you if they need help
People buy more from people they like & trust
Join my Newsletter
B. Feedback Sequence:
The goal of this sequence is to two-fold:
1) To find out why people are cancelling
2) Solve those reasons for new people
Within 30 days after a cancelled sub – email a survey to customers asking why they cancelled
Compile the 3 biggest reasons
Fix those issues in your business to avoid people cancelling for those reasons in future
C. Winback Sequence:
Ask them to put their email in the cancelled survey responses.
You / your team reach out and offer to fix their issue and bring them back.
Pain point solved = customer reactivated
Finally, send exclusive win-back offers to your cancelled list – go generous with your offers, you already have them as a lead
It’s always cheaper to re-activate than find a new subscriber
3. Upsell
Think of any products that could be used as add-ons, upsells or upgrades to make your customers experience even better
Two strategies to get them in front of your customers:
Automated
At regular points throughout their subscription you will have recurring events.
Monthly payments
Subscription renewals
Anniversaries
Leverage these events to fire email sends on a regular basis.
Send vouchers or coupons to spend more with you at regular intervals throughout their subscription
After a payment is made, remind them how they can upgrade this month’s order and get more value
On their birthday offer them a big discount on an item they would love
Broadcasts
Send a personal email to your customers to introduce a new product and ask them to simply reply yes if they want it
When a customer replies yes ✅
Charge the card they have on file with you and deliver/ship it to them
Repeat 1-2x monthly with cool products/experiences that your customers would love
= Free money 💸