Everyone says the money is in the list. It’s true. But you can only tap into those profits if you develop a good relationship with your subscribers.
And even then, it helps to know these 10 tips and tricks for getting subscribers to buy from you…
- Give Unannounced Bonuses. No one will buy from you if they don’t open and read your emails. That’s why you need to “train” your subscribers from Day #1 to open your emails.
Tip: One way to do that is by offering a surprise bonus in that first email, as well as other surprises from time to time thereafter.
- Interact With Subscribers. A newsletter becomes a monologue if you let it. Sure, you can still build a relationship with subscribers even if it is a monologue. But you’ll build it a lot quicker – and your bond will be a lot stronger – if you interact with your readers.
Note: You can do this by asking for their feedback, encouraging them to post comments about your newsletter on your blog, and inviting them to join you on your Facebook Fan Page.
- Create Exclusive Offers. If you’re offering the same thing as everyone else, your subscribers really have no reason to be on your list. That’s why you should send exclusive content and exclusive offers, whether that means offering special discounts or “subscriber-only” bonuses.
- Develop a Predictable Mailing Schedule. Maybe you mail once a week. Maybe you send mailings twice per week. It doesn’t matter, as long as you’re fairly predictable. That way your subscribers have something to look forward to every week.
- Avoid Changing Your “From” Field. Some newsletter publishers spend time building relationships, but then they lose a bunch of subscribers when they change the “From” field on their newsletter. In some cases, the subscribers even hit the spam button. Point is, choose your “From” field carefully.
- Solve Your Subscribers’ Problems. So simple, yet this tip is often overlooked by newsletter publishers. Whether you’re offering free content or pointing out paid resources to your subscribers, your ultimate goal should be to solve their problems (as opposed to looking for the biggest commissions for yourself).
- Stay Focused. Your subscribers joined your list for a specific purpose. So whatever you do, don’t “repurpose” your list or change its focus.
Example: Don’t start sending cell phone ring tones to your dog-training list.
- Segment Your List. The key to a responsive list is to have a targeted list. And one way to increase the responsiveness of your existing list is to segment it into more targeted segments.
Example: Let’s say you have a weight-training newsletter. You can offer your subscribers their choice of two gifts: Either a video about training for a bodybuilding competition, or a video about using weight lifting to lose weight. Then you segment your list according to which gift each subscriber chose. Now you can send better, more targeted content and promotions to each of these lists – and this increases your conversion rate!
- Follow Up. Don’t just send out a promotion one time. Not everyone on your list will see your one-time mailing. And even those who do see it may set your email aside for “later” (but they never get around to buying the product).
Instead, send several mailings when you’re promoting something.
Examples:
- You can send one email a few days before the promotion starts to whet your prospects’ appetite for what’s coming.
- You can send a second mailing at the start of the promotion.
- Finally, you can send one to three follow-up mailings over the next several days to remind subscribers about the promotion.
- Learn How to Write Good Copy. True, people buy from those they know, like and trust, which is why it’s so important to build a good relationship with your subscribers. But people also buy when the sales copy is good. And that’s why you should spend time learning how to write good subject lines and solo emails.
Conclusion
And there you have it – 10 ways to get your newsletter subscribers to buy from you.