Such a situation is likely to come up when you are working tirelessly to attract new clients, produce the best prospecting strategy, and create the most effective outreach email. You send the emails expecting high feedback rates but there is no response. Keep your hopes up. Now is the right time to benefit from the effectiveness of follow-up email strategy.
This article is a real catch for marketing managers, employees, business owners and all those who, in one way or another, are involved in marketing and want to build a systemic vision on email-marketing development at their company. So consider yourself lucky. If you really want to outclass the competition, go for it!
Follow-Up email strategy is a wide-ranging subject which captures a lot of different approaches to chase new clients, to hold the attention of current ones and to return the interest of lost leads. Today we are going to talk about goals and kinds of follow-up emails for clients.
Some statistics
Statistics show that only 24% of sales emails are opened but just 20% of potential clients kept track of. Undoubtedly, a campaign, having just 1 follow-up email can generate 22% more leads. Thus, there is a huge loss of emerging opportunities. In addition, it lets us realize that the fear of seeming irritating to clients or getting a refusal may spoil the first impression and make further contact impossible.
Key concepts of Follow-Up letters
1. Sending frequency
Imagine that you went on a perfect date, but your partner got sucked into oblivion and he or she called back only 2 months later. Would you agree to meet him/her again? As in any relationship, subsequence is crucial for Follow-Up.
Monitor audience behavior to determine the sending frequency.
It appears you are selling the PREMIUM Insurance for long-term travellers and the person needs time to make up his/her mind. In such cases you should space out the Follow-Up for 1-2 months. Remember there should be at least 5 letters in the chain.
2. Usefulness and importance
The task of any Follow-Up email is to maintain the interest of a prospective client and not let him/her get out of sight. To achieve this, share with people what is really important and useful to them. Then they are more likely to become your real clients.
3. Call for an action
You should end the email with a clear call for an action. Why is it so important?
Imagine you managed to convince a person to become your client, but didn’t tell him\her how to do it. Do you honestly think that a client is going to look for your service on his/her own? Well, we are sorry to disappoint you, but a customer will just forget about you.
If you really want to get a Follow-Up answer, just explain to the clients what to do and how they will get benefits.
What the perfect Call for an Action looks like:
- Is in every email;
- Attracts attention;
- Clear and transparent;
- Encourages action;
- Does not require additional effort.
4 subject lines that will make new clients open a Follow-Up
Such emails are sent to those who are not interested in your services enough to become a real client. Or to those who missed a couple of your previous emails. So, the subject line for follow up emails is essential. It may be your last chance to win a customer over to your side.
We have compiled 4 effective subject lines that will form the basis for your Follow-Up email strategy:
1. Re: <any text>
According to research by ContactMonkey, a user opens 92% of emails with a subject line with “Re:“. Which makes sense, if you give it some thought. We unconsciously take the email with Re: as a part of the resulting dialogue and open it without thinking.
2. Did you like the special offer for tourists from EKTA insurance company?
Instead of the special offer, substitute the name of any content that the lead received in exchange for their contact information. Such a topic makes a person understand that this is not a standard spam mailing. And the subconscious feeling to return the favor will push the client to open the mail and reply.
3. Have you got somebody else?
This subject line is perfect for lost clients` Follow-Up.
“Let’s start from the top”, “Can we talk?”, “We miss you!”, “Give me a chance!” – all these subject lines are designed to remind you of yourself and reactivate the old clients.
4. Emaily!…
Although email personalization has become a global trend, we still rarely see personal messages in our inbox. But according to Aberdeen Group, personalized emails generate 10% more conversions. Did you know that?
So, stick in your memory people like being called by name. This thing bonds people, you know.
How to build Follow-up sequence for current clients
Such a sequence should pursue such aims:
- Encourage feedback on your product or service, namely, what the clients like or dislike about using it.
- Motivate to buy more of your products or use them for longer.
- Improve customer engagement. Offer them to share information on your product or service among their friends or relatives for free.
Due to various goals, the emails in this sequence may also differ, for instance:
- An email with an offer to write a review on the product.
- Providing recommendations e.g. with this product such goods are also bought.
- The information about the VIP programs for clients, loyalty programs, special discounts.
- Offer to take part in the referral program.
- Proposal to become a subscriber on social networks.
- Other letters.
The number of emails in this sequence depends on your product or service specification. Average number – 10-15 emails.
How to build Follow-up sequence for lost clients
We send these emails to those clients who, for whatever reason, stopped using your product. And, at this time, your main task is to get their feedback. Why is your product no longer attractive for these customers? Guess, it will be a tough thing to return a client if he/she was not satisfied with your service, support level or price. You have to define the key reasons of сustomer outflow and using them as a base, build a sequence of emails.
Examples of such emails:
- Write to us why you stopped using our service to get free stuff.
- We can help you restore your account settings for free or solve other problems while dealing with our product, just write to us.
- You just have to renew our product for 2 months and you will become our VIP client. This will ensure you the following benefits …
- Get 25% for three months over the resumption of our service.
- Get a chance of a Pro account at the price of Basic.
- Other letters.
Tips for dealing with sequences:
- Be careful with the number of emails. Don’t spam your customers.
- Make sure that your emails are interesting not only to you, but also to your clients.
- One email – one main subject – one main CTA.
- Always test your emails before sending.
At the bottom
When it comes to the success of your Follow-Up email strategy, you should note that persistence, efforts, timing and balance play a significant role. So, hang tough if you haven’t heard from your client after two or three emails. Use our tips, but take into account that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. That is exactly why you have to track your rates and adjust your campaigns accordingly.