Those weekly emails that give you the new list of specials at your favorite coffee shop. The friendly emails that keep coming after you download a lead magnet or “freebie” from a business. That daily reminder you haven’t logged into the software you enrolled in to get their free trial. These are all examples of what are referred to as email nurture campaigns.

Why do businesses keep sending them?

Because showing up in your inbox is a good way for them to stay top-of-mind. And when you’re ready, they’ll be the place you turn when you want to buy.

Which is precisely why you should be sending a regular email nurture campaign to your subscribers.

But first…

Please Define Email Nurture Campaign

I’m so glad you asked.

As with all things in marketing, different platforms refer to the same process with different terms. For example, some email marketing providers, like MailChimp and MailerLite refer to every email you send as a “campaign,” regardless of how many emails are in that sequence.

Lots of people consider the first few emails you send to your subscribers an email nurture campaign. Personally, I would call those emails a welcome sequence, as would many other marketers.

In my world, an email nurture campaign consists of the emails you send your subscribers on a regular basis, that are not part of a specific promotion or sales campaign.

These are typically sent anywhere from once a month to once a week. They can even be sent daily. I personally send nurture emails to my list twice a week.

Normally, these email deliver value to your subscribers, build your relationship with them and position you as an authority in your field of expertise.

The point of these emails is to build a relationship with your subscribers. You want to make yourself welcome in their inboxes. You want them to be excited to see a new email from you and click on it right away.

You are training your subscribers to open your emails regularly and read every word, so when you’re running a promotion…

Your subscribers are ready to buy.

What an Email Nurture Campaign is Not

For the record, an email nurture campaign is not you bombarding your subscribers with emails that scream “buy my stuff buy my stuff BUY MY STUFF!”

Those are sales emails.

Yes, you should absolutely be selling to your email list. That is the point of having an email list. But if all you send are emails full of pictures of your product or service, you’re not nurturing, you’re selling.

The point of “nurturing” is to guide someone through their own buyer’s journey to the point where they’re ready to buy.

For the record, you can absolutely sell in your nurture emails. I’ll talk more about that later. But that’s not the primary function of your email nurture campaign.

The primary function of these emails is to build a relationship with your subscribers, so they know, like and trust you and your business. Not all of your subscribers will buy right away. Staying in touch with them regularly and nurturing this relationship keeps your business on their radar, so you get their business when the time comes.

Which is why you send emails on a regular basis.

How to Get Your Nurture Emails Opened

Send them.

Sorry to be blatantly obvious here, but no one opens an email they don’t receive. I rant about this regularly because it’s one of the first things to fall by the wayside when business owners get busy or overwhelmed.

If you don’t stay in regular communication with your subscribers, they forget who you are. Then they wonder why you’re invading their inbox. They’ll either ignore you or they’ll hit “unsubscribe.”

I’ll be completely honest with you. Your subscribers won’t read every single email you send. Okay, a few of them might, like your friends and your mom. But generally speaking, most of them won’t open every email. They do open every second or third email.

Which is another reason why you need to email regularly.

Having said all of that, the best way to get your emails opened is with a strong subject line.

I have an entire blog post on writing good subject lines here.

To give you a quick summary, your subject line needs to:

• Tell your subscriber what they’re about to read.
  
  
• Intrigue them enough to keep reading, once they’ve opened your email.
  
  
• Convince them that your email is worth their precious time.
  
  
• Tie back into the lead and body copy of your email, so your subscriber doesn’t feel tricked into reading what comes next.

Speaking of which, your next mission, should you choose to accept it, is to keep your subscriber hanging on your every word.

How to Get Your Subscribers to Read Your Emails

There is a common myth in email marketing that every email in your nurture campaign must deliver tons of “value.”

This leads many business owners to spend hours poring over every word to make them “teem with hidden meaning,” and stuffing as much “value” into their emails as humanly possible.

This quickly becomes frustrating for the business owner writing the emails, as it takes way too long. It’s also frustrating for the subscriber reading the emails, because there’s so much going on in each email, it’s impossible to focus on a common thread.

I will point out that “value” is relative.

A personal story that relates to your product or service in some way is just as “valuable” to your subscribers as an “action-packed, full of amazing information” email that gives tons of detail about your product or service but doesn’t let them get to know you or your company.

And they’ll find the story much more engaging and entertaining.

You’re probably now wondering, “Well, how do I make my stories interesting to my subscribers?”

Don’t worry, I’ve got your back.

Here are three easy formulas you can use to write awesome, engaging emails every time:

• The Story: This can be a story from your personal life, a common “life story” or something like an urban legend or fairy tale, which you can tie back to your product or service.
  
  
• The Rant: You can boldly state your opinion on something within your industry or niche, then relate this to your product or service.
  
  
• The How-To: Take a tiny portion or feature of your product or service and explain how it works and how it would benefit your subscribers.

Please note, in every one of these, you want to make sure you talk about your product or service in every email, because that leads to the next important step.

How to Get Your Subscribers to Click On Your Links

Earlier in this blog post, I mentioned that you can sell in your nurture emails.

More to the point, you should sell in your nurture emails.

Just like you’re training your subscribers to open your emails by sending them regularly and writing stuff they want to read, you need to train them to follow your instructions and click on the link or button in every email.

You do this by including a call to action of some sort in every email.

Friendly reminder that a call to action (CTA) is a specific direction or “action” you ask your subscriber to take.

“But Tanya, didn’t you say at the beginning of this blog post that nurture emails shouldn’t scream “buy my stuff buy my stuff BUY MY STUFF!?”

Yes, I did. And I stand by that statement.

There is a difference between delivering value, then asking your subscriber to take an action and blatantly selling something.

Your call to action doesn’t have to be a direct sales pitch.

Here are 4 calls to action you can use regularly in your email nurture campaign to train your subscribers to click and sell in every email:

• Use a soft sell: “And if you’re interested in X, you should check out my product Y.”
  
  
• Link to a blog post: Ideally, the blog post then links to your product or service. Either way, your subscriber is getting value.
  
  
• Ask your subscriber to schedule a consultation: This is perfect if you do one-on-one client work.
  
  
• Direct your subscriber to sign up for a waitlist: Don’t have a product or service ready quite yet? Are you preparing for a big launch? Have your subscribers clearly state their interest by joining a waitlist. Then make sure they’re the first to know when your new product or service is available.

Each of these calls to action serves the dual purpose of training your subscribers to click on the links in your emails and potentially buying your stuff.

Which is what you’re working toward, however long it may take.

Next question:

How Do I Make All of This Work Without Going Insane?

“I don’t have time to write emails.”

“I don’t know what people like and I don’t want to send boring emails.”

“I never know what to say.”

“Sending an email once a week? Oh dear God, no, no. I know I don’t want to have to do that.”

“I hate writing emails!”

Oh, my friend, I feel you.

These are direct quotes I’ve heard from business owners as to why they don’t write email nurture campaigns.

I created the 30-Minute Email Workshop to help you write engaging, high-converting nurture emails in just 30 minutes, without struggling for what to say or getting frustrated by coming up with ideas, even when you don’t have time to write nurture emails.

Here’s what you’ll get from the 30-Minute Email Workshop:

• You’ll know exactly what to say every time you sit down to write an email…
  
  
• You’ll find out how to create a never-ending stream of ideas for what to write about, so you’re never stuck for a topic…
  
  
• You’ll discover a simple structure that makes writing emails effortless, easy, and fun…
  
  
• You’ll be able to write an email in 30 minutes and edit it in another 20 minutes, so it is ready to send to your subscribers, in under an hour…
  
  
• You’ll discover how to inspire your subscribers and keep them reading your emails from beginning to end…
  
  
• You’ll find out ways to include a Call to Action that makes your subscribers click on the link…

Click on the button below to get immediate access to the 30-Minute Email Workshop, so you too can write a regular email nurture campaign that your subscribers will love, and make money from your list.