Tanya Brody

Copywriter | Marketing & Optimization Consultant | Customer Advocate

10 Email Marketing Ideas to Keep You Writing to Your List Regularly

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This post was originally published on April 26th, 2020. It has been updated with new information and email marketing tips to help you grow your base of happy, loyal, paying customers.

“I never know what to write!”

This is the complaint I hear most often from people who have an email list but have stopped writing to them regularly. Or who have never written to their list, except for the occasional failed sales email.

Trust me, I know the feeling.

Coming up with fresh email marketing ideas can be hard. I used to write 5 emails a week to my own list. I’ve scaled that back to 2 a week so I can spend more time writing blog posts like this one.

I also write email marketing campaigns for my clients every week. That’s a lot of ideas to come up with!

Trust me, if I can do it, you can do it too. And it’s worth it to put this little extra push into your marketing efforts.

The good thing is, it doesn’t have to be hard. All you need is a little inspiration.

Man staring at his computer, frustrated because he's run out of email marketing ideas

Yes, Sending Emails to Your Subscribers Regularly is Important

If you read this blog or you’re subscribed to my email list, you know I go on and on about how important it is to email your subscribers regularly. This should be part of your email marketing strategy.

I apologize to those of you who have heard this a billion times, but it’s always worth reiterating.

When someone joins your email list, they’re interested in something you put out there. It may be a blog post, a lead magnet or something for sale. Yay you, someone is interested in what you do.

However, if the first thing you do is try to sell them stuff (or more stuff, if they’ve just bought from you) then you’re going to come off as slimy and salesy. Not only will people unsubscribe from your list and you’ll lose customer loyalty, they may start marking your emails as spam, which can tank your deliverability rate.

Instead, you need to build a relationship with your new email subscribers. Introduce yourself. Tell them what you and your company stand for. Show them around a bit.

Then, help them learn more about your products or services. Share articles about your products and services, give them the information they’ll need before they decide to buy. If they’ve already bought, send useful tips on using your product or service, so you can ultimately encourage customers to buy again.

Give them value. Build trust. Give them a reason to want to buy from your company.

Guide them on their buyer’s journey.

And yes, one of the ways you do that is through sending content-based. nurture emails.

Remember, these may be marketing emails but they don’t have to feel like it. In fact, they shouldn’t. They should feel like an email from a good friend showing up in their inboxes.

Which is where we get back to the whole, “I never know what to write” part of this blog post.

Figuring out what to write can be the bane of every business owner’s existence.

Don’t worry, I’m here to help.

Here are 10 ideas for what to write about in your email marketing broadcasts.

Email Marketing Idea #1: Start a Conversation

Your subscribers want to get to know you. Humor them.

Introduce yourself. Tell them about you, where the idea for your product or service came from, why you do what you do and more. Is there something you want your target audience to know about you, like your favorite flavor of ice cream? Tell them.

Give your subscribers a peek inside your personal world.

If you poke around these blog posts or receive my emails, you’ll see that my cat makes regular appearances. He’s even been a featured guest in my post about customer retention. This gives you a chance to learn more about me and it gives me an excuse to share cat pictures with you.

Share pieces of your personal wisdom, like things you wish you’d known when you started your business or how people originally reacted to your product or service, and how that has changed over time.

Recommend books, movies, ideas that have affected you in some positive way, and talk about how and why they have affected you.

Encourage subscribers to reply so you can learn more about them, what they want, and how they hope your product or service can help them.

There are lots of ways to start a conversation with your subscribers and engage their interest so you can persuade them to buy.

Email Marketing Idea #2: Give a Sneak Peek Behind the Scenes

Lots of companies offer tours of their facilities because people are curious about how products are made. Personally, I’ve been on tours of candy factories, breweries, instrument-building shops, costume shops and more.

Give your subscribers a sneak peek at how you do things in your business.

If you manufacture a product, write about parts of the process and how they affect your product’s efficacy. Share details on why a certain part works in a specific way so it can help your customers achieve their goals.

If you offer a service, talk about how each stage of the service affects the customer’s desired outcome and what customers can expect.

If you do something less tangible, pull back the curtain on what you do and how it benefits your current and new customers.

For instance, watching me write all day would be really boring. I sit and stare at a computer screen while my fingers dance across the keyboard. But I regularly talk about how I come up with ideas (like I’m doing now) or conversations I’ve had with clients that can help my subscribers and potentially boost sales for them.

Email Marketing Idea #3: Get Your Subscribers to Hit “Reply”

I call these, “Call and Response” emails. The idea is to get your subscribers to email you back with a response to a question or to share a story.

For example, you could share a case study about your product or service, then ask your subscribers to hit “reply” and tell you about their experience with your product or service. If they haven’t used your product or service, get them to tell you about the problem they have and why they are interested in your product or service to solve that problem.

Or, share the best piece of advice you’ve ever received, and ask your subscribers to share theirs in return. (FYI, these pieces of advice can make for great future email marketing campaign ideas)

Email Marketing Idea #4: Promote Your Products and Services with Relevant Content

Yes, you should be promoting your products and services in your nurture emails.

In case I haven’t made this obvious, you should find some way to tie your email ramblings back to your products and services in every one of these situations. That is the point of your email campaigns, after all.

The difference here is instead of sending blatant “buy, buy, buy” emails all the time, you’re mixing it up with valuable content that builds trust and appreciation with your subscribers. Meanwhile, it also highlights and sells your products and services.

Case studies and social proof from existing customers are great ways to do this, as is linking to blog content related to whatever product or service you’re promoting.

These emails can include call-to-action buttons that link to your landing page and even a coupon code, if it’s appropriate.

One of your emails could highlight a product or service that solves a problem your subscribers typically have. Another could share your 5 top tips for getting the most out of your product or service.

You can also make this an aspirational email, sharing how you want to leave your “mark on the world,” while tying this idea to your product or service.

Figure holding a bull horn. Email marketing ideas

Email Marketing Idea #5: Talk About Work In Progress

This is a fantastic way to pre-promote new products and services.

Everyone wants to know what the next “awesome, must-have thing” will be and when they can get it.

Look at Apple. They start pre-promoting new products months before they come out, so their customers (myself included) are drooling over images and standing in line to buy as soon as they’re released.

Sharing your work in progress (or WIP, as it’s affectionately called in the corporate world) is a great way to get your subscribers excited about your next product launch.

You can also use this as a “behind the scenes” feature, showing how product development works at your company. For example, a musician can share parts of their writing process. An artist could show where they start on a canvas and how many steps they go through to complete a piece.

This idea works for just about everything in your business, including redesigning your website, moving to a larger space or preparing for an upcoming event where your subscribers can meet you in person.

These can all make for great, compelling content that can entice customers to get on a waiting list or buy as soon as your new product or service becomes available.

It also gives you a chance to brag about what you’re doing, which helps you stay excited about it.

Email Marketing Idea #6: Help Your Subscribers Reach Their Goals

The reason someone subscribes to your email list is because your product or service will help them solve a problem or reach a goal. Frequently, these are the same.

Show your current and new subscribers the many ways they can reach their goals, using your product or service.

Challenge your subscribers to complete a specific action that will move them closer to those goals.

Share your own victories and how creating and using your product or service was a part of achieving those victories.

Your goal, as a business owner, should always be to help your customers achieve their goals. This email type is a great way to show that you’re invested in their success.

Email Marketing Idea #7: Highlight a Team Member

People want to know who is behind the products and services they love.

If you have a team of people working for you, interview one of them and share that interview in an email. Depending on how large your team is, you could do one a month for a few years.

If your team is you, get someone else to interview you and share that in a nurture email.

This is one of the easiest emails to write, because it basically writes itself.

Record your interview, then have it transcribed by Rev.com, Otter.ai, or some other transcription service. Next, go through the transcription and smooth out the text so it reads well. (This also gives you the chance to take out the “ahs, umms” and anything that you may not want to share with your subscribers that came up in the interview.)

Give it another once over and voila, you have a fantastic nurture email ready to go.

You can also turn this into a blog post or article and share it on your social media channels. (And you can add some sort of downloadable content or content upgrade to it so you can get new subscribers.)

Woman sitting at a computer, holding her phone. Highlight a team member.

Email Marketing Idea #8: Share Tools and Tactics

We all have our go-to tools for our businesses and for life in general. Share a few tips with your subscribers, especially if they complement your product or service. (This is another way to tie that product or service into your nurture email.)

If it’s a tool that offers an affiliate program, get signed up and use your affiliate link. Be transparent about this in your emails. But it never hurts to add a little extra to your bottom line. It can also help build customer loyalty if you consistently recommend products or services that complement (but not compete with) yours.

You probably also have certain tactics or techniques that work well with your product or service. Sharing these will help current customers use your product or service regularly. It will also be a great example to potential customers of how to achieve success with your product or service.

Email Marketing Idea #9: Events and Community Involvement

Are you attending an upcoming conference? Does your company march in a local parade? Do you have a booth at your local, county or state fair? Do you sponsor a local Little League team?

Share this information in your nurture emails.

We all want to know that the companies we support, support their communities in turn. Think about all the major corporations who run ads about their “giving back” programs. Or the last time you went to a museum or performance and saw the list of sponsors.

Knowing a portion of the dollars we spend go back to the places we live gives us as customers a good feeling and builds that relationship with the companies we buy from. So, talk about your company’s community involvement in your emails. This is also a good way to cross-promote those groups and events you sponsor.

It’s also fun to meet company members at events. If you or a team member are attending a conference and you know customers and subscribers will be there too, plan a group lunch or coffee date. Announce this in your emails and give your subscribers a link to RSVP. You could even do a “meet and greet” for subscribers and a special “thank you” event for loyal customers. Again, this is about building trust and community.

Plus, scheduling these get-togethers can help you get more customers at the event and in the long run.

People eating at a restaurant

Email Marketing Idea #10: Share Your Ups and Downs

We all love stories. Our society is built on them. The average person is more likely to listen to a story than they are to pay attention to any other form of marketing.

Share yours, good and bad, with your subscribers.

This can be everything from how you deal with overwhelm to the little stories that make what you do worth it every day.

Whenever possible, tie this back to your product or service, but know that this is another part of letting your subscribers get to know you. We all have skeletons in our closets. We all have failed in one way or another and we’ve all grown because of it. Share those stories so your subscribers see that you’ve been where they are now.

Stories of overcoming serious challenges are another good way to show who you are to your subscribers, especially if you have advice to share on how to overcome that challenge that can help anyone going through that situation now.

“I Never Know What to Write” is No Longer an Excuse

You now have 10 awesome email marketing ideas that you can use to write to your subscribers on a regular basis. If you write to your subscribers once a week, you can cycle through this list every 2.5 months. Just come up with a different angle or topic for the same idea.

Still not sure you can come up with enough ideas for a regular email cadence?

Don’t worry, I’ve got your back. Click on the button below to get my list of 30 subject lines and email prompts to keep your subscribers opening and reading every email.

DOWNLOAD YOUR LIST OF 30 SUBJECT LINES NOW

Between that list and this blog post, you should have plenty of good ideas to write about.

Go write to your subscribers! They want to hear from you.

Why Storytelling is a Necessary Part of Your Email Marketing Strategy

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This blog post was originally published on July 20th, 2020. It has recently been updated to include new information. Please enjoy, then go forth and use storytelling as part of your email marketing.

Humans love stories. Storytelling has been a part of our culture for eons.

We tell stories to ourselves and each other every day. They are woven into the fabric of our lives.

This begs the question; Why aren’t we using more storytelling in email marketing?

People telling stories around the camp fire.

We’re Hard-Wired to Listen to Stories

If you look at all of human history, we use stories to relate to each other and create a deeper connection.

Petroglyphs and cave paintings tell stories of how people lived “before human history.”

Religious texts tell the stories of how the earth and all of its inhabitants were created. They go on to tell the story of how that particular religion developed and why the deity or deities involved are important.

Fairytales are told to children as “teaching stories” to scare them into behaving in public. “Don’t stray off the path or the boogey man will get you. Beware of strangers, you don’t want to be gobbled up by the big bad wolf.”

It’s not uncommon for people to tune out when someone starts rattling off a list of facts, statistics and figures, but when you put that information into the context of a story, people pay attention.

The most common story or “monomyth,” a phrase coined by Joseph Campbell, is that of the Hero’s Journey. Professor Campbell discovered through his study of literature, mythology and religion, that every culture and society has some version of it.

This image gives the basic structure of the Hero’s Journey.

hero's journey

Most of the great works of literature and pretty much every movie ever is based on this formula. For example, George Lucas actually studied Campbell’s writing and created the original Star Wars Trilogy around the structure of the monomyth.

In marketing, we use this same formula when we talk about the Buyer’s Journey. I’ve written several blog posts about the Buyer’s Journey, which you can find here.

Storytelling in Broadcast Marketing

You’ll see a very common form of storytelling using the monomyth in commercials, where the “hero” of the commercial has a problem. During the commercial, the hero discovers the “solution” to their problem when they find the product the commercial is advertising.

The average cleaning supply commercial is the perfect example.

  • The Hero has a stain/mess to deal with and they’re scrubbing and frowning.

  • The product is introduced, and you see the Hero using the product wiping away the offending stain/mess.

  • Finally, you see the Hero smiling, admiring their handy-work and beaming at the product in their hands.

If you’ve ever watched a commercial for a charitable organization, you’ve seen another example of storytelling in action. You never hear about the “thousands and thousands” of children starving in (pick a world region of your choice). You hear about one child and that child’s plight. Then you discover your donation of “just XX cents a day” can feed that child and their family for a week.

The reason stories are so effective in marketing is that you feel drawn into them. You see yourself in the story.

If you’ve recently been fighting with a stubborn stain on your bathroom tile, you see yourself wiping it away successfully using Product X.

When you hear about that poor starving child, you want to be the person who feeds them and their family for that week with your donation.

Storytelling has always been designed to draw people into the story, create emotional connections, and make us feel like we’re part of the action.

Which makes storytelling a perfect method for your email marketing.

A Story-Based Email Helps Distinguish You From Your Competitors

When you use storytelling in email marketing campaigns, you’re doing more than just connecting with your subscribers. You’re also distinguishing yourself and your brand from your competitors.

Your personal story is unique. Your brand story is also unique. When you tell your own story and your brand’s unique story, you’re sharing everything from your “origin story” of why you started your business to the specific people you serve, to behind-the-scenes stories of how you make your product or serve your customers. (Phew! That’s a lot of “stories!”)

That alone will make you stand out from the competition. And it will make you and your company more memorable, which will ultimately result in more customers and more sales.

You can also make deeper connections when you do this because your target audience will see themselves in your storytelling efforts. When people have that emotional response, they’re more likely to click on the link in your email and then click on the “buy now” button on your sales page or the “schedule a consultation” button on your appointment app.

By the way, all of this is true whether you’re writing lead-nurturing emails or sending a subscriber through a sales funnel. You can use storytelling techniques literally everywhere in your marketing.

In Email Marketing, Storytelling Will Increase Your Authenticity

In our current environment where so many companies (including your competitors) are using AI to write their emails, sharing personal anecdotes and engaging stories will make you stand out as authentic.

Computers don’t know how to “human” yet. Chat GPT won’t do as good a job of telling your story as you will.

When you tell your own story in your own words, that’s going to register with your subscribers and make them want to support you, even if you feel like you “can’t write to save your life.” It makes you “real” in their eyes, even if they never meet you in person.

That will result in loyal customers who rave about you to their friends and family.

And it will blow your business way past your competitors who are using generative AI programs to write traditional emails that sound like they’re written by a robot.

Now that I’ve raved about using storytelling in your email marketing, here are a few ways to do it.

3 Simple Ways to Include Storytelling in Your Email Marketing

First, I want to be clear that storytelling is not the only method for email marketing. There are many other methods you could use, some of which I’ve already written about, such as:

Using features and benefits to show why someone should buy your product or service.

And,

Focusing on the transformation someone will go through when they use your product or service.

That being said, storytelling is something you can and should use regularly in your emails. (For that matter, you can use storytelling as part of both of the methods I just mentioned.)

Here are 3 different ways to use storytelling in your email marketing, whether you’re selling something or sending content-based nurturing emails.

1.     Case Studies

Case studies, also known as customer success stories, are awesome to use in your emails because they’re literally telling the story of one of your customers having success with your product or service.

Many case studies are short and sweet, which makes them perfect and compelling stories to tell in an email. And they’re incredibly versatile, because you can use them as a stand-alone email or as part of a sales campaign email.

You can get extra mileage from them when you write them up as a blog post or content piece on your website, then write an email that teases the story and sends your subscribers to read the whole thing.

Here’s a great example from Ryan Levesque of The ASK Method Company.

Ryan used this email to paint an incredibly relatable picture of a situation many parents were in during the pandemic, not knowing whether their kids would be in school or at home.

Then, he tells the story of one of his coaching students, and how she built a Quiz Funnel that is letting her make money while spending more time with her family.

This case study shows off 2 of Ryan’s products, his Quiz Funnel Masterclass and his Business Coaching program. This story is directed toward a specific segment of Ryan’s target audience, business owners who are also parents.

By telling the story of Lisa’s success, he’s proving that his methods work and piquing his readers’ interest in these products.

There’s more about case studies in this post on social proof.

I’m sure you have previous success stories from your own business that you could turn into an engaging email marketing campaign. Turning a real-life example into a good story about one of your previous customers achieving success with your product or service is one of the easiest ways to incorporate storytelling into your email marketing campaigns.

2.     Tell Stories Related to Your Product or Service

I do this regularly in my emails. It’s a fun and effective way to use storytelling in your email marketing campaigns.

Basically, you take a story out of the headlines or from your industry and use it to promote whatever it is you’re offering. Again, it can be used in nurturing or sales emails, though I find it’s more effective in sales emails.

As far as I’m concerned, the master of this technique is a copywriter named Ben Settle. This is his standard M.O.

Email from Ben Settle, telling the story of Leonardo DiCaprio's branding style.

Here, Ben uses a story about Leonardo DiCaprio to sell one of his products. The product is totally unrelated to Leonardo DiCaprio. But by focusing on the branding aspect of DiCaprio’s career, Ben is able to bend this story to his own product, a book all about branding.

Using “other people’s stories” gives you two advantages:

  1. It helps your reader relate more quickly to your product or service because they relate immediately to the story you’re telling.

  2. It’s easy to find something to write about. (This is a good email option when you’re struggling for a topic.)

Because we all have an emotional connection to stories, it can be easier to use what may seem like an unrelated story to pique your reader’s interest, then ease into the promotion of your product or service.

A lot of storytelling email marketing campaigns are more about entertainment than education. You want to engage your email subscribers and convince them to keep reading. Using that seemingly unrelated story is what grabs their attention. Then you show how the story really does relate to what you’re offering.

3.     Tell Your Own Story

Long email from Tom Dyson about financial markets and his family's travels.

Shocking, I know.

But your audience does want to know who you are and why you do what you do.

They also want to know what’s going on in your life and that you are a real human being.

This is one of those ways in which writing story-based emails is most effective.

I’ve done this on many occasions, such as when I lost my beloved cat of 16 years, or when I was out traveling up the west coast to figure out where I wanted to live.

I also include pictures of my current cats, Irusan and Nanner, in blog posts and emails as often as I can make an excuse to do so.

Incorporating storytelling into my email marketing has gotten the best click-through rates and the highest response from my dedicated subscribers.

Here’s why storytelling works.

You are writing to other humans. We all want to know each other’s stories because, as mentioned earlier, we thrive on stories. It’s why reality TV is as popular as it is, despite the fact that much of it is clearly scripted.

An excellent example of this is from Tom Dyson, who writes for Agora Publishing, one of the largest financial newsletter companies in the world.

He is an expert financial advisor and has written sales packages that have made millions for this company. Yet he now travels the world with his family, going from state to state and country to country because they can. His daily emails tell the story of why they’re doing this and where they are at any given time.

Along with information and pictures on what he and his family are doing, he includes information on stocks and options, which are his… well… stock and trade. He also gives his opinion on what’s happening in financial markets and how it will affect the overall economy.

His employer, Agora Publishing, inserts “ads” for their various newsletters, webinars, etc. into these emails, and Tom promotes his own paid newsletter. But all of it is couched in the story Tom is telling about why he and his family are traveling the country as he and his partner homeschool their kids.

At the end of this VERY long email, there’s a “Mailbag” section, which I didn’t include in the picture. Here, Tom responds to readers’ questions and comments. Some are about the family’s travels (along with offers of places to stay) and some are questions about Tom’s financial advice. In many of his responses, Tom is able to direct people to various Agora product links.

How Will You Use Storytelling in Your Email Marketing From Now On?

I’ve just showed you 3 simple, yet powerful ways to use stories in your emails. What’s more, I’ve shown you that you can use this technique when you’re selling and when you’re nurturing.

So, how are you going to put this to use in your own emails?

If you’re sitting here thinking, “Tanya, this is all well and good, but I still have no idea what to say…” I’ve got a secret to share.

There are many ways to tell stories, as I illustrated above.

The same is true of writing your emails.

Just as we’re all hard-wired to listen to stories, your subscribers have a “Nurture Email Type” they’re hard-wired to open, read, and buy from.

Once you know your subscribers’ nurture email type, you’ll have a much easier time figuring out the stories that will grab their attention and convince them to click on the links in your emails.

You’ll also be able to write your weekly nurture emails much faster because you’ll have a simple, repeatable formula to follow every time.

This gives you the knowledge and security that you can sit down, whip out your weekly nurture email, load it into your email service provider and get back to doing what you really love, running your business. All while getting more sales and bringing in new customers from your email list.

Find out which Nurture Email Type your subscribers are most likely to open, read, and buy from when you take my free 60-second quiz. Just click on the button below to start the quiz now.

FIND OUT YOUR SUBSCRIBERS’ NURTURE EMAIL TYPE NOW

Once you’ve taken the quiz, go forth and let your subscribers hear your stories in your email marketing! They’ll be more engaged and more willing to buy, once you do.

Email Nurturing: The Key to Building Stronger Customer Relationships

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In today’s competitive business landscape, connecting with your audience on a personal level is more important than ever. That’s why email nurturing is a critical part of your marketing efforts.

Especially with the growing influence of AI, being authentic and letting your current and potential customers get to know you and your business is the best way to make your business stand out amongst the competition.

One of the most effective ways to establish and nurture these connections is through email marketing, specifically through sending nurture emails. This marketing channel lets you speak directly to your ideal customers and keep their attention focused on you, instead of getting distracted by all the shiny objects trying to rip them away from your intended goal.

In this blog post, we’ll dive into the world of lead nurturing emails and explore how you can leverage this powerful tool to build stronger relationships with your subscribers, so they know, like, and trust you, and buy your product or service.

What Is Email Nurturing Anyway?

Email nurturing is a strategic approach to engaging with your email list subscribers over time.

Instead of bombarding them with sales pitches and promotions, which just feels slimy and turns a lot of people off, email nurturing focuses on providing value, building trust, and guiding your audience through their personal buyer’s journey.

By delivering relevant and personalized content to your subscribers, you can keep them engaged, informed, and ultimately, convert them into happy, paying, loyal customers. (That is the point of having an email list, after all.)

When you send a lead nurturing email campaign you help your subscribers get the information they need to solve the problem that drew them to your lead magnet and caused them to sign up for your email list in the first place.

What Are the Goals of Email Nurturing for My Business?

The primary goals of email nurturing are to build relationships with your subscribers, drive engagement, and ultimately, increase conversions.

By nurturing your email list, you can establish trust with your audience, position yourself as a thought leader and expert in your industry, and guide your subscribers towards making a purchase decision.

In essence, email nurturing is all about creating meaningful connections that lead to long-term customer relationships.

It’s also about serving your subscribers. This is just the beginning of your relationship with them. You want to show that you’re their go-to, reliable expert who understands them and genuinely wants to help them solve that problem that’s been keeping them up at night.

When you send them useful content, you can address pain points they’re suffering and share valuable insights on how to alleviate those pain points. This gives them exactly what they want and need to solve their problem and ultimately make a final purchase decision. Your subscribers will become loyal, repeat customers depending on their desire to change their situation and the length of your sales cycle.

Why Should I Nurture My Potential Customers?

Nurturing your potential customers through email is essential for several reasons.

First, email nurturing helps you stay top of mind with your audience, ensuring that they don’t forget about your brand. When you show up in their inboxes every week, they’re reminded of the reason they joined your email list in the first place.

Second, by providing valuable content and resources to your subscribers, you can showcase your expertise and build credibility in your industry. They’ll look forward to hearing from you and reward you by opening and reading your emails. This lets you guide them through your sales funnel to the point where they finally make a purchase.

Finally, email nurturing allows you to guide your leads through the sales funnel, increasing the likelihood of conversion and driving revenue for your business.

The Benefits of an Effective Lead Nurturing Strategy

An effective lead nurturing strategy can yield a wide range of benefits for your business.

From increased engagement and brand loyalty to higher conversion rates and revenue growth, email nurturing has the power to transform your marketing efforts.

When you speak directly to your subscribers in their inboxes every week, you give them a few minutes to focus specifically on solving their problem through using you product or service. You can do this through personalized emails that deliver dynamic content (depending on the capabilities of your ESP or CRM) or through standard “broadcast” nurture campaigns.

By delivering the right message to the right audience at the right time, you can nurture your leads towards a purchase decision and ultimately, boost sales and drive success for your business.

How Nurture Emails Build Relationships with Your Subscribers

Nurture emails are designed to build relationships with your subscribers by delivering valuable and relevant content that meets their needs and interests. Again, your goal is to serve your subscribers. To help them solve their problem, first and foremost. When you take this approach, the sales will follow.

By understanding your audience’s pain points, desires, and objections, you can tailor your emails to address their specific challenges and provide solutions that resonate with them. This lets you speak directly to their personal challenges and where they are in the buyer’s journey.

Not everyone will be ready to buy right away. As you build trust in your brand identity, show that you have your lead’s interests in mind and that they can rely on you, your subscribers will make the decision to become paying customers.

Through consistent communication and personalized messaging, you can establish trust, credibility, and rapport with your subscribers, ultimately fostering stronger relationships and driving long-term customer loyalty. This leads to growth for your business, which enables you to serve your current and potential customers better. It’s a constantly increasing cycle.

Do Nurture Emails Work?

In short, yes. When done correctly, nurturing your email list can have a significant impact on your marketing efforts and business success.

By delivering timely, personalized, and relevant content to your subscribers, you can keep them engaged, informed, and motivated to take action. That can be anything from emails announcing a new blog post, podcast, or article about your business, to longer pieces that address a specific issue they may be having, or an upcoming product launch or sale.

Whether you’re looking to increase engagement, drive conversions, or build brand loyalty, email nurturing is a proven strategy for achieving these goals and more.

Where Does Email Nurturing Fit In My Sales Funnel?

Everywhere.

From the beginning when subscribers join, to the end when they make a purchase, and on to the next purchase, product, or service. Email nurturing plays a critical role in every stage of the sales funnel, from awareness and interest to consideration and decision.

At the top of the funnel, nurture emails can help you attract and engage new leads, introducing them to your brand and building awareness of your products or services. The best way to start is with a series of welcome emails, also known as an email welcome sequence. This is the beginning of your email nurture campaign.

As leads progress through the funnel, continued nurture emails can provide them with valuable information, resources, and incentives that encourage them to take the next step towards making a purchase.

By aligning your nurture emails with each stage of the sales funnel and including calls to action that guide subscribers gently and without pressure toward your sales page or buy button, you can move your subscribers towards conversion and drive continued success for your business.

How Do You Write a Nurturing Email?

When writing a nurturing email, it’s important to keep your audience, goals, and messaging in mind.

Start by understanding your subscribers’ needs, problems, and preferences, and tailor your content to address these effectively. You will know some of this from past customer experience and the rest you can research online or ask your current customers or members of your target audience.

Use a strong subject line to grab your subscribers’ attention and make them want to open your email. Every line after that should be designed to keep them reading the next line, and the next, and so on until they reach your call to action.

Use a conversational writing style. Write like you’re talking to your best friend about a problem they’re having, or about what it is you do in your business. Include personalized messaging, and engaging visuals to capture your audience’s attention and keep them interested.

Be sure to provide value, offer solutions, and include a clear call to action that guides your subscribers towards taking the desired action. This can be anything from directing them to a recent blog post or article about your company, to asking them to schedule a consultation with you, or even clicking through to your sales page.

By following these best practices, you can create compelling nurture emails that resonate with your audience and drive results for your business.

Addressing Your Ideal Customers’ Pain Points In Your Nurture Emails

One of the most effective ways to connect with your subscribers and build relationships is by addressing their pain points in your nurture emails. Your subscribers joined your email list because you can help them solve a problem. So help them!

By identifying the challenges, obstacles, and frustrations that your audience faces, you can create content and deliver relevant information that speaks directly to their needs and interests. Do it in a friendly, comforting way, that shows you have their best interests at heart and genuinely want to help.

Provide tips, advice, or solutions to common problems you know your prospective customers have. Share success stories and case studies that inspire and motivate your subscribers to say yes.

Addressing pain points in your nurture emails can help you establish trust, credibility, and rapport with your subscribers, ultimately driving engagement and conversions.

How Long Should My Lead Nurturing Emails Be?

When it comes to the length of lead nurturing emails, there is no one-size-fits-all answer.

While some subscribers may prefer short and concise emails that get straight to the point, others may appreciate longer, more detailed content that provides in-depth information and insights. The key is to strike a balance between providing valuable content and respecting your subscribers’ time and attention.

Personally, I send two emails a week. One short email, leading to a blog post that gives useful information. If you were on my email list, you received one of these short emails directing you here. The second email is exclusive content for my subscribers that covers everything from best practices, to how to find high quality leads, to making sales to their own lists, and everything in between. What you send will depend on your business and what you sell.

In general, aim for lead nurturing emails that are clear, concise, and focused on delivering a single message or call to action. If you have more to say, consider breaking up longer content into a series of emails to maintain engagement and interest over time.

How Do You Come Up with Ideas for Lead Nurturing Emails?

Coming up with ideas for lead nurturing emails can be a challenge, especially if you’re writing to your subscribers every week. To generate fresh and engaging content, consider the following strategies:

1. Start with your audience:

Think about your subscribers’ pain points, desires, and objections, and tailor your content to address these effectively. For example, come up with a list of questions your prospective clients ask regularly. Then answer one question per email.

2. Look at your data:

Analyze your email engagement metrics, such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversions, to identify which types of content resonate with your audience.


3. Keep it relevant:

Stay up to date with industry news, trends, and events, and use this information to create timely and topical content that speaks to your subscribers’ interests.

If there’s something relevant that has happened in your personal life, or if you’ve got an exciting announcement, make sure to include those stories too. You want your subscribers to get to know you and like you. People buy from people they know, like, and trust.


4. Get creative:

Exeriment with different types of content, such as how-to guides, case studies, success stories, and customer testimonials, to keep your emails fresh and engaging. Consider your audience’s preferences in your content marketing and make sure you notice what they do and don’t pay attention to, so you can give them what they want.


5. Repurpose existing content:

As mentioned earlier, send subscribers to your blog posts, videos, webinars, and other resources to repurpose content for your nurture emails, saving time and effort while providing them with valuable information.

By following these tips and staying attuned to your audience’s needs and preferences, you can generate a steady stream of ideas for lead nurturing emails that keep your subscribers engaged, informed, and motivated to take action.

What If I Get Stuck Staring at a Blank Screen or Don’t Know Where to Start?

I recommend clicking on the button below to download my list of 30 Subject Lines to Keep Your Subscribers Opening and Reading Every Email.

This list gives you 30 proven subject lines, along with accompanying writing prompts, to jumpstart your writing process.

DOWNLOAD MY LIST OF 30 SUBJECT LINES TO KEEP YOUR SUBSCRIBERS OPENING AND READING EVERY EMAIL NOW


In conclusion, email nurturing is a powerful tool for building stronger customer relationships, driving engagement, and increasing conversions. By delivering valuable, relevant, and personalized content to your subscribers, you can establish trust, credibility, and rapport that lead to long-term loyalty and success for your business.

Whether you’re looking to attract new leads, nurture existing subscribers, or guide prospects through the sales funnel, deploying a nurture email sequence is a proven strategy for achieving these goals and more.

By understanding your audience, addressing their pain points, and providing consistent and engaging content, you can create compelling nurture emails that resonate with your subscribers and drive results for your business.

So, take the time to craft thoughtful and strategic nurture campaigns that connect with your audience on a personal level and watch as your relationships and revenue grow. Email nurturing is not just about sending emails; it’s about building valuable connections that last a lifetime.

The Top 5 Reasons You’re Scared to Email Your List

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One of the questions I am regularly asked is, “how often should you email your list?”

My standard answer is, “Once a week is a good email frequency. Send more nurture emails if you’re willing to put in the time and effort.”

Unfortunately, I find that a lot of business owners really want to email their lists regularly, but they’re afraid to do it. Which is genuinely a shame, because your subscribers want to hear from you! That’s why they signed up for your emails in the first place.

Trust me, I get it. There are a lot of reasons you’re scared to email your list. I’m going to address the top 5 here and give you excellent reasons to overcome your fears.

Take a deep breath, we’re about to dive in…

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Apple iOS Updates Explode Email Open Rates – And How This Affects You

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Apple’s new commitment to privacy has destroyed email open rates as a useful metric in email marketing.

While the Apple user in me appreciates the protection of my data, the marketer in me is grinding my teeth in frustration.

In September of 2021, Apple released iOS 15, which includes Mail Privacy Protection. To quote Apple’s June 2021 press release, Mail Privacy Protection “stops senders from using invisible pixels to collect information about the user. The new feature helps users prevent senders from knowing when they open an email and masks their IP address so it can’t be linked to other online activity or used to determine their location.”

Basically, this means Apple is sending your email service provider (ESP) false data about who is opening your emails.

Don’t panic. This is not the end of email marketing as we know it.

Here’s why…

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