Today is the fourth post in our series on email marketing and we’re going to be looking at a a tactic you can use to ensure that your ideal subscribers stay on your list. If you’ve missed any of the other posts you can find them here:
How to Improve Your Email Deliverability
6 Tips For Crafting Compelling Subject Lines
How Often Should You Mail Your List?
There’s a pretty neat strategy that helps keep subscribers on your list. It’s called foreshadowing, and implementing it is very simple, as long as you have a content calendar that includes the content you send to your list.
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You may have seen this tactic used on news programs and talk shows. Right before the commercial break, the hosts announces what’s coming up next. The idea is that you’re intrigued enough to sit through the commercial to see the next segment.
Another good example of foreshadowing is when magazines show images and headlines or short bullets of what’s coming in next month’s issue. Again, the point is to pique your interest and get you to either buy the next issue, or even better, get a subscription.
We can easily adapt this for email marketing and it works like a charm. Toward the end of each email, transition from what you’re talking about today, to what’s coming in the next email. Depending on what you’re using as a teaser, you can be intentionally vague or make a specific promise. Either one can grab your subscribers’ attention.
For example, if you’re talking about why email marketing is important and the next email will be about crafting subject lines to get a higher open rate, you may write something like this: “Keep an eye out for Friday’s email. We’ll talk about THE most important thing when it comes to email marketing. If you don’t get this right, nothing else matters.”
To mix it up, mention what they can find in the next email in the P.S. of your message. If you publish a weekly newsletter, try adding a section on what’s coming in the next issue similar to how a magazine editor would. Keep it simple and consider using images for best results.
You can even take it a step further and get your subscribers to open a previously sent email. This works particularly well if you’re writing a series of emails on a related topic. Toward the beginning of your email you mention something you covered in the last email, then move into today’s topic and then wrap it up with a little hint about what’s coming next.
You don’t have to use foreshadowing in every single email. Sprinkle it in here and there where it makes sense. It also gives you a chance to pick up on in the subject line of your next email. Try using something like “As promised…” Even readers who missed your last email might be curious enough to open this one.
Give it a try and see if you start to see more subscribers staying on your list long-term, along with higher open rates and more subscriber engagement.
And remember, it you need some valuable but totally affordable help with email marketing, take a look at this online training, Funnels That Click, from my lovely online colleague, Connie Ragen Green. It’s currently available for less than 10 bucks! More details here.
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