One of the less talked about impacts of the COVID pandemic, is it’s boost in the number of people starting a business for the first time or finding new ways to make money online.
There’s an abundance of opportunity out there, and all you need to take advantage is a clear offer, and a few basic sales strategies.
Whether you’re selling e-commerce products, courses to promote from your Instagram, or anything in between, the process of closing those sales are very similar.
With anything, it is the value that the product or service delivers to your customers that sells, not necessarily the product or service itself.
In 2020, the most effective and efficient way to acquire customers and sell anything is by consistent contact.
For the sake of this guide, we’ll be focusing on utilizing email campaigns as your primary contact channel with your customers.
However, these strategies can work on any platform, and in conjunction with DM’s, phone calls, and more.
We’ll be discussing 5 simple strategies to take your email marketing efforts to the next level, and help you sell anything, no matter your product or service offering.
1. Content is Still King
What value are you bringing?
When crafting emails to either cold targets or current clients, it’s crucial to remember that your focus should be on the prospect not the product.
What value are you bringing to your contacts through your emails? Are you helping them find a solution to their problem? Are you giving them important information that builds on your current products or services?
These are all questions you should be asking before crafting and sending your campaigns.
Clear CTA’s
A clear call to action in your messages makes the difference between contacts just digesting your message, and actually acting upon it.
Ideally, your call to actions should not be selling your product or service directly, but offering a clear path to your contacts on the next steps to take.
Work your CTA’s in naturally at the beginning and end of your messages so the information stays fresh and it’s easy for your contacts to find where you want them to go next.
Personalization, Personalization, Personalization
When is the last time you actively engaged in an email that was clearly sent out to a mass audience with no consideration of your personal needs or problems?
The answer is typically, almost never. Use their first name, past client or behavioral data, anything that can form a stronger bond between your contacts and your business.
2. Hook them with subject lines
In order for your contacts to engage with your messages, they need to actually open them first.
Subject lines that convert have to be compelling and let your contacts know what to expect in the email without giving away too much information off the bat.
3. Educate & Entertain
No matter if you’re sending a four-part automated email campaign, or a cold pitch, it’s crucial to both educate and entertain your prospects.
It’s helpful to picture your copy as a conversation, rather than a pitch. After all, it’s never the intention to hook prospects in on the first email but to open the pathway to nurturing and developing them as customers.
To do this, show personality, be engaging and provide information that will actually be of value to them.
Make it Easy to Opt-in
In order to hook your prospects into being interested to receiving more information from you, it’s important to make the opt-in process as simple and compelling as possible.
Offer an incentive for opting in, whether it be exclusive downloadable content or a free 15-minute consultation.
Make it easy for them to opt-in by providing buttons and links in every message you send, and every call to action page on your website and social media.
4. Be Personal & Human
One of the easiest ways to connect with prospects and potential clients is to tell stories.
Telling personal stories from you or your past client’s experience, that reflect pain points your prospects might be facing, and a resolution to those problems is an easy strategy to get your prospects hooked and wanting to hear more.
These stories should be inspiring, funny, and relatable. When prospects can visualize how your products or services benefitted others like them in a story format, it’s a much easier bridge for them to take the next step.
5. Keep It Short & Concise
The death of all sales is giving away too much information. While you want to provide value, entertain, and talk about your offering, too much can overwhelm your prospects and prevent them from taking the leap to opt-in or further consider your offer.
Get to the point, quickly
The most important point of your message should be the first thing that you say. Single-subject emails are exponentially more effective than messages that try to pack too much in at one time.
It shouldn’t take your prospects more than 30–60 seconds to finish reading your email and digesting all of the intended information. Easy ways to do this is by effectively formatting your messages and keeping them visually simple.
Include compelling images and anecdotes to capture and keep your prospects attention. When you have more information to share, consider attaching links to external web pages or docs instead of cramming the information directly into the emails.
Conclusion
Whether you’re using email marketing as your primary sales tool, or other platforms like SMS marketing, DM’s, or cold calling, the process behind your sales should be the same.
To sell anything, you need to focus on building real relationships with your prospects instead of simply just selling to them. Determine how you can provide the most value and drive the most traction while keeping your messages focused and concise.
At the end of the day, the more you can educate and lead your prospects in the right direction regarding their specific problems, the more likely you are to convert cold contacts into lifetime customers who will always refer back to you as a base for knowledge and help.
