Adventures in list building

Adventures in List Building: List Automation AND Segmentation Phil Hollows @phollows

What You’ll Learn Today Your secret monetization weapon is your email list. That YOU can create an ass-kicking inbox-busting revenue-generating engagement-building money-making selling machine.

About Phil Hollows Founder and CEO of FeedBlitz, the premium FeedBurner alternative. Sending over 1,000,000,000 updates per year. Clients include: Seth Godin, Fred Wilson, Denise Wakeman, Lee Odden, Andrea Deckard. NAMS7 Sponsor. Author of “List Building for Bloggers” ListBuildingForBloggers.com Use MYNAMS code by 1/15 and save $10. Become a “List Building for Bloggers” affiliate!

It’s All About Engagement! “ I get ten times more response to my blog from my email subscribers than I do from anyone else.” Seth Godin “ Engagement = Revenue” Phil Hollows

Ubiquity, Commitment, Engagement Everyone online has at least one email account. Email readers typically outnumber RSS readers 3:1 or better. Hubspot said 12:1 in 2009! Email subscribers are more committed to you. Remember: You are not your audience.

Email Updates Drive Engagement, SALES Full branding. Activity tracking. Committed subscribers. Mini web sites in the inbox. Can include multiple affiliate links, calls to action.

Email Subscriptions are the Essential Complement to SEO SEO increases traffic to your site … and then what? Email options convert visitors into subscribers, and subscribers into money.

List Building – Basic Tips Learn from the leaders. Have a clear subscription form above the fold. Use social proof if you have it. Incentives work. Brand, baby, brand!

Your Site is Your Platform Your site is content marketing. It builds trust, audience, engagement. It generates SEO-friendly, keyword-rich posts. It grows your subscriber list. Don’t stop updating it (blogging) and “giving away” free content. It enables everything else.

Typical List Subscription Sequence Fill in form Dual opt-in activation Check inbox landing page Thanks for subscribing! Content mailings

Autoresponder Monetization Subscription Sequence Fill in form Dual opt-in activation Autoresponder sales sequence Check inbox landing page Thanks for subscribing! Autoresponder sales sequence Autoresponder sales sequence Autoresponder sales sequence Autoresponder sales sequence Autoresponder sales sequence Content mailings

Content Signup Sequence Fill in form Content mailings Dual opt- in email Check inbox landing page Thank you landing page Thank you autoresponder 10% off 20% off 40% off 50% off Stops sequence New buyer email Forward to parser Purchase made

Autoresponder Ideas Thank the subscriber. Coupons and offers. Sell on: e-books, videos, courses. Solicit engagement. Forums, surveys and sneeze pages. “How are we doing?” check ins. 1, 3, 6, 12 months later in the sequence.

Transactional Emails Have stellar open rates. May contain advertising and marketing messages … … Provided that these don’t overwhelm the transactional component. Can be used to cross-promote and trigger autoresponders. Monetize landing pages in a multi-step transactional process.

List Building for Bloggers Email Sequence Buy e-book Affiliate email pitch Thank you landing page Download link email Manual import Content mailings New buyer email to Phil

Transactional Emails #2 YOU get transactional emails when: Someone joins your list, registers with your forum, becomes a user, joins your site. Buys a product, e-book etc. Use automation (“parsers” or “rules”) Extract the visitor’s email address. Trigger a multi-step autoresponder to upsell. Attach rules to the autoresponder to transfer the subscriber to your main list when it completes.

Ideal LBB Email Automation Sequence Buy e-book Thank you landing page Download link email Content mailings New buyer email to Phil Forward to parser Autoresponder sequence Autoresponder sequence Autoresponder sequence Autoresponder sequence Autoresponder sequence Affiliate email pitch New affiliate email to Phil Forward to parser New affiliate sequence New affiliate sequence New affiliate sequence New affiliate sequence New affiliate sequence Affiliate-oriented content mailings

Multi-List Segmentation - 1 Activity-based segmentation is the best way to generate downstream revenues. Email newsletter subscribers. Purchasers. Affiliates. Members of your continuity programs. Use list automation – rules, triggers, parsers – to move people between lists for your site. You can use this to create “master lists” for the site. And a “master list” for all the sites you’re running. Target the right message to the right list during a sales program.

Multi-List Segmentation - 2 Content segmentation for large sites e.g. for a photography site, segments might be: Equipment Techniques For professionals Create lists to cater to each niche within the site. Increases relevance and hence engagement. Schedule segmentation Offer real-time, daily or weekly digest options. Untimely emails yield unsubscribes.

Demographic Segmentation a.k.a. “Custom Fields” e.g. Name, Title, City, State, Zip, Birthday. Enable very targeted, effective, personalized mailings. Can be more complex to manage plus you need to watch out for privacy laws. The more data you collect the lower your list growth will be. The more data you collect the better your list quality will become.

Demographic Segments Don’t ask for what you’re not going to use. Reduces friction, accelerates list growth. Think about what you really need, e.g. Collect birth month , not birth day. First name and state, not ZIP and street address. “ Blast” selectively – don’t make the subscriber feel bombarded. Use suppression lists for JV mailings. Think “outside the blast” and be serendipitous! Birthday discounts. Offer anniversary discounts. Random monthly drawings.

Keeping it Clean: Re-engagement and List Hygiene Remove subscribers who aren’t engaging with your mailings. Improves list quality and delivery metrics. May save you money on your service. Be careful! Opens are difficult to track. Choose your parameters. e.g. >6 months old and no recent interactions (opens and clicks). Don’t simply delete subscribers who fit. Run a re-engagement campaign.

Architecture of a Re-engagement Campaign Checking you still want to hear from me, did you miss this great content? Want a different list? Offer an incentive. We’re going to unsubscribe you unless you click. Last chance! You’ve been unsubscribed. Here’s how to get back on the list.

Re-engagement Sequence Still want us? Here’s a deal! Removal soon Last chance! Buh-bye Stops sequence Thank you! Reader engages End of sequence rule unsubscribes reader from main list

Your Goal: An Automated Email Sales and Marketing System Target the right people at the right time with the right messages. Create a mix of autoresponders and lists. Automate using activity-based triggers and parsers. Use them to reduce your digital share cropping risk. You keep engagement UP and complaints DOWN. Run periodic re-engagement campaigns if necessary.

The List Automation Cookbook EZ-Bake Version A list, a multi-step autoresponder and an incentive. The 30-Minute Meal Activity-based lists, parsers and triggers for e-comm integration. Autoresponders and incentives. Minimal custom fields. Gourmet Activity, content and schedule-based lists. Autoresponders and incentives, serendipity. Custom fields, rules, parsers and triggers for e-comm. List hygiene and subscriber re-engagement programs.

Thank You! THANK YOU! Questions? Comments? [email_address] @phollows http://www.feedblitz.com http://ListBuildingForBloggers.com See you at NAMS 7!

Adventures in list building

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