Email Marketing & High-Touch Customer Engagement for Product, Coaches, and Network Marketing Businesses
Episode 460: Show Notes
In this episode, we get into exciting topics like email marketing, conversions, texting, relationships, and more! We talk about what we get up to in Boss Project (our main gig) and our side hustles, because we have accumulated some valuable experience over the years. Emylee sells handmade accessories (physical products) and hosts her website on Shopify, and every month she learns more and more about e-commerce and all things product-based. Abagail started her wellness company after going through a serious car accident, and as she journeyed to improve her health, people wanted to join her. She used her story to build a group coaching program called Jumpstart where she helps women lose weight and focus on their health. She is also a leader in the Young Living network marketing business.
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While it can be overwhelming to run different businesses, we find that it triggers different parts of the brain and keeps things fresh! As we grow, we realize how important automation is and why we should leverage key tools to make things more streamlined in all of our businesses. Stay tuned to hear about our most trusted apps and tools!
Privy: Email Campaigns with Crazy Conversions!
We’ve often had people ask us how email marketing should be treated differently in the context of a physical product-based business versus a service-based business, but we’ve learned that there really is not such a big difference. Emylee has successfully applied the strategy we use in Boss Project to her accessories business, starting with an opt-in, a welcome sequence, and a few follow-ups. She uses Shopify and wanted to start building a list since, with a physical product, you generally have your audience in one place. Instagram is her platform of choice. She realized that all her sales were coming from Instagram and that it wouldn’t allow her to identify her customers and returning customers. Initially, you might set up abandoned cart and order confirmation emails, which are built into Squarespace or Shopify, so this is a very important first step. But after that, how do you get new people on your list or re-engage customers who haven’t bought in a while? When she transitioned from Squarespace to Shopify, she wanted to learn how to grow this type of warm audience. She set up the Privy app (free version) and created a campaign to entice new people to get on her list for a 10% discount on their first order. All the prospect needs to do is make a few clicks and enter their name and email address to get the coupon code by email. But, of course, this strategy is only good for new customers, so if existing customers put in their details, they’d get a note saying that they can’t get the code. Here are the stats from this free app for the period between the beginning of May and the end of July 2020: it earned her $3600! Her conversion rate to buy was an amazing 34%. That means that there are still 118 people who have given their email addresses but who haven’t bought, so what to do with these people?
Klaviyo: An Email Service Provider that Integrates with Shopify
Emylee took it a step further to get hold of those who did not buy. She could upgrade her Privy app, which would then cost her money, and send more emails, but keep in mind Privy is not an email service provider. She then looked for an email service provider that did the same thing as Privy and could get similar results but with the benefits of a proper email service provider, such as the ability to build lists. She considered Flodesk but wanted to stick to tools that were e-commerce based because the analytics that you can get are just made for this type of business. What she discovered was an app called Klaviyo, which is a really good email service provider that integrates directly with Shopify – made for e-commerce. She just set up the welcome sequence. She switched off Privy, turned on Klaviyo, and it has the same popup about the 10% discount offer on the first order. Customers would supply their details, get the coupon, get a confirmation email, and get added to a thee-email welcome series. In these emails, she introduces herself, shows the bestsellers, and lets them know how things work. In the last email, it is a conditional split of whether they have made a purchase or not (yes or no). If the answer is no, she would send one final email to remind them to use their coupon code, and then she would remind them once more in a month or so. She can do all of this automatically with Klaviyo.
This is her hypothesis thus far: Klaviyo lands her emails in the Promotions tab, which you don’t want, but she will give it some time to see how it performs. She does use Klaviyo for another automation, and it lands in Primary, so it is possible. As soon as you spend $200, you get an email with a password that enables you to come to VIP restock, and this was automated by Klaviyo. Emylee has made $600 with this. What’s cool about Klaviyo is that they give you super helpful segments, for instance, by letting you know who has bought from you in the last 60 days or who is most likely to buy from you soon again.
A Big Email List Is Not Everything
For a long time, Abagail managed without an email list, but when she finally started one, she quickly gained a lot of traction. But she is still not actively promoting it, and therefore only has about 600 email subscribers. What she wanted to do was find the people who found her organically online and put them in a position to get the most nurturing – and for her, that is not email. She prefers to send people to Instagram which is where she is most present. Her freebie includes 30 days of meal plans, and it is everywhere on her website! She even has a popup, even though she doesn’t really like them. Abagail uses Flodesk, which works wonders for her. Of her 600 email subscribers, nearly 300 of them came in through this freebie. She would like to add on to her welcome sequence, but it just hasn’t been at the center of her attention. Her goal is to get people over to Instagram and she converts them in the DMs. She wants to have a conversation with them to ensure they are a good fit for her program. Even though she might in the future be able to direct people from her website directly to specific Young Living products, you would have to sell very many products to make money this way. Her focus is on bringing people into her group program, integrating them into a lifestyle change, and helping them on their health and wellness journey.
Automating to Scale Any Kind of Business
Because they are growing so fast, Abagail has a hard time finding the time to have a deep, personal connection with each of her clients. The model of one-on-one conversation is just not scalable. When you are stretched for time, it is impossible to follow up with every single new person every week or on a regular schedule. But, there is a way to automate it, and then when they respond, you can communicate with them yourself. There is a texting service called Project Broadcast that you can use, and it is a tool that Abagail is in the process of figuring out. She had to put everything else on hold to give it the time required to know exactly how it works and implement it correctly, and she is thrilled with what she sees! This service will make her life so much easier and put people in a 90-day drip where they are getting regular communication. If people want more, they can opt-in for classes. Sometimes you’ve got to stop selling to get everything set up because you can hamper your own growth by not having the systems in place to scale. You might have the sense it is disingenuous to put people on a nurture sequence or text someone when you didn’t type it yourself – but it’s not! You want to do it yourself, but if you are going to run a sustainable business that is growing, you simply can’t do it all.
Quote This
Taking time off selling is what is required sometimes to get those automations set up.
Highlights
Privy: Email Campaigns with Crazy Conversions! [0:08:00.1]
Klaviyo: An Email Service Provider that Integrates with Shopify. [0:15:02.1]
A Big Email List Is Not Everything. [0:28:17.1]
Automating to Scale Any Kind of Business. [0:35:39.1]
#TalkStrategyToMe [0:43:45.1]
For a product-based business:
Offer a welcome discount.
Use Privy if you are on Shopify.
Take the time to learn another software.
Have a welcome series to remind people about the coupon code.
For coaches, network marketers, and service providers:
Focus on the sales tool that converts best.
Get more people on your preferred platform.
Give a freebie on your website and point them to where you are most active.
ON TODAY’S SHOW
Abagail & Emylee
The Strategy Hour Podcast
We help overwhelmed and creative entrepreneurs break down their Oprah-sized dreams to create a functioning command center to tame the chaos of their business. Basically, we think you’re totally bomb diggity, we’re about to uplevel the shiz out of your business.
KEY TOPICS
Email, Instagram, Privy, Klaviyo, Shopify, Flodesk, Project Broadcast, Automation, Nurturing, Scaling, Relationships
