{"id":111,"date":"2021-09-18T14:14:20","date_gmt":"2021-09-18T18:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/?p=111"},"modified":"2021-10-27T20:20:32","modified_gmt":"2021-10-28T00:20:32","slug":"tiny-email-list-profitable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/tiny-email-list-profitable\/","title":{"rendered":"How to make a tiny 47 emails list get 78.3% open rate and be profitable in the first week"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I wrote an automated email sequence email for a small local service business that started selling its services online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With only 47 email subscribers (a recently started email list), it produced the following results in the first week:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>78.3% open rate on the first email<\/li><li>451.90$ in sales<\/li><li>Conversion rate of 8.5%<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In this article, I&#8217;ll explain how I did it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And why the good old &#8220;<em>Buuuut my email list is waaaay too small<\/em>!&#8221; is probably never a good excuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The strategies used are based on two powerful marketing concepts used by the best in the biz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have a small local business and have been on the fence on starting to use email marketing with your potential customers &#8211; and current customers &#8211; this will arm you with the knowledge to turn your small (or big) email list into your most powerful business asset. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Disclaimer:<\/strong> If you have not used your email list yet, you may regret not doing it before&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"toc_container\" class=\"no_bullets\"><p class=\"toc_title\">Contents<\/p><ul class=\"toc_list\"><li><a href=\"#the_two_most_powerful_marketing_strategies\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">1<\/span> The two most powerful marketing strategies<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#analysing_the_results\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">2<\/span> Analysing the results<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#number_of_emails_sent\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">2.1<\/span> Number of emails sent<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#open_rate\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">2.2<\/span> Open rate<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#sales_conversion_rate\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">2.3<\/span> Sales + conversion rate<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#the_strategy_used_with_this_small_email_list\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">3<\/span> The strategy used with this small email list <\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#getting_quality_traffic\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">3.1<\/span> Getting quality traffic<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#having_a_powerful_lead_magnet\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">3.2<\/span> Having a powerful lead magnet<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#having_an_automated_email_sequence\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">3.3<\/span> Having an automated email sequence<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#the_exact_4-step_email_sequence_i_used\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">4<\/span> The exact 4-step email sequence I used<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#email_0_evaluation\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">4.1<\/span> Email #0: Evaluation<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#email_1_follow-up\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">4.2<\/span> Email #1: Follow-up<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#email_2_value\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">4.3<\/span> Email #2: Value<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#email_3_value\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_2\">4.4<\/span> Email #3: Value<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#conclusion\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">5<\/span> Conclusion<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span id=\"the_two_most_powerful_marketing_strategies\">The two most powerful marketing strategies<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The content used in this email sequence is based on 2 fundamental strategies used by the big guns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/what-is-direct-response-marketing\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"212\">Direct-response marketing<\/a>:<\/strong> A type of marketing designed to create an instant response by encouraging a targeted prospect to take a specific action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Value-based marketing:<\/strong> A type of marketing designed to give something of great value to a targeted prospect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As you can imagine, both are very powerful in their own respects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Both together can become a lethal weapon of mass destruction that will leave your competitors scratching their heads in disbelief.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span id=\"analysing_the_results\">Analysing the results<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s analyse the results from the email sequence:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>47 subscribers were in the email sequence<\/li><li><span style=\"font-size: revert; color: var(--global-palette4);\">78.3% open rate on the first email<\/span><\/li><li>451.90$ in sales<\/li><li>Conversion rate of 8.5%<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>All conversions (sales in this case) are measured by the use a specific promo code which was sent exclusively through the email sequence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not that it really matters, but for future reference from the screenshots, the services were sold through Woocommerce and the email platform used was Mailchimp. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span id=\"number_of_emails_sent\">Number of emails sent<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A grand total of 47 emails were sent in the first week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"476\" height=\"144\" src=\"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Email-open-rate-78.3.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-178\" srcset=\"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Email-open-rate-78.3.png 476w, https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Email-open-rate-78.3-300x91.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 476px) 100vw, 476px\" title=\"\"><figcaption>Number of the first email sent in the first week <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>And yes, that was the complete list at that time&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The reason why I&#8217;m mentioning this metric is because I know that there is a misconception about when you should start communicating with your email list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For some reason, we tend to think that we need thousands of people before you send your first email. And that is false! Especially if you have built your email list with quality in mind (and more on that later).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>FYI, the 47 emails for this campaign were obtained as the result of a free evaluation that calculates their carbon footprint based on set fomulas used in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is important as the following email sequence and the service offered is highly relevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span id=\"open_rate\">Open rate<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The open rate was 78.3% for the first email in the follow-up sequence in the first week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why am I only mentioning the open rate of the first email and not the others?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simple&#8230; It is the most impressive! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But also the fact that at the time of publishing this article, most other emails do not have many sends yet and I was so pumped by the results that I wanted to post this ASAP. There will be an updated section to see how results compare in time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, in my defence, the other emails also had a pretty good open rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>See for yourself. Open rates on first week:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Email #1 open rate: 78.3%<\/li><li>Email #2 open rate: 69.2%<\/li><li>Email #3 open rate: 27.3%<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[Updated results, 2 weeks later]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it seems like the results are getting even better as time goes on!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are the open rates 2 weeks later:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Email #1 open rate: 77.2% (-1.1%)<\/li><li>Email #2 open rate: 72.3% (+3.1%)<\/li><li>Email #3 open rate: 37.8% (+10.5%)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p> <strong>[Updated results, 6 weeks later]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And again, it seems like the results are holding up. 92 people have now gone through the first email in the sequence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"369\" height=\"82\" src=\"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Email-1-open-rate.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-346\" srcset=\"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Email-1-open-rate.png 369w, https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Email-1-open-rate-300x67.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 369px) 100vw, 369px\" title=\"\"><figcaption>Number of people having gone through the first email in the sequence after 6 weeks<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are the results 6 weeks later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Email #1 open rate: 78.2%(+1% since previous update)<\/li><li>Email #2 open rate: 72.6% (+0.3% since previous update)<\/li><li>Email #3 open rate: 45.8% (+8% since previous update, a 18.5% upgrade from the first week of data!)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span id=\"sales_conversion_rate\">Sales + conversion rate<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>451.90$ at 8.5% conversion rate. That sounds pretty good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"443\" height=\"114\" src=\"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Sales-figure.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-182\" srcset=\"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Sales-figure.png 443w, https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Sales-figure-300x77.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 443px) 100vw, 443px\" title=\"\"><figcaption>Sales after the first week running the email sequence<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>While the dollar figure is not necessarily impressive here, this is with minimal effort in a minimal amount of time. And this process has now been automated for all future email leads, zero effort required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[Updated results, 6 weeks later]<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>6 weeks later, their sales have exploded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are the results:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"410\" height=\"110\" src=\"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Sales-since-emails.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-352\" srcset=\"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Sales-since-emails.png 410w, https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Sales-since-emails-300x80.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 410px) 100vw, 410px\" title=\"\"><figcaption>Net sales after 6 weeks of implementing email marketing<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Now we&#8217;re talking.<\/strong> They just had their best month online since I was brought in to help with their sales process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is currently changing the trajectory of their business and they are now evaluating how they can invest more into their online sales and keep the growth going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is an interesting progession from before\/after emails were implemented:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"204\" src=\"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Emails-started-here-1024x204.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-347\" srcset=\"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Emails-started-here-1024x204.png 1024w, https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Emails-started-here-300x60.png 300w, https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Emails-started-here-768x153.png 768w, https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Emails-started-here-1536x306.png 1536w, https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Emails-started-here.png 1649w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" title=\"\"><figcaption>Results over the last year before vs after implementing marketing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span id=\"the_strategy_used_with_this_small_email_list\">The strategy used with this small email list <\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The strategy involves many components that led us to these results:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Traffic from quality information articles<\/li><li>Having a lead magnet of great value for a targeted person (free custom evaluation)<\/li><li>Having an automated email sequence providing more value and offering to solve a problem related to the content with a service<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These are the reasons why the results were quite good for this small business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s check every point in a bit more detail to see how you can replicate this strategy yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span id=\"getting_quality_traffic\">Getting quality traffic<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The emails in the email list came from SEO traffic. From about 10 SEO optimized information-rich articles, visitors are offered a free relevant evaluation. A form with fields were required to be filled and submitted to receive the free evaluation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since I was also involved in the SEO process, here is some data that led to building this lead generation channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"364\" src=\"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Search-console-seo-1024x364.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-168\" srcset=\"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Search-console-seo-1024x364.png 1024w, https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Search-console-seo-300x107.png 300w, https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Search-console-seo-768x273.png 768w, https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Search-console-seo-1536x546.png 1536w, https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Search-console-seo.png 1611w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" title=\"\"><figcaption>Building an effective email list can start with minimal traffic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As you can see, once again, the data is good and they did not need a million visitors per month to start building their email list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span id=\"having_a_powerful_lead_magnet\">Having a powerful lead magnet<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The lead magnet is your opportunity to connect with someone by asking permission for continued contact in exchange of a valuable something that is linked to your field of expertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In exchange for some of their contact information, you need to give them something of equal or greater value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is always recommended to offer way more value than what you are asking for, as this will create good will and position you as a trustable authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In our case, the lead magnet is a free full evaluation to know and understand your current carbon footprint, which for the right people, is worth sharing their email for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are great lead magnets you can use to get started quickly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Exclusive information packed e-books<\/li><li>Courses<\/li><li>Tools<\/li><li>Calculators<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span id=\"having_an_automated_email_sequence\">Having an automated email sequence<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The automated email sequence is where the magic is made, provided it is well taken care of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By having direct contact with list members, you can share ideas, stories and valuable info directly with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At this point, they trusted you enough to give you their contact info. Don&#8217;t blow it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes there will be some offers and money to be made with your email list, but for this to happen, you have to continue the relationship with more valuable info.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don&#8217;t see your &#8220;newsletter&#8221; as a newsletter, because I&#8217;d bet most people don&#8217;t care about a newsletter. See it as a discussion you are having with individual people, because that&#8217;s what it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Help them get to where they want by sharing through email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It also helps to <a href=\"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/how-to-sell-anything-with-copy\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"301\">write persuasively<\/a> when an offer is part of the email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span id=\"the_exact_4-step_email_sequence_i_used\">The exact 4-step email sequence I used<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is the exact email used to generate the results seen previously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span id=\"email_0_evaluation\">Email #0: Evaluation<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Side note:<\/strong> This is &#8220;email 0&#8221; as it was handled by the website server and not by Mailchimp and therefor no open rate data is available.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the first email, the goal was to deliver the evaluation results immediately after the person had opted in (the lead magnet).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since in this case the business&#8217; core offering is directly correlated, an immediate offer was made for them to purchase on the spot (with a special coupon code).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span id=\"email_1_follow-up\">Email #1: Follow-up<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The second email was sent to follow up 2 days after the initial optin. This serves as a reminder of the evaluation results as well as the special offer made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simply a heads up and letting them know that their results were in if they had missed them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span id=\"email_2_value\">Email #2: Value<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The third email is value-based. It talks about a controversial problem and suggests an article describing 23 tangible solutions to that problem. This is not an optimized <a href=\"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/landing-page\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"476\">landing page<\/a> per se, but more like a blog post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the article is hosted on their website blog, there are call to actions to learn more about what they do and buy their service embedded in the page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is also a short reminder about the offer at the bottom of the email (P.S. style).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span id=\"email_3_value\">Email #3: Value<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The fourth offer is also value-based. It talks about another controversial problem and suggests an article about the subject. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once agan, since the article is hosted on their website blog, there are call to actions embedded in the page. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is also a short reminder about the offer at the bottom of the email (P.S. style). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span id=\"conclusion\">Conclusion<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>And that&#8217;s how the results were generated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As you can see, the strategy is rather simple. And that&#8217;s often what usually works (KISS &#8211; Keep It Simple, Stupid).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is however important to note that the structure, the messaging and the offer were all aligned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, for anyone that has a small email list, you at least know that it is possible to get positive results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Get at it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I wrote an automated email sequence email for a small local service business that started selling its services online. With only 47 email subscribers (a recently started email list), it produced the following results in the first week: 78.3% open rate on the first email 451.90$ in sales Conversion rate of 8.5% In this article,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":546,"href":"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions\/546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertableson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}