BEST OFFERS FOR EMAIL MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

What are the best offers for email marketing campaigns?  What are the best email offers for converting strangers to customers?

And speaking of strangers, note that this article focuses on offers to use when emailing a  “purchased email list” … not customer email lists.  A purchased email list will consist of prospects (strangers) … people that have never heard of your company.  The creative strategy for selling prospects is completely different than re-selling customers. In fact, when targeting prospects,  the best strategy is to buy customers .. not sell them.

With the right offer, a purchased email list can generate more NEW customers … at a lower acquisition cost … than any other ad medium! This bold statement is true if one simple rule is followed: Use the purchased email list for “buying new customers … not selling them!” This rule is paramount when considering that prospects on a purchased email list may have never heard of your company; thus, attempting to sell a stranger (at a profit) is a huge hill to climb. When following this rule, a purchased email list will provide a positive ROI “many” times beyond the cost of the purchased email list.

So exactly what does the phrase “buying new customers … not selling them” mean? In a nutshell, it means don’t try to make a profit on the first sale … be willing to break-even … or even willing to lose a few dollars on that first sale. The profit will come on future orders.  In fact, instead of selling, use the email campaign to start a conversation: example, share some insights - tips relating to product/service, recommend relevant articles or blogs, share customer reviews, stories and experiences. And remember the primary goal is to convince the prospect to CLICK, thus the prospect needs to CLICK to gain access to the insights, tips, articles, stories, etc.

Example, you’ll often see publishers offering a 6-month free magazine subscription. In this scenario the publisher is not selling … not making a profit … as there is no financial transaction. What the publisher is doing is acquiring a customer … buying a customer … with the hopes of converting the new acquisition into a long-term customer.

Most prospecting email campaigns fail because the creatives are focused exclusively on selling … selling by highlighting all the benefits of the product … all for the low price of X. It’s the same old selling pitch that people see every day … which is why many email recipients don’t click. What email recipients don’t see every day is an offer they can’t refuse.

Examples of offers they can’t refuse:
Email list of history readers: free 6-month subscription to history publication
Email list of avid golfers: free package of premium golf balls
Email list of health enthusiasts: free package of X supplement
Email list of horse owners: free supply of feed
Email list of fashionistas: Buy 1 – Get 1 Free
Email list of stock investors: Free Report of “Highly” Recommended Stocks for New Year
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This link shows an offer they can’t refuse. Nielsen had a “direct mail” campaign that included $2 in the envelope. In a nutshell, Nielsen is offering $20 cash to complete a shorty survey, and as a sign of sincerity … Nielsen gives $2 cash BEFORE the survey is even viewed. Nielsen easily achieved their survey completion quantity goal.

HUGE BENEFIT OF A CAN’T REFUSE OFFER: When a lead accepts the enticing can’t refuse offer, the marketer captures valuable contact data (name, postal address, AND email address) of a person that shares an interest in the product line. With this valuable contact info, the marketer now has the golden opportunity of building a long-term relationship. … resulting in multiple sales that will far exceed the initial acquisition cost … a point that takes us to the important next topic … LTV (Lifetime Value of a customer).

CAN’T AFFORD FREE OFFER? Can your company afford to present a “can’t refuse” offer? To answer this question, we recommend looking at LTV.

LTV: Knowing “Lifetime Value” of a customer is the financial lifeblood of virtually every successful organization. Simply put, LTV is the amount of money that a customer will generate over a lifetime. Example, if your average customer generates $1000 in profit during the average customer lifespan, then it makes sense to spend $100 in buying a customer … thus effectively generating $900 in LTV profit. Hence, the greater your LTV, then the better your offer can be. Click Here for more on this LTV topic.

HOW TO PRESENT THE CAN’T REFUSE OFFER

SUBJECT LINE: The subject line needs to highlight the offer they can’t refuse.

EMAIL CREATIVE: When the email message is opened, the email creative only has “seconds” to capture the reader’s attention, and for this reason it’s imperative that the first few words … big and bold … are about the offer they can’t refuse. These words will capture attention … informing that this email message is not the usual selling pitch … rather it’s something special.

LANDING PAGE: When the phenomenal offer entices email recipients to CLICK, it is best that the CLICK takes the email recipients to a custom landing page that Welcomes and Thanks the new visitors … and most importantly reiterates the offer they can’t refuse. This page should also remind your new customers to use their unique offer code when placing the order.

UNIQUE OFFER CODE: When trying to buy long-term customers with a “can’t refuse offer,” you’ll want to make sure that the phenomenal offer is only is used once. To achieve this task, you simply need to insert a unique Offer Code into the email … each email recipient will have their own unique Offer Code … a unique Offer Code that can only be used once. Unlike email marketing, other digital mediums (Facebook, Ad Words, etc.) don’t have an effective mechanism for preventing phenomenal offers being used more than once; this is another major reason for buying an email list for “new customer acquisitions.”

SIDE NOTE: Once a lead accepts the “can’t refuse offer,” the marketer will have First-Party email addresses … meaning these new email addresses can be uploaded to Constant-Contact, Mail-Chimp, and other prominent emailing blasting providers. However, after capturing this valuable contact info, don’t lose the new customers by quickly inundating them with emails and sales offers. Be patient – lots of time for recouping the acquisition cost and enjoying long-term profits.

Myths about buying email lists: Click Here
What’s a good email open rate? Click Here
Why buying a business email list is a good idea: Click Here
15 rules to follow when buying email lists: Click Here
Why you should avoid scraped business lists: Click Here