How much follow-up is too much follow-up?
Guest post from Joseph Manna from Infusionsoft
For some marketers, they roll with a limitless approach to follow up with customer and prospective interest. Others, it’s like pulling teeth to follow up to their subscribers’ needs. Nearly all business owners question if they are sending too much (or too few) marketing pieces to their subscribers.
The answer depends on how complex the product/service is and how much assistance your subscribers need to understand the subject. It also very much depends on the expectations you initially set.
One marketer I know runs a business that sells info on attracting women (Venusian Arts, pickup artists, etc… you get the idea). While on one hand, it would seem that he should limit his tips to Friday and Saturdays for his audience to read and apply. On the other hand, people have opted in for “daily” tips. Yes, that means 30 emails a month or 365 emails a year. Seems like a lot, but when you’re a pickup artist, you’re a wealth of knowledge and learning one nugget at a time is easy.
The lesson here is to set the expectation for success and live by it. His tens of thousands of subscribers do. Oh, and I should add he observes very few spam complaints as a result of reinforcing the expectations of a daily email (and delivering on it).
Now, selling information is slightly different than marketing your business for people to learn about your products and services. Remember that not every email should be pitching people to buy. It lends belief that you’re not being genuine and helpful and are merely trying to bait them.
No one wants to feel baited into something. So what’s a marketer to do?
Give people straight facts, help and guidance about not only your products, but also your industry. Treat your subscribers like a family member who wants to know about your products and you’re interested in educating them about making the right decision. Monthly tips are nice, weekly tips are good, but timing doesn’t matter as long as you’re giving them valuable information. Overwhelming them too much messaging is a turn off. Not being prepared with helpful information is equally as unpleasant.
I suggest you make it clear you have a product or service you sell in your follow-up marketing. This can be done as a secondary or tertiary headline with a soft call to action. Again, the goal is not to sell, but inform. It’s about being helpful and earning the trust of subscribers so they choose to buy when they’re ready to buy, not when you’re ready to sell.
To answer the question of how much follow-up is too much … it’s not about the volume; it’s about the relevance and expectations set when they sign up for your list. Manage list fatigue by periodically checking in to confirm their interest in your marketing list. Not only will they “re-subscribe,” they will respect you because you respect them.
JOSEPH MANNA
Small Business Growth Expert – Infusionsoft
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