[S] Email Persuasion - Ian Brodie

Introduction
About the author
Ian Brodie
Ranked among "Top 50 Global Thought Leaders in
Marketing and Sales"
By Top Sales World Magazine
Ranked among "Top 25 Global Influencers in Sales and
Management"
By OpenView Labs

Why this book?

How to grow your business using Email Marketing
How to do Email Marketing the right way

Ideal Client Persona

What
Ideal client persona
An in-depth analysis of a target customer's
Key characteristics
Demographics
Interests
Goals
Issues
Developing a detailed client persona
Helps you understand your ideal clients
Important for effective email marketing

How
Create an Ideal Client Persona
Review your current client base
Which
Clients would you like to have?
Clients do you want more of?
Kind do you have the most experience with?
Clients do you cater best to?
When you start email marketing
Focus on 1 persona
Gather and document
All information about that persona
 Add the rest later
Customer Insight Mapping
A process for
Getting information about your clients
Organizing it
So that you can extract actionable insights
Customer Insight mapping from www.ianbrodie.com
"Start by entering the conversation already going on in your
prospect's mind."- John Caples
Start with topics that interest them
Their goals
Their aspirations
Their challenges
Don't start from
What you have
Or
What you want to share

Why
The power of personas
Personas help in
Motivating potential customers to sign up for emails
Identifying products/services that should be promoted and
how
Imagine
Personas = Archery Target
The persona you create = Bull's eye
Clients = Scattered around the target in inner/outer
circles
Share common attributes with the persona you created
Emails written for an ideal client persona= Aiming for the
target/bull's eye
If you hit
Message is conveyed clearly
To the target audience
To others who have something in common
Better than shooting randomly in the air
When you aim for an ideal client persona
Your emails become specific and effective
Don't send out generic emails
Trying to appeal to as many as possible
 Action items
Identify
Your client's
Problems
Challenges
Goals
Aspirations
To understand what they need to know about you
To hire you
Summarize these factors
To shape your offer for getting subscribers

Grow your email List -> Using Lead Magnets

What is a Lead magnet?
An Incentive
Attracts qualified leads
Helps in beginning a relationship
Builds trust
By giving them something valuable
Offering quick solution to a problem faced by the client
Free report
Free video
Free audio
Example
In order to get the Free Video/Report/Audio
Prospect gives their email address
And becomes a Lead

How?
4 Keys to a good lead magnet
Focus on immediate value
Based on the client's needs
Don't make it too long
People won't consume it
Because of the time it takes to be read
Loses credibility
"If I can't manage to read this, no point in buying
whatsoever."
Use Relevant topics for lead magnet
Analyse your customer insight map
List your clients' 10 recent problems
List the ONE common problem
 List the "1st speed bump" your clients face
When trying to achieve their goals
Think of the root cause of these issues
The 1st speed bump
Focuses on the clients' initial issues
Many people get stuck at the 1st bump
When you give confidence to overcome this stage
They readily engage with you later
Example: 2000 Books
Meditation
Simple 5 minute guided Meditation Audio
That anyone can download
And start using right away

Write emails that engage and persuade

Why?
Email subscribers engage with you
When they trust you
Believe in the value of what you do
It is important to get your subscribers used to taking action
Whenever an email is sent out
Higher interaction =
Higher perception of value=
Higher chances of them willingly doing things for you

How?
Establish your character
Successful email marketers
Have a defined character
A personality that is seen in their emails
Example: Drayton Bird
"The man who knew more about direct marketing than
anyone else in the world."
- David Ogilvy
His emails were
Angry
Funny
Full of wisdom
Based on the years of experience
Differentiate yourself from the rest
By adopting a distinct character
When you are more memorable
 Your strengths are noted
What is your email character?
List out
Your key strengths
Examples and stories
When you build an email character as a real human being
And not a corporate or marketing connection
You stand out
Are likable
And make an impact
Write Conversationally
Like you are speaking
Or chatting
Keep the tone informal
Conversational
NOT
Formal
Like a lecture
Technical
Full of jargon
To establish a friendly and advisory relationship
Look and feel of emails
Simple
A style that your character would genuinely send
Study by marketingexperiments.com
Click through rates are 34% lesser for emails
With a lot of graphics
Look like emails from sellers
We automatically avoid them
Than emails with plain text
Click through rates are 55% higher for emails
That are lightly formatted
Look like they are from people we trust
Than plain text
Content in your emails
A story that illustrates your point
Not just topics
A story that uses an analogy
Allowing the reader to draw own conclusions
More powerful
Than giving out details
Simple
Not complex
 Like
Mentioning a person's name
Stating their questions
Impact on the business
The right mix
Information and engagement emails
To get subscribers to act
Sales emails
To promote products/services
Inspirational emails
To share case study or thoughts
Makes readers
Confident
Self believers
Ask for action
Initially
Ask readers to do simple things
Explaining benefits
For them
For You
Example
A short survey on a specific topic
To help you create training material
Request for feedback
"I am working on a book this weekend, I'm thinking of
making the title this.., I'm thinking of covering these
topics..."
Request them to connect with you via
LinkedIn
Facebook
These small steps
Help in creating a 2 way relationship
A powerful strategy
Ask your readers to reply to an email
Example
MindValley
Sends new subscribers an email
With a download link for the lead magnet
And asks them to hit "Yes"
If they have downloaded it
Allows instant interaction
Creates an opportunity to start a conversation with
them
 AIDA formula for Email Structure
A=Attention
Grab the attention of your potential reader
So that they read your email
I=Interest
Get them interested enough
By focusing on the benefits
To stick till the end
Use the curiosity angle
Give a dramatic opening
"I'd just made the biggest business mistake of my life and
was faced with a stark choice:
Either soldier on and hope that sales would recover
Or give up, take a huge hit and start again"
D=Desire
Goal in advertising
Build desire
By highlighting your product benefits
In your email
Don't focus on sales
Fulfill your initial promise
Tell the story
Share useful information
Introduce new ideas
A=Action
Encourage your readers to take action
Ask them to take small actions first

Get your emails opened

Why
More emails opened by your subscribers
More chances of your email
Being read
Being replied to
Links being clicked
Staying out of spam
Gmail and Hotmail
Use community based metrics
The engagement level of 1 subscriber
Impacts the future of your emails sent to other subscribers
How
Clearly state the email frequency
Sets subscribers' expectations
Deliver great insights using lead magnets
Your initial emails will create the foundation to your
relationship
Hit the spot
Share useful content
Send entertaining material
Create intrigue in 1st few lines
Many email browsers show
The subject line
And the 1st line of your email
Making the 1st line very important
As you are providing a sneak peek into what to expect
Get them to take action
Responding to your emails
Asking you a question
Completing a survey
Sharing it on social media
Sender reputation
An email from a loved one is always opened
Valuable
Worth your time
Try to get that reputation
By delivering great value in the 1st few emails
Double opt-in vs single opt-in
Double = safer
Single = zero spam reports
Create Engagement
When your subscribers
Actually open and read your email
(Happens if your content is fun)
Then they will move it out of their promotional tab
Keeping you out of greymail or spam
Clean your list
Important Community Metric
If you have a large number of subscribers who do not open
your email
Remove them from your list
After giving them a few reminders
So that you have a higher % of action takers
According to Dubbels
 Ontraport users have found that when they cleaned up
their lists
Got a higher open and click %
Got a higher number of actual
Opens
Clicks
Sales
Keep your email lists clean
Deliver useful and entertaining content
Encourage subscribers to interact with you by
Clicking
Replying

Email Subject Lines

I=B+C
Interest=Benefits+Curiosity
Copywriter Gary Bencivenga's formula to write headlines
People
Open emails
When it promises something useful
They skip it
If they already know what's in the email
Examples
"How I increased email signups by 51%?"
Benefits=get more email signups
Curiosity=What did he do to get such a big increase?
How to add curiosity to the subject line?
Quantify
The Top 3 reasons you are losing sales
Evoke emotions
7 ways big corporates try to stop you succeeding
Link it to the unexpected
What Jeremy Clarkson taught me about marketing
Hook on to the news and current affairs
How to achieve Olympic performance in your organization
Use the name of an expert in your field
David Ogilvy's best performing adverts
Admit your mistakes
My Worst sales meeting ever
The 5 headline models
The How to Model
How to <achieve benefit>
 How to <achieve benefit> even if <common barrier>
How to <achieve benefit> in less than <time period>
The Surprising Link Model
What I learned about <topic> from <surprising person>
The List Model
<number> ways to <do something useful>
The top <number> reasons you're <something bad>
The Secrets Model
<number> secret ways to <do something good>
What your <person in authority> doesn't want you to know
about <something in their field>
The Questions Model
What would happen if you <big achievement/change>?
Has <problem> ever happened to you?