One of the first things that “make-money-online” newbies learn is that if you’re interested in affiliate marketing, you shouldn’t let a customer go without saying goodbye. That is, without trying to sell to them again… and again. Having an opt-in list on your blog will make you accomplish just that: visitors who like what they read on your blog will willingly give you their contact details, they will put their trust in you allowing you to send them – well, pretty much everything you want.
So you’ve decided to give it a try and started with your email marketing. Any sales yet? Let’s take a look at a few of the possible reasons your campaign isn’t working the way it was supposed to.
Reason 1 – Your list isn’t big enough
Never stop trying to get more people to sign up. If your blog is new, having a small list is understandable, but if you’ve been around for a while, it’s time to come up with a strategy to grow your list.
First, take a closer look at your opt in form. If it has just “enter your contact details to subscribe to our newsletter”, that’s not good. Let people know what’s in it for them. Why would they subscribe? Tell them that being on your list will give them the opportunity to access your exclusive content, that they will receive special discounts etc – but make sure that you deliver. Sometimes giving really valuable content in exchange for their email address will also do the trick.
Second, use all other available resources to market your newsletter. If you have a large following on Facebook or Twitter, start announcing there the exclusive content that those who are on your list will receive by the end of the day. Also, make sure that you add calls to action at the end of your blog posts. So often overlooked, and yet so effective!
Reason 2 – You’re pushing too hard without adding value
Normally, people will subscribe to your list expecting to receive a promotion offer every once in a while, but all the time? There are other ways that they can shop, you know; and unless they are extremely willing to help you and only you by buying whatever you have to offer – you don’t really think that you’d be so lucky, do you? – Don’t do that.
They liked your writing and your ideas once, that doesn’t mean that it will last forever. If you’re not providing them with anything valuable just for them, they will leave. They can read your blog without being exposed to sales letters all the time.
Make them think of you as a friend, a helper. Make them believe it when you say that this product is worth their money. If it comes from a salesman, they will not believe it.
Reason 3 – They lost their interest
It happens, and it’s not your fault. If you have people on your list for longer than a few months, it is quite possible that some of them have lost interest in whatever your blog is about: their dog died so they won’t be able to train it anymore, they got married and don’t need advice on how to find a perfect someone, they got a full time job and they abandoned their blog, so they don’t need tips on how to get more traffic… These things happen.
If these people unsubscribe from your list, that’s OK, no harm done. If they don’t, you’ve got a bit of a problem on your hands, because they don’t open your emails anymore. Did you know that all (good) auto-responder services track the performance of your emails in order to prevent spam? If they spot that your emails have low opening rate or that many of them go straight to spam/trash, you’re marked, and that’s not good.
To prevent this from happening, analyze your list members from time to time, and where you see the low opening rate, send them an email to ask them if they’d like to receive more emails from you. It’s very important to keep your list clean.
Some of these things you can’t control, but for the others – how many offline businesses do you know that could make a direct influence on their earnings for such a low cost? It will only take you some time to think about the strategy to implement, and to take action.
Check out our previous articles:
- Top 10 Tips for Building a Strong Online Community
- How to Write Hard Hitting Headlines That Work
- The History of Ghostwriting
- Drive Traffic and Build Links with Google News
- Should You Self-Publish Your Book?
We hope you enjoyed this article! Please don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS-feed or follow Inspirationfeed on Twitter, Google+, and Facebook! If you enjoyed the following article we humbly ask you to comment, and help us spread the word!
