37 | Email Alchemy: Turning Interest into Income with Nurture Sequences

What if you could transform curious browsers into lifelong customers with just a few strategic emails? Today, we unravel the mystery of nurture sequences in marketing. Join me on the Annoyingly Optimistic Show, Season 2, as I send a heartfelt voicemail to my friend Tim, who's hitting a rough patch in his small business. In this episode, you'll discover the power of nurture sequences and how they can revolutionize your marketing efforts by guiding potential customers through their decision-making journey with ease.

Starting with the basics, I break down the concept of nurture sequences, debunking any myths and making it accessible for newbies and veterans alike. You'll learn how to identify the initial intent of your audience and craft a series of communications that build trust and lead them to purchase. This isn't just about dry strategies; it's about connecting authentically with your audience and transforming those fleeting interests into solid sales. So, if you're ready to take your marketing to the next level, grab a cup of coffee, and let's get started!

If you are self-employed or run a small business and feel more like you're self-annoyed then get in touch, visit the website www.theannoyinglyoptimisticshow.com where you can submit a question or problem and start your journey to becoming self-enjoyed! 

The majority of 'business advice' out there isn't aimed at self-employed or micro businesses, following it leaves you frustrated and chasing quick fixes. I specialise in tools, systems, techniques, inspiration and help specifically designed for YOU, the person who has to do it all, who doesn't have a team of people, unlimited resources or the time to spend months learning complicated techniques. 

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:00

Hey there, listeners, it's your annoyingly optimistic host here bringing you another season of the Annoyingly Optimistic Show. Welcome to Season 2, voicemails to Tim. Now let's meet Tim. He's been running his own small business for almost three years now and let's just say he's hit a bit of a rough patch. You know how it is Sometimes you get so stuck, you make yourself busy and just avoid finding the real problems. Well, that's Tim. So, as a good friend, I decide to leave him a daily voicemail, if I can't get hold of him, filled with nuggets of inspiration, insight and wisdom and downright brilliant ideas to help get him unstuck Every day. In just under 10 minutes I'll share some tips, tricks and a healthy dose of optimism to get Tim, and maybe even you, back on track, because, let's face it, we're all a little tired, in need of help and muddling through. So here we go. Oh wait, never mind Tim's being busy. Here's the voicemail I left him today. Hi, tim, hope you're well.

Speaker 1 1:01

Quick one for you, because this comes under the category of sounding like some kind of voodoo. You know marketing weirdness, that people kind of voodoo. You know marketing weirdness that people kind of avoid nurture sequences. Now I know we haven't touched a lot on kind of email, which is why I thought, oh, I'll just kind of throw this one in your direction of something to kind of look at. So, at its core, nurture sequences and they've become this kind of buzzword. But if we take it right back and again, lots of books and amazing insight onto this.

Speaker 1 1:29

But essentially everything we do in businesses is a transaction, and what I mean by that is that we have a product, a service, and somebody else has a need for that product or service, and we exchange what we have, which is the product or the service, for what they have, which is what we want, which is money, and a transaction happens. Now, any transaction, anything at all, whether it's free, whether it's expensive, whether it's buying a sandwich from a shop, whether it's buying a new from a shop, whether it's buying a new car or a new computer or a holiday, there are a number of steps that we go through in order to make that decision, and head and heart play a factor in those, and different people respond to different things and they respond differently to those. So what that tells us is that we have to get together a certain amount of information across to a potential customer in order for them to be able to make an informed decision. One of the triggers was informing their decision so that they can build up enough of that know, like and trust so that they can then you know part with their cash and we get a sale. So what the nurture sequence is is basically just a way of breaking that down into a sequence of communications. That's all it is, and.

Speaker 1 3:03

But what it's designed to do is that in at the start of a nurture sequence, you've got someone who has shown some interest in your product. They have signed up for a newsletter, a discount, um, something you're offering on your website, um, you know. So some way they've gone, I am. In some way they've signified their intent that this could be something that they're interested in purchasing. Now at that point that that low level of intent it could be because it's a year off purchase. It could be a six month purchase. It could be just that they're researching. It could be that they're just price checking. It could be that they're getting some information together because they've got to talk to someone else about it. There's a whole host of different reasons and different things that can have prompted that initial signing up, and that's fine. That's based on what your lead magnet is, what's on your website and what the likelihood is, but there is an intent.

Speaker 1 4:08

Now what we need to do is we need to move them from browser to buyer Again another kind of buzzword but basically we need to communicate with them over a number of emails or a sequence of emails, the value and what we offer, hopefully taking them further along the line so they get to the point where they want to then make a make, a purchase. It is as simple as that. Now, there's a lot of stuff packed in that, and I'm going to go through the main elements that you're looking to overcome the objections for and things like that, because that's what it's about and what we're trying to do from. This email sequence is basically one of three things we want them to buy, we want them to carry on getting the emails or we want them to unsubscribe. We don't actually care which one of those three. If they buy now brilliant. They'll be out of the nurture sequence. If they don't buy and they're happy to keep getting the nurture sequence, they're going to keep getting nurtured until they hopefully buy. Or if they go oh, I don't really want this, unsubscribe brilliant. So any of those three results is fantastic, so don't worry about the number. Oh, I want more people in my list. Someone in your list which is never going to buy from you is not worth anything. It's better to get them to unsubscribe um, not by being mean or pummeling them or spam or anything like that but they're only worth something to you if they're going to become a potential customer. So, in no particular order, there are specifics, but without getting really, really um in depth, with kind of nurture sequences.

Speaker 1 5:50

The kind of things you're trying to do are as follows you're trying to say social proof, so show that other people like buying your product or service. Show that in the email. Show um quotes from people and things like that, because some people need social proof. So you're going hey, look, other people like this, look at what they said, do you want to buy? Now? And that's one of the key things, it's the call to action. Every time we send one of these sequence emails, we're essentially saying here is something that you that might be stopping you from buying. You're not going to use these words. So I'm going to give you the evidence, the proof, to basically overcome that objection or overcome that sticking point. And if I've done that correctly and this was your sticking point then I'm clearly going to say buy now, because that's the next logical step. So one is social proof, one is empathy and authority, which can be hand in hand with social proof. But showing that you're award winning or have been doing it for a number of years, show some of your personal story about why you do this. Because some people need to connect at that level and if they kind of riddle through that buy now.

Speaker 1 7:00

Some people need to know price. So you talk about the prices, prices through that buy now. Some people need to know price. So you talk about the prices, prices from buy now. Some people need to know the sequence, the plan, the steps that happen between if they decide they're going to go for a purchase, what happens next and things like that. So they need to know the plan. Show them the plan, buy now. And you see each one of these. It is overcoming that objection. Have you not bought yet because of price? Okay, here's the price. Okay, that wasn't it. Is it social proof? Oh, no, that wasn't. It was it because you need to know a bit more about me and the company. No, it wasn't that. Some people. You need to re-emphasize the problem and the solution that you offer. Is that what it was? No, it wasn that. Some people need to know the plan, some people need to know everything the explanatory paragraph, all the elements that your business kind of sums up the way it works, and things like that because they need lots of information. So there's the different triggers that people need and your nurture sequence just goes through those triggers. Now again, there's lots different triggers that people need and your nurture sequence just goes through those triggers. Now again, there's lots of different ways of doing it in terms of the order and in terms of things like that and how you achieve these.

Speaker 1 8:11

But you're always trying to put across to someone. Here's what I do. Again, just in case you've forgotten who I am. Here's something that might be stopping you from buying. Here's my now buy, my buy now button.

Speaker 1 8:24

Now, going back to what I said at the beginning, if you are being consistent with that, if you go through all the elements, that's stopping them. Um, so you've showed them about price. They still haven't bought. You've told them about you, you've got social proof, you've done the plan, you've done all the elements, and they still haven't bought. Then there are a couple of elements in there. If they don't unsubscribe and they stay on your list, then it means they are still interested. But it could be a not right now, it could be a can't afford it right now. It could be this is brilliant, but I need to speak someone else again. It's back to those factors that stopped them, which are outside of your control.

Speaker 1 9:04

Now again on price. You can say, hey, we do payment plans because that might overcome that. You might say, oh, we've got a deal now, you know, buy a voucher and you can use this for the next six months and save the money. So there are always ways to kind of try and limit those if you think it's things like price. But sometimes it's just not the right time and those are the people that might sit on your mailing list and not unsubscribe. So, keeping that nurture sequence going in different ways and putting them on to a secondary nurture sequence if they've had the primary one, it's still always going to come across the same elements because you're still trying to make them they're interested. You're still trying to get them to make a decision and to then click on that buy now button.

Speaker 1 9:46

So nurture sequences yes, there's lots of black magic, dark arts, or at least some people would have you believe there was. But basically it's about a one-to-one interaction between you and a potential customer, and one of the best ways to put these together and to understand these is when you're talking to a potential customer, what are the things that swing them? When you're talking to them and you're explaining what you do, what are the questions they've got? Because those questions, those answers, those things in one-to-one interactions that make people go, oh, do you know what? Right, let's book this. That's what you want in your nurture sequence, because if you look back at those, it would be a specific objection, a specific question, a specific pain point that you cover when you speak to them one-to-one. That makes them go. Yep, okay, brilliant, that's fantastic. That's just what I wanted to know. Now the chances are that's what's holding other people back. So your nurture sequence is literally just taking your experience, your knowledge of what the customers want, what stops them, and putting that together in a beautiful little sequence that can do that work for you 24, 7, 365 days a year, when when people hit your mailing list from your website in the first place. So it's just there to basically warm them up, to nurture them until the point they want to make a decision. So very, very brief cover of that, but I think it's something that we need to look at further and hopefully that kind of gets the brain going and we can chat about nurture sequences again soon. But they're not as scary as people actually think, so hope that helps, tim. I'll speak to you soon.

Speaker 1 11:20

Bye for now, and that's it for today's episode of voicemails to Tim on the Annoyingly Optimistic Show. Now remember, tim might be busy, but we're all in this together. Whether you're tired, in need of help or just muddling through, tim is here for you, because, well, tim is you. Yes, you heard that right. Tim isn't just my friend, he's a reflection of all of us who are struggling to make it work. T-i-m stands for tired, in need of help and muddling through. So if you're feeling like a Tim, you're not alone For all those ambitious listeners. If you've got a burning business question, a quirky thought or just want to see if you can leave an even weirder voicemail, head over to the website voicemailstotimcom, submit your question and maybe, just maybe, you'll hear your idea in a future voicemail to Tim. So until then, stay annoyingly optimistic, keep pushing forward and remember if life gives you lemons. Leave a voicemail about it.