So you’ve developed a great strategy for getting subscribers to join your mailing list. Yay! You’re on your way to building a loyal following and making sales.
But there’s an important step in between.
Nurturing.
For network marketers, nurturing prospects means taking them from just being interested in your brand and offer through to conversion and sales, and finally, to the status of loyal customers and fans.
You can do that by delivering emails to your list that addresses issues, educates them on their pain points, and gives them value. And of course, it creates an opportunity for conversion for your products or services that will help them as well.
It’s not surprising at all that many marketers put prospect nurturing and generation at the very top of their objectives, according to Wordstream, and that 61% agree that taking care of leads is one of their top challenges.
Here’s how you simplify it so you can start nurturing your list right now!
First, you must understand what YOUR goal is
What do you actually want your audience to do? Conversion doesn’t necessarily mean a sale right away. A conversion is simply a term for all the actions you want your leads to do. Even that first step – subscribing to your emails – counts as a conversion, since they are no longer just website visitors or the public.
Other conversion points include joining your social group, following you on social media, purchasing a package or products, joining your team and so on. Basically, they convert every time they move from one stage in their buyer’s journey to the next.
Make it super easy and obvious what you want your subscribers to do. Have a prominent CTA (call-to-action) in each email, and make sure it communicates clearly what their next step should be.
Your nurture strategy doesn’t exist in a vacuum – it must be tied in with your pipeline, its checkpoints and milestones, and be in sync with the buyer’s journey. For a successful nurture strategy that leads to conversion, you’ll need to focus on the following points:
Remember that nurturing is NOT about sales
If your nurture strategy is aggressive and only about getting sales, you won’t succeed. Nurture is about getting people interested in your brand first – without it, they have no reason to buy from you over any other network marketer. It’s how you stand out!
Network marketing is very competitive, and many other marketers offer the same products and services as you do, so you need to foster loyalty to your personal brand, not just the products and services of the brand you represent. Otherwise, they will just find someone else.
Your subscribers must get familiar with your personal brand voice, values, and goals if you want to build a real connection with them!
Consistency
Have a schedule for when you will be sending emails to your audience and how often you’ll do it. A consistent schedule means they know when they can expect to hear from you, so they are more likely to actually read your email.
Just make sure you not being spammy because they will feel like you’re suffocating them. If you spam them each day, there’s a high risk they will find you too pushy and they’ll just drop out of the your pipeline on the spot.
Sending emails once or twice a week for nurturing is more than enough. It gives your audience time to read the email, digest it, and form an opinion on what you’ve said. Then, when you send a follow-up email, they will be ready for it.
Value, value, and more value
Always make sure to give something in your emails – a recent experience or a cool video, something that helps them (and relates to your products/services). In short, you need to give them value.
No amount of leads will boost your conversion or sales if the contents of your email aren’t interesting or useful to them.
Think of your emails as a starter or appetizer to your paid products or services. If what you’re offering for free is valuable, they are going to want to get in on the paid action and will trust that your paid offering is worth it.
Three ways you can nurture your audience right now
Have your email list set up and want to start nurturing your audience immediately? Here are three quick ways you can start right away.
#1 Send out something educational with no promotion
Your end goal might be sales and repeat customers, but your nurturing emails don’t have to be all about your products and services.
Instead, go for the educational factor and share a guide or even a video tutorial that will help readers learn a new skill. This is especially useful if you’re in the beauty and health industry, where you can show them how to use products instead of focusing on why they should use them.
Tips and tricks go a long way and are more likely to be shared, so if you have a unique way of doing things, create a graphic (with your logo) and invite them to share it on social media and tag you! Build that engagement.
#2 A little humor goes a long way
If you can make your subscribers laugh and feel good, you’ve already won. A funny or cute video or image included as part of your email can make all the difference. After all, the news and other content that they will be shown will probably be doom and gloom, so be their ray of sunshine and you’ll draw them in for more.
You can also capitalize on current trends! Just make sure it’s the right kind of funny for your audience and your own branding.
#3 Use triggers to personalize
When you get a new subscriber and they download a freebie you offered for their subscription, you can follow up with an email that relates to that specific action. For example, you can send an in-depth guide that relates to your freebie, or some tips and tricks on how to make the most of it!
These personal triggers can help you draw that personal connection because you’re speaking directly to them and what they have just done. It’s a lot less generic.
Nurturing your audience is tricky, but ultimately it can pay off massively! Get your nurture sequence right and you’ll be able to automate the process of subscriber acquisition to sales easy peasy!
Ready to get started? Download my free “Email Follow-Up Planner” below to map out your nurture sequence today!
