First, we are going to discuss an example of how to set up a series of messages for the new client that has just purchased your product. It is really pretty simple. On day one, a person buys your product or service. Although your sales system will usually send them something verifying their order, you want to at least send them another autoresponder message to welcome them and maybe let them know that you will be sending them some information to them get the most out of their purchase. That is day one.
On day three, you will send your first tutorial. That first bit of information needs to get to them after they've had a glance at it, but before they set it aside and forget about it. Then you will send additional tutorials on days three, six, nine, twelve and fourteen. That makes a total of six follow-up messages. Do not talk about other products or services. That is the key here. Only talk about what they originally purchased. If you try to offer them another product or service in these first six messages, you will screw everything up. So don't.
Next, you need to slow down the pace of your follow-ups. See, at first, frequent messages are okay because you are teaching them how to the product. We don't want to push so much information at them that they don't have time to assimilate it, so wait a week to send them the next tutorial and send them once a week for four weeks. That is an additional four, so after six weeks time, you have sent them a total of ten messages.
On that seventh message, after the initial two week period, you can introduce something to them. After all, you've earned the right. Remember that everything you do in marketing, you have to earn the right before you can move to the next step. You have to earn this right by providing value and service to your client before you are allowed to sell them something else.
So add an advertisement. Don't make it a blatant ad, but give them some techniques on how to use the product again and then at the end, give them a Columbo close. If you've ever watched Columbo on TV, you've noticed that when he gets to the door, he suddenly stops, turns around and says, "Excuse me". He then asks the suspect a compromising question while the person's guard is down, and they admit something before they have a chance to think about it.
You've not out to trick your customer, but to want to present it so it doesn't sound like a sales pitch. So you might say something like, "Oh, by the way, I just ran across a great deal I worked out with The Internet Marketing Center on their Skills for Success Series. What you need to do is go to this web site and take a look. Check it out if you're interested. Thanks again and have a great day."
It's not really a blatant pitch. It's more like, "I forgot about this." Remember that you are writing these messages as if you were having a conversation with someone at your home. Or consider you are talking to someone on the phone and just as you are about to hang up, you forgot there was something that you forgot to mention to them.
For the next thirty days, send them every other week, bringing you up to a total of twelve messages. After that, start following up with them once a month for the next ten months. You have now sent your messages for a full year, which covers the entire spectrum of consumer types.
Let's recap our example:
- The initial message goes out after they've purchased or subscribed to your list (1)
- Then you are going to follow up with them every third day for the first fourteen days (5)
- Then you are going to follow up with them once a week for four weeks (4)
- Then you are going to follow up with them every other week for a month (2)
- Finally, you will follow up with them once a month for the remainder of the year (10)