There is no question that email marketing is an important part of every online business. Sadly, it’s also one of the most difficult forms of marketing to master. But a well-practiced followup email strategy can be the magic bullet that pushes you from inbox spam to sales. Here are some of the best followup tricks that everyone should try in their next email campaign. The goal of the followup email is show the customer how you can add more value to what they are currently using. Followup is a lot about psychology and timing. What's most important is that you do not come off as desperate or overly aggressive.

First Follow Up Email: why and how to send it

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The first follow up email needs to be about value. Find qualifiers for your product or service by researching similar products and services offered by both your competitors and your customers. Don't fall into the trap of hard selling, but also don't start with a soft sell. Focus on the value you offer and potential breakthroughs that would occur if the customer were to buy now or keep in touch to find out more. Remember no need for segmentation here as the content is different to a drip campaign. "To go deeper on one topic (justification material) like how it works same day delivery was an additional bonus"

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When to send your first follow up

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Your first followup email should be sent out within 24 hours of your users purchasing from you. Learning how to send the perfect follow-up email can take practice, but here’s a quick and dirty checklist that will make sure your emails get opened every time. Do not create time urgency unless you need to Topic expansion: If the objective of the follow up email is for them to take an action (eg. Book an appointment, purchase product etc), then at this point, invoke some type of time-sensitive offer or incentive for immediate action. Otherwise, let them know you will be getting back in touch at a specific place and time and leave it at that (if your objective is purely to inform). To ensure they got it and are not just sitting there facing their mailbox themselves wondering if they missed something, you can indicate in title/subject line that they opened up or read/viewed.

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What should your first follow up email contain

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Brevity is definitely the way to go when crafting your initial follow-up email, as people are more likely to click that little delete button if what you write is overly wordy or self-promoting. You can kick off your email with a friendly but direct greeting, or a question that opens up a dialogue between the product owner and the customer (one that will end in a purchase). Either way, you shouldn’t introduce yourself until after you’ve said something meaningful about the potential customer or their interests. This might mean asking questions directly related to whatever content your potential customer engaged with, or simply referring to it by title and asking for further details. Mentioning the other person’s name before you say anything else will help establish a personal connection between them and you, in turn showing them that they are receiving a specially tailored form of marketing rather than just another canned spam email.

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The follow up follow up: a.k.a. the reminder email

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Sometimes, you may have delivered a great first message to a subscriber that really gets them interested, but a few days pass, and they never make that all-important purchase. No matter how good your first email might have been, some subscribers just won’t respond. It’s important not to give up on these folks, however - you don't want to lose them as a potential customer. If you see that someone opened your email but didn’t click through to your website or make a purchase within two days, send a follow-up email with an ‘LOL' in the subject line (Lots Of Love). Studies show that the acronym ‘LOL' as an openers encourages people to open the email because of the clever play on words - you can use it to say “Look at this funny video” or “I love that shirt you’re wearing…” Not only that, there are behavioural reasons why sending a ‘LOL' is effective: We all lead busy lives and this reminder email is ridiculously effective at getting people to revisit your content. We all hate spam and when we see ‘LOL' we assume it's another irrelevant solicitation. So why would this one be any different? Because we're human beings and we look out for those we care about. When you send out an initial email blast, be sure to offer at least one free incentive in exchange for their response –