Wednesday, I was procrastinating on FB to avoid dealing with the screaming baby scouting my feeds for interesting ideas to write about…
I came across a post from Muhammad Zain about a cold outreach strategy. Now, I don’t believe cold outreach is email marketing.
(two different beasts with vastly different approaches)
But Muhammad’s method was intriguing.
So, I left a question and forgot about it.
The next day…
I saw a reply from Muhammad, who answered my question.
As a decent human, I thanked him for his response and was ready to shut off my phone to start work. Then –
*DING*
A new notification + a msg
“I’m sending you some stuff rn,” commented Muhammad.
*slap my forehead*
“Damn, I’m gonna get bombarded with a dirty pitch,” I moaned.
Reluctantly, I opened up the msg and saw:
An example of his approach. Pitch-free. Just trying to help.
“Hmm… that’s refreshing.”
I replied.
He replied.
Before I noticed, I chatted with him for 20 minutes—like a pen pal. (don’t understand that reference? I’m not THAT old? 🤨)
Still…
No pitch.
No offer.
No selling.
Only Value + Connecting
This reminds me of something I heard from Lana Sova recently.
As a service provider, we are in the business of connecting. When you come in without the mindset of “having to sell something,” the world will respond with the same amount of goodwill. The selling will take care of itself.
Now, this is a good time to point out a costly mistake 95% of e-commerces make when emailing…
Most brands do not know what to say in their emails.
That’s why they retreat to only broadcasting when they have a deal/discount/offer.
They are doing the subscribers a favor in their eyes: “I don’t want to bother you if I don’t have a good deal.”
But if you look at it from the prospects’ pov:
“You only ever contact me when you want to stuff a promo down my throat. I know it’s going to be all salesy. I know there’s nothing worth reading… unless I’m looking for a discount right now. Why should I read your email at all?”
Then the owners scratch their heads, wondering…
Why does my open rate start out very high, and go downhill FAST, until the lead is dead?
This is why
The core of email marketing is simple.
It’s about building relationships. We are always in the business of connecting. Once the trust is there, you can pretty much follow any strategy, and it’ll work.
(this is also why funnel hacking a big guru never works—you don’t have the trust)
“If a good friend sends you an email you haven’t heard from in years. You’ll open that email, whereas if a stranger sends you an email, you’ll be weary.” – Alen Sultanic, NHB group
Cheering for you,
Wuyen