To make a blog successful, you need subscribers who are interested in your domain of expertise. Now, when a subscriber subscribes to your blog, he/she is obviously new to it. Similar to how a new employee is trained for a bit and introduced to the intricacies of his new company, you should slowly guide your new subscribers and give them a proper welcoming through an orientation programme. You need to devise a customized welcome programme for new subscribers and then you can gradually ease them into your regular subscriber programme.
Now, since your primary mode of communication with subscribers will be through exchange of e-mail, hence the very first thing that you should do to welcome your new subscribers is to shoot off a welcome email.
Double Opt-in
The entire process of luring prospective subscribers is not only limited to sending out emails without any thought. If you want to be successful at content marketing, you should employ the process of Double Opt-in. A double opt-in email will ensure that a subscriber himself/herself signed up for updates willingly and unless they click the confirmation link that they get immediately in their inbox, they will not be signed up for regular updates of your blog. Double opt-in ensures that:
Drip Marketing
Rather than engage your new subscribers through one single email, try establishing a not-so-overwhelming series of drip marketing emails to present your blog and your activities for their better understanding. You will be able to lay down the foundation of subscriber interest by slowly sending emails and graduating them to the regular subscriber list. At this point of time your relationship with your new subscriber is very tender and any bad move might result in failure on your part by losing a subscriber. By sending emails at intervals, you will be able to make sure that your subscriber is constantly reminded of your blog’s presence and its activities. You will be able to showcase your entire blog and ease them into a regular habit of checking it out, ultimately increasing traffic. Drip marketing emails will ensure that your prospective subscribers are kept well-informed about all sorts of updates from your end. This strategy is highly effective if executed perfectly.
Welcome Email
Welcome emails are the very first step of your orientation programme. Statistically speaking, over 75% of email subscribers expect a welcome email and there is a more chance of gaining a long-term subscriber just by shooting off that welcome email. In the end, it all comes down to striking the iron when it’s hot. Your welcome email should be as personalized as possible so that the subscriber can notice the effort that you have put into it for him/her. Why welcome emails become so important to a blog owner is that it has higher chances of being opened than similar mails originating from the same source.
However, you should also have a welcome e-mail strategy in mind. Since there are higher chances of the mail being opened and read by a new subscriber, you should think about possible methods to engage with him/her without coming off as bothersome. Some freebies or coupons, perhaps discounts and things in a similar vein always interests a subscriber. Your first impression will matter a lot and it is best to establish and present your blog in a presentable and engaging way in this email.
- Only interested subscribers will subscribe to your blog updates hence you’ll be engaging only prospective long-term subscribers.
- You will not end up in anyone’s spam because you have been given a clean sheet from the subscriber himself/herself by clicking on the confirmation link.
- What’s more, double opt-in confirmation is a statutory requirement in some countries to prevent spam. Opt for double opt-in if you have a global audience.
Once you have successfully gained the trust of a new subscriber, it is time to ease them into the regular subscriber list. But one thing that every email marketer should keep in mind is that time is of the essence. You should not bore your subscribers by over-extending the welcome period, you should shut it off at the right time before losing the subscriber. It’s easy to gain subscribers first but it is these marketing techniques that will turn a subscriber into a customer later.
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