Broadcast messages are those messages that you can send to your list from your autoresponder that are not pre-scheduled. Usually you use an autoresponder to send out a series of time-released emails. But you can also use your autoresponder to contact your list for any announcements such as an upcoming webinar, a special sale, to alert them to a new blog post or to share information.
There are two schools of thought (at least) on broadcast messages. Some people think you should send out an email to your list every day, some people think you should send to your list twice a day. Frankly, I have a life and I am going to assume that the people on my mailing list all have lives too. I noticed recently that a person who was one of the biggest proponents of sending to your list at least twice a day has now backed down to sending only about four times a week. I find him less obnoxious now.
Here’s the thing: Very few of us have something fascinating to say EVERY day. Even me. (I know!! Can you believe it?) If people have signed up for a 7 or 21 day (or 30 day) course from you, then yes, they are expecting to hear from you and if your content is good, they are looking forward to it. But sending an email every day for the sake of sending an email is going to result in lousy content and a burned out list.
This is my personal philosophy, you can take it or leave it. I think contacting your list three times a week is optimal. It puts you in front of them often enough so they know who you are without making them tired of seeing you. Depending on how busy your life is, you may only contact them once or twice a week. On the reverse side, I have found that contacting your list only once a month is not nearly enough to hold people’s interest or have them remember you.
Now, you can cheat a bit. In one of my businesses, we have a number of real estate sites. We do a Tip of the Week opt-in on most of them so that one broadcast message a week goes out to the three separate lists. You can do the same with a quote of the day or week, send outs of healthy recipes or anything else where you can use a more generic style message just to keep in front of people. But I would advise that you augment that with at least one message a week that addresses each list’s interests specifically.
I like to alternate content emails with sales emails. If you are hitting your list with a different sales pitch three times a week, they are going to stop opening your emails or unsubscribe. Even when you are selling something, you should make sure that there is some solid content in the message. People are pretty smart. If you are showing them something that is going to truly help them out and they can afford it, they will probably get it. They might need a little urging, but you don’t have to be obvious about it. Treat your list with respect and you’ll earn their respect and their business. |
