Your prospect goes through an internal process when making a purchasing decision. They’ll scour the market, searching for rates, reading testimonials, and making lists of the best options. Your service is a potential solution, so you need to guide your prospect through this journey, providing information that makes sense in this context.

Questions you need to answer in your welcome sequence

Your prospect has burning questions, and you’ve got to make sure you’re answering them. Remember that a welcome sequence needs to present your product or service as the BEST solution to their challenge. Here are some key points to consider:

1. What do you do?
2. Why do you do it?
3. How is this going to help me?

When crafting your welcome sequence, make sure you focus on the benefits rather than the features. Keep this saying in mind ‘People don’t buy the drill, they buy the hole’. Essentially, your audience doesn’t want your product/service just for the sake of having it. They want the results. So, when crafting your welcome sequence, make sure you show the fantastic results you can bring them.

Emotional touchpoints to cover

Showing your audience how you can help them is easy when you follow a structured approach. Here are some psychological bases to cover that ensure you communicate the value of your service.

1. Trust
   Build trust by including social proof – the number of customers who have tried your service, testimonials, and credentials – partnerships with credible institutions, certificates, and mentions in the press.
2. Objections
   What objections does your target audience usually have before engaging with your service? Brainstorm and make sure you overcome them throughout the email sequence.
3. Bonding
   Your welcome sequence isn’t just about selling. You need to provide value, too. Do this by giving tips, entertaining your audience, or giving them free resources.

How long should a welcome sequence be?

The length of your welcome sequence depends on a few things. Some email marketers say 3 emails are enough for certain niches, while others require 30. To figure out what works best for your audience, consider these two questions:

• How much explaining does your product/service need?
  Essentially, is it complicated? Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes and imagine them trying to understand your service. Technical services, or those that involve many intricate processes, require more time to explain. Naturally, your email sequence will be longer if this is the case. If your service is simple to understand, or your audience is already familiar with how it works, you can have a shorter sequence.
  To figure out the number, work out how many emails it takes for you to explain your service in a simple and engaging way, without overwhelming your prospect. This number will be the minimum amount of emails needed in the sequence.
• Does your audience need a lot of convincing?
  How expensive is your service? Are you on the lower end of the market or the upper end? High-ticket services often need more convincing, so a longer welcome series is preferred.

When deciding the length of your welcome series you need to think about how long you can keep the information valuable. The objective is to keep readers engaged, so if you can provide value across 20 emails, great. If you think you can get your point across and convince your audience in 5, stop there. Just make sure you aren’t stretching the sequence for the sake of it.

How to write brilliant copy for your welcome sequence

1. Speak directly to your audience’s pain points and dreams

Like with any great copy, the messaging in your welcome sequence needs to be laser-focused on your audience. Before writing anything, make sure you have your prospects’ challenges and desires nailed down. Once you have these, you can design the sequence so that it overcomes any pain points and presents your service as the solution to their desires.

2. Subject lines

Good subject lines mean your emails get great open rates. When crafting them, remember to combine benefits with curiosity. Your audience wants to know how this email will help THEM. You can also use personalisation tags like your prospect’s first name for an extra touch of personality.

Examples:

• Want to impress your clients
• A present for you, <first name>
• How I increased website bookings by 200%

3. Writing formulas

Ah, the classic writing formulas – PAS and AIDA. These two will help you structure your email copy in a way that connects and converts your prospects. To find out more about PAS click here, and for AIDA click here.

4. Call to Action

What do you want your readers to do after reading your email? Book a call? Visit your website? Whatever it may be, make sure you’re clear about it. Include call-to-action buttons throughout your email, and use these emotional touchpoints:

• Create curiosity
  Example: The secret behind all successful email marketing campaigns. Click here to find out.
• Agitate a pain point
  Example: Embarrassed about your website? I can help. Book a call today.
• Emphasise a benefit
  Example: Got a sleepy email list? Learn how to clean your list easily and effortlessly by grabbing the course today!

5. P.S.

The P.S. is the second most read line in an email, after the subject line. To make your message stand out visually, use your P.S. to:

• Recap your email
  use TL;DR
• Include a testimonial
  P.S. Here’s what Melissa had to say about the graphic design package…+Testimonial
• Hint at an upcoming email, get them excited about what’s to come.
  P.S. In tomorrow’s email I’ll be answering all of your deepest questions, keep your eyes peeled 👀

There are a few critical steps you must take before planning your sequence. Deciding on your audience, clarifying your services, and choosing your niche (if any) are fundamental to any great welcome series. To nail your offering, check out our course here.