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The Top 4 Mistakes Made When Emailing 3rd Party Opt-Ins

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top 4 email mistakesNew to emailing third party leads? It’s easy to fall into the trap of assuming that your usual email campaign strategies will be just as effective in converting this type of opt-in. However, in order to execute a successful email campaign, third party leads will need some special treatment. The first thing to steer clear of is low quality, but once you’ve found a publisher with the right targeting and treatment for your offer, what’s the next step? Here are the four most common mistakes made when emailing new third party leads, and how to avoid them!

1. Treating Third Party Leads Like Organic Leads

The way you contact a lead for the first time should be influenced by where a user opted in. Immediately entering third party leads and organic leads into the same email lifecycle is a recipe for disaster.

Since organic leads have opted in on your site, you can assume that they already know a bit about your brand and the type of messaging they’ll receive. Your aim in sending email to organic leads should be to maintain that established trust.

Third party leads have opted in to receive information from you on another company’s site and may not have any prior knowledge of your brand. Often times, these users have never even visited your website. In order for third party leads to convert as successfully as organic leads, you must first create brand awareness and set expectations. To do this, start by entering them into a separate funnel from organic opt-ins. Cultivating these leads will take some additional time and email, but by the end of the process, their value will be equal to that of an organic lead.

So how should you ready third party leads for your organic lead funnel? The first step is to educate new users about your brand and get them to your site. By accomplishing this in your welcome message, you’ll keep a lead interested in receiving future emails. Your welcome email should thank users for signing up; introduce who you are, what you do, and how you do it; and use a strong call to action to entice recipients to visit your site. In the beginning, take care not to get too pushy. Aggressive messaging can turn a new lead off to your brand.

Following your welcome email, continue to slowly introduce users to your brand and push them toward a sale by sending messages that do the following:

        • Feature products that have successfully converted first time users in the past
        • Establish further credibility
        • Explain what differentiates you from the competition
        • Gradually use more assertive messaging once trust has been established

2. Mismanaging consumers’ expectations

Since a lead that opts in on a third party site will often know nothing about your company from the start, it’s important to be clear during the sign up process about what potential opt-ins can expect from you. For example, let them know which product or service category your offering fits into and how often they can expect to receive emails from you.

In the beginning, it’s especially important to maintain users’ expectations by following through on the promises you make. It’s always a good idea to use a hook to generate interest, but be sure it sets the tone for future offers. The ol’ bait and switch won’t create trust or customer loyalty; sending something other than what is expected will only push new users to unsubscribe or click spam.

Think of the first offer you send to a third party lead as you would a first date. If you ask someone out to a fancy restaurant and promise to bring flowers, but show up empty-handed and stop at a fast food joint, chances are there won’t be a second date. This is just like the opt-in process. Don’t set the bar too high or too low. Let users know what they should expect up front and you’ll start to establish trust right away.

3. Sending too much or too little email

As mentioned before, establishing expectations for a new user is paramount. This applies to not only the type of messaging you’ll be delivering, but also the volume of that messaging. There is a fine line between too much and too little email, dictated by engagement and unsubscribe rates.

Sending too much email right out of the gate can lead to spam clicks and unsubscribes. That’s a loss of potentially valuable future customers, just by sending too much mail. You’ll need to ramp up volume gradually in your initial email flow to get users accustomed to how often you’ll be emailing them.

If you don’t send enough email to a new user, you’re bound to be forgotten. A lone welcome email won’t be enough to establish who you are; a new user may not even see or open this first message. Keep your brand in front of a new lead and increase engagement by sending a second email within three days of sign up – but don’t stop there! Since they’re not regular visitors of your site, the only way to convert third party leads is by continuing to send captivating offers.

While they are not yet equivalent to organic leads, third party leads have requested to receive information about your offers and services. It’s up to you to follow through.

4. Incorrectly Measuring Success

Marketers who are new to emailing third party leads often expect a return on investment in the same amount of time that it would take to convert an organic opt-in. When estimating conversion time, it’s important to consider the differences between these two types of new leads. Since third party leads require nurturing beyond that of an organic lead, it will take additional time to see ROI.

Don’t get frustrated during this process. Email marketing to third party opt-ins should be viewed as a long-term investment. You’ll need to take time to establish your brand and build a solid foundation. If you continue to send email at least weekly, you’ll begin to see a positive response; a “one and done” attitude won’t get you far. Plan your campaigns knowing that immediate conversions do not necessarily equate to lasting results.

Analyzing the proper success metrics will show the true engagement of your users and help you turn third party leads into lifetime customers. Instead of looking at immediate, one-time conversions, measure the success of your campaigns by opens and clicks, page visits, and the time users spend on your site. Your goal should be to gradually increase engagement rates to the level of an organic lead. Once you’re there, it’s up to your email offers to convert them to a sale.


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