Business Strategy by Achaeus

When email marketing is used effectively, the results can be astounding.  An example of a successful email marketing campaign was one we ran for a home budgeting system called Home Budget Buddy.  We sent 4 emails over 4 days and the result was $14,663 in sales.

We knew we needed a way to get people who were “on the fence” to cross over and finally make a decision to buy.  To encourage the fence sitters to purchase, we put a time limit in place. That created a sense of urgency to buy the product.

Additionally, we were able to increase sales even more by offering a second product, debt reduction software, at 50% off the purchase price.

Case Study: Home Budget Buddy

Not only will the following case study show you the power of effective email marketing through great results, but it also details a strategy that you can use in your business. (provided you’ve done your groundwork)

We executed a “4 Day Sale” with Home Budget Buddy, a client that sells budgeting and debt reduction software.

I got the idea for the “4 Day Sale” from another marketer by the name of Frank Kern. One of the reasons I like is one so much is that it can be adapted to a wide variety of industries and generates consistently good results.

Here’s how it works:
You offer a limited-time sale to your email list with a deep discount plus extra bonuses for taking action. (This is what I meant about groundwork - you have to have a list. You are building a list, aren’t you?)

In the case of Home Budget Buddy, we offered the $98 Home Budget Buddy software for half price ($48.50) for 4 days only to create a sense of urgency.

Every day for 4 days we sent an email that built on the offer and stressed that the sale would end at midnight on Day 4.

Here are the results:

Day 1: 38 orders

Day 2: 42 orders

Day 3: 69 orders

Day 4: 101 orders

Total: 250 orders

(Look at that spike on Day 4 - that’s the power of a deadline)

Total sales from the “main” offer were $12,125 - not bad for 4 days. But we also added an exponential twist to ratchet up the profit…

Post-purchase upsell
After the customer finished the initial purchase, we offered a one-time offer on the purchase “Thank You Page” to order the DebtBuster software, also for a 50% discount ($23.50 instead of $47).

108 out of the 250 purchasers (43%) said “yes” to the upsell,
adding another $2,538 to the 4 days’ takings.

Total sales: $14,663

You could argue that although a lot of cash was generated in a short period of time, on the downside a lot of margin was sacrificed via the discount.

However, these prospects had been marketed to over a 4 month period without buying. Also, the product was downloadable software with a near-zero production cost. And the development cost was recovered years ago.

Can you employ a similar technique for your business?

Before you say, “but I don’t sell software - this won’t work for me”, perhaps you can think about crafting a “killer offer” and combining it with a short deadline to produce more or less the same effect? (Let me know if you want help coming up with an offer that pulls…).

This case study also underlines the importance of building a list, sooner rather than later.

The fastest way to build a list is to offer a special report or email course that is irresistible to your target market - then place it on your website as prominently as possible.

You’ll not only generate immediate sales activity but you’ll also begin to build an asset in your list that you can “mine” for future profits.

CALL TO ACTION

1. Here are the basic steps to starting a successful email marketing campaign.
2. Come up with a killer offer for your list on a limited-time basis.
3. Create 4 emails to send out over a period of 4 days that builds on the offer and emphasises the upcoming deadline.
4. For everyone who purchases your offer, immediately offer another related product (upsell) to further increase your sales.