Episode 61: How to Get Replies to Your Email Newsletters - The Email Sound Booth with Liz Wilcox

Summary5 min read

Podcast Summary: The Email Sound Booth with Liz Wilcox
Episode 61: How to Get Replies to Your Email Newsletters
Release Date: December 9, 2024

Introduction

In Episode 61 of The Email Sound Booth with Liz Wilcox, host Liz delves into a crucial aspect of email marketing: eliciting replies to email newsletters. Aimed at online businesses seeking to enhance their email marketing strategies, this episode provides actionable steps to transform email lists into profitable and engaging assets.

The Power of Simple Yes or No Questions

Liz begins by emphasizing the effectiveness of yes or no questions in encouraging email recipients to reply. She asserts that simplicity is key, especially when engaging with subscribers who are not yet familiar with your brand.

"The simple way is just asking yes or no questions. Seriously, that is it."
— Liz Wilcox [00:00]

Liz observes that many marketers struggle with low reply rates because they pose overly complex questions. By contrast, straightforward questions like “Do you send a weekly newsletter? Hit reply yes or no,” are more likely to generate responses. These binary questions reduce the cognitive load on readers, making it easier for them to engage.

Understanding the Email Stages: Follower, Friend, Customer

Liz introduces the concept of the Email Staircase, which categorizes subscribers into three stages: Follower, Friend, and Customer. Recognizing where a subscriber stands is essential for tailoring communication effectively.

"Most of the people on our list are not our friends yet. They're not going to answer complicated questions like what do you want to see next?"
— Liz Wilcox [00:45]

By identifying whether a subscriber is a follower or has moved closer to becoming a friend, Liz explains how businesses can better position their products and content to meet the audience’s needs.

Strategic Placement of Yes or No Questions

Liz outlines several strategic points within email sequences where yes or no questions can be effectively integrated:

Welcome Sequence: Incorporate a yes or no question in the P.S. section of the welcome email to initiate engagement right from the start.

"You should be putting a yes or no question in there in the P.S."
— Liz Wilcox [03:10]

For instance, if Liz were running an RV travel blog, she might ask, “Do you currently own a rig? Hit reply yes or no.” The responses help her understand her audience's current status and tailor subsequent communications accordingly.
Newsletters: At the end of newsletters, include simple questions such as, “Was this helpful to you?” or “Was this new information for you? Hit reply yes or no.” This not only gauges the effectiveness of the content but also fosters a two-way conversation.
Pre-Launch Emails: Utilize yes or no questions to engage subscribers during pre-launch phases, ensuring that the audience is primed and interested in upcoming products or services.

Liz emphasizes that avoiding overly complex questions helps maintain high engagement levels and transitions subscribers smoothly from the follower stage to becoming friends and, eventually, customers.

Real-World Success Stories

To illustrate the effectiveness of her strategy, Liz shares a personal anecdote about a subscriber named Johnny Lightning. By asking a straightforward yes or no question, Johnny engaged with Liz’s content and eventually became a loyal follower.

"There was a guy, I won't. His name was Johnny Lightning. ... It all started with that yes or no question."
— Liz Wilcox [05:30]

This story underscores how simple questions can lead to meaningful interactions and long-term relationships with subscribers.

Bonus Tips for Maximizing Replies

Liz offers additional tactics to further increase reply rates:

Direct Engagement Prompts: Encourage subscribers to type specific phrases in their replies. For example, in her welcome sequence, Liz asks subscribers to reply with “too legit to quit” to confirm their interest.

"I say, if this is you, hit reply, too legit to quit."
— Liz Wilcox [09:15]

This method creates a sense of community and personal connection, as subscribers feel acknowledged and valued.
Encouraging Personal Responses: In her communications, Liz might invite subscribers to share their aspirations or challenges, fostering a deeper dialogue.

"I can't wait to see what we do together with email in 2025."
— Liz Wilcox [10:00]

By setting expectations and inviting engagement, Liz effectively keeps her audience invested and responsive.

Benefits Beyond Engagement

Beyond initiating conversations, Liz highlights that encouraging replies can improve email deliverability. When subscribers interact with emails by replying, it signals to email service providers that the content is valuable, ensuring future emails are more likely to land in the inbox rather than the spam folder.

"If you reply to your email, the internet gods are going to put your next email in my inbox, okay?"
— Liz Wilcox [11:20]

Conclusion

Liz wraps up the episode by reiterating the importance of incorporating yes or no questions throughout various stages of email marketing. She encourages listeners to implement these strategies in their welcome sequences, newsletters, and pre-launch emails to foster engagement and build stronger relationships with their audience.

"The good strategy or the tactic, whatever we're calling it. Yes or no questions, put them everywhere."
— Liz Wilcox [12:50]

Liz also invites listeners to leave reviews and join her email marketing membership for further support in crafting effective email strategies.

Key Takeaways

Simplicity Drives Engagement: Use yes or no questions to elicit responses from subscribers, making it easier for them to engage.
Understand Subscriber Stages: Categorize your audience into followers, friends, and customers to tailor your communication effectively.
Strategic Question Placement: Integrate yes or no questions in welcome emails, newsletters, and pre-launch communications to maximize replies.
Boost Deliverability: Encourage replies to improve your email's chances of landing in the inbox.
Foster Community: Use direct engagement prompts to build a sense of community and personal connection with your audience.

By implementing these strategies, online businesses can transform their email marketing efforts, creating a more interactive and profitable email list that feels rewarding to manage.

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[00:01]
A
What's up Liz Wilcox? Here you're listening to episode 61 of the email sound booth podcast. If I could spit that name out. How to get people to reply to your newsletters. This is going to be a short episode. I think hopefully it will be a simple episode and it's going to be an episode where you can walk away with some like super action step. So I'm really excited. So let's, let's get to it. You know, time is precious and I thank you for spending some of your time with me. So the simple way is just asking yes or no questions. Seriously, that is it. A lot of people I've seen, especially in my membership when we do our once a month Q&As, you know, nobody replies is nobody replies. But when I ask them, well, what are you asking them? They're asking really complicated questions. Remember we are following something called the email staircase around here at, you know, inside the email sound booth. Follower, friend, customer. Most of the people on our list are not our friends yet. They're not going to answer complic complicated questions like what do you want to see next? Right. But they will answer simple questions like do you send a weekly newsletter? Hit reply yes or no. Right? That has to be. When I say a yes or no question, it has to be like very front of brain, like they know the answer to this as easily as they can answer their name. Right. So there's a few places. Well of course, you can put this anywhere. Right? Your welcome sequence, your newsletters, your pre launch, your sales. Well scratch that. In sales we're answering questions, we're not asking them. But the rest of our emails should be opening conversations. I think Mike Kim said it best. It's not about closing a sale, it's about opening a conversation. And so yes or no questions are going to allow you to, to open up conversations very easily to move people from that follower stage into the friend stage. So where are we putting these yes or no questions? Well first, I already mentioned your welcome sequence in the very first email. You should be putting a yes or no question in there in the P.S. right? So you send out whatever you promise to send out and then psychic yes or no question here. So back in the day I used to have an RV travel blog and so I could ask, you know, P.S. where are you in your RV travels or your RV journey? But again they're, they're just followers. They're not friends. They don't really want to have a conversation with a stranger yet. Right. So instead of that, I would ask, P.S. do you currently own a rig? Hit reply yes or no. Then based on what they would tell me, I knew where the conversation was going, I knew who was on my list and I knew how to take the conversation. So if they replied no, Liz, I don't. I would say, oh, you know, I hope one day you can. I recommend shopping at this, that and the other. Also here's my buying guide so you can see, you know, maybe what kind of rigid you would like if you're still in that decision making process. Right? So I'm appearing incredibly helpful. But I also know, you know, if I get a bunch of people that say no, no, no, no, no, that helps me guide what my products might be or how to position my products. Right. If I get a bunch of people that say yes, then I know they're at a different stage and I know I need to create or talk about other products. Right? So that's why we want replies in the first place. I didn't even mention that. We want replies to open up conversations, right? So again, if they say no, oh, here's my buying guide. Here's some recommendations for you. If they say yes, oh my gosh, great. Are you on the road full time yet? So then I can start asking other questions. Are you on the road full time yet? Is that the goal? To be full time? And then just, you know, I can't wait to hear more about you. And then again, going back to. If they say no, you can say that same thing. I can't wait to hear about, you know, when you finally get your rig. Okay. And yes, this totally works in moving them from the follower to the friend, y'all. This worked. There was a guy, I won't. His name was Johnny Lightning. Right? Or that's what he went by. Anyway, I don't think that's his real name, but he was one of the first people to hit reply to this question of mine. And he said, oh, Liz, if I ever buy a rig, you'll be the first to know. Because his wife was kind of iffy about it and he stayed on my list for years. And once I sold the blog, I got this random text message and it was, it was Johnny and it was a picture of his rig. And he's like, I finally, I finally got it. Or it wasn't a text, it was a dm and I knew exactly who it was. I was like, oh my gosh, I'm so excited for you. You know, and it all started with that yes or no question. So then again, Put it in your newsletters, right? You know, if you write something, you know, five facts or, you know, five tips at the end, was this helpful to you? Or even better than that, was this new information? Hit reply, yes or no. Some people are going to say yes, some people say no, but it was a good reminder. And here's the thing about yes or no questions. Most people will answer more than so rather than saying like, oh, you know, where are you at on your RV journey? You know, I don't know, lady. That's a weird question, right? Or, you know, if I could wave a magic wand and fix one thing for you, what would it be? I hate that question. That's just like, who's going to answer that, right? I don't know, lady. But if you can ask these yes or no questions again, you're going to open up those conversations and you're going to be able to kind of tell where they're at in their journey and how you can help them. So in the newsletters, you know, was this info helpful? If somebody says yes, you know, then you know you're on the right track with your content. If a lot of people say no, you know, this wasn't new information to me then, then, you know, you have more advanced people, you can go deeper, right? And honestly, you can use these, use this strategy tactic, whatever you want to call it, on social media as well. Now, a bonus tip for getting replies is to just ask people to type something in directly. So for example, in my welcome sequence in the third email, I say, hey, around here we do xyz, this is for you if you are ABC type of person. And then I say, if this is you, hit reply, too legit to quit. So I know you're in. I cannot tell you how many people actually hit reply every day we get these, too legit to quit, Liz. Too legit to quit. And again, it's just a way of opening the conversation. And I say, oh my gosh, so fun. Can't wait to get to know you. You know, I like, for example, I'm recording this at the end of 2024, so I might say, you know, I can't wait to see what we do together with email in 2025. Right? So normally I say something like that and you know, it starts the conversation from there, they start replying, they start clicking that. So we want replies because they open up conversations. They also help with deliverability, right? If I reply to your email, the Internet gods are going to put your next email in my inbox, okay? So good, good. The good, the strategy or the tactic, whatever we're calling it. Yes or no questions, put them everywhere. Welcome sequence, newsletter, pre launch, all of that, all your emails. And then a bonus tip, get them to type something directly. Especially in the welcome sequence when you're telling them, hey, this is what it's about. When you're setting expectations, you can have them type even in like type I'm in so I know you're in. It can be really, really simple. All right, that was episode 61. I hope you got something out of it. If you did, I'd love for you to leave a review on the podcast of the podcast, whatever the preposition is there and let me know how this helped you. I can't wait to see you succeed. As always, if you need help with this stuff, you need help figuring out yes or no questions how to weave them in. I do all of that for you in my $9 a month email marketing membership. I'm going to link to that in the show notes. As always, I'm Liz Wilcox. You're awesome and I'll see you on the next episode of the Email Soundbooth podcast. Thanks for listening.