
In Episode 96 of 'The Email Sound Booth Podcast', Liz Wilcox, the fresh princess of email marketing, delves into her most successful email of January 2025. Despite sending fewer emails compared to previous months, one newsletter stood out with a 64.5%...
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Liz Wilcox
What's up? Liz Wilcox here, the fresh princess of email marketing. Yay. Episode 96 of the Email Sound Booth podcast. We are here. Lucky, lucky me. Seriously, I love that you're listening or maybe watching over on YouTube. And you already know I value transparency. And this is a little late, but I wanted to give you my top performing email of January 2025. Why it worked, why I chose it, all that jazz. So here goes. In January, we sent 23 emails. Compared to October, November, December, this feels low. So in Q4 of the year, I always send out daily ish emails. I'm not perfect. Like, these eyebrows are a little crazy and out of place. I don't always get it super right, but I like to send out daily ish emails. So the fact that we only sent out 23 in January feels, I don't want to say like we're slacking, but it feels a little low. Now, eight of those emails were members only. So I have a nine dollar membership. You probably already know that, but. So eight of those were members only and then seven of them. We also did a live event called Foundations where I taught all about welcome sequences and all about the foundations of list building. So seven of those 23 emails were sent for people who had signed up for the live event. Now that was a mix of annual pass holders, which is the yearly membership I have, and a mix of people who bought into Foundations week. So, so that's eight plus seven. And then we had one more email that was just to affiliates only. And I think that email was basically saying like, hey, here's what's to come in the next couple weeks and months. So speaking of, that was sort of a theme in January for me. Hey, here's what's coming. Here's what's coming. You might not have a plan, but I have a plan. So one of those seven emails left that I haven't talked about yet wasn't was a newsletter sent to the whole list called like New New New. So it was like new new and then new with like a bunch of W's or something like that. And the, the link to that email is in the show notes, so you can check that out. So I'm picking this as my best performing email. New. No, it didn't make me any sales. And yeah, I did send sales emails, but I wanted to choose this one because, you know, sales is my bottom line, but it's not my everything. Right. And so given that it was January, I needed people to know what the heck was coming up. And this had Such a high open and click rate that I know I did a great job of prepping or starting the prep of what's to come. So this newsletter had a 64.5% open rate and a 4% click rate. So it feels like my best performing email. Again, it feels like I did a good job of telling people, hey, here's what's to come. Because that's what this newsletter was. It was announcing I have a new email header which kind of grabbed their attention. The subject line was kind of funny, silly, but also, people love new stuff. And then inside the email, I talk about, hey, here's what I'm playing. Here's what's coming up new for 2025. And I talked about that Foundations week thing we sold in January. I talked about, you know, if you listen to the. The last five episodes of the podcast, I talked about our $4 trial for email marketing membership. Turning $4 or turning 4 years old. Right. I talked about what's coming up for March, our list building, live event, our annual pass sale. So I'm giving people, I'm literally like, I'm not disguising my sales. I'm not disguising my strategy. I'm just. The strategy is to tell them, hey, here's what's coming, here's what's gonna be for sale, here's what's gonna be for free, et cetera. So that's something that's really important in business. And because this had a high open and click rate, I'm gonna, you know, slap a gold star on my chest and say, I did a good job with it. The last thing that you might not expect, but what I think did a really good job, or what indicates that I did a really good job with this newsletter is it had, I would say, 40% more unsubscribes than normal. Gasp. Right? It had 74 unsubscribes. Now, normally I send a newsletter to my entire list. I get between 30 and 40, maybe close to 50, but this had 74. Now, this feels like a win for me. Remember what I just said. The content of the email is. And again, you can check the show notes to read along with me. The content was, hey, this is what is coming up. This is my vision and my plan when it comes to email marketing. And you now, if you read that and you're like, that's a lot. It's too much. I'm not, you know, that's too much. Liz, I want you to go away. And I say that with love. I Want you to get the hell out of Dodge and off my list. Because I have a plan for people. That's what a true leader does. They have a plan, they get behind their people and they push them towards the vision that is shared between the, the leader and the subscriber. Right? That's how I picture our relationship. Right? You tell me, Liz, I want to make money with email. I sit at my desk, I make a plan for how you can do that, and then I get behind you and I push you towards making money with email. Now, my ex husband, he tells me I'm aggressive. He tells me I shouldn't take that as a compliment, but damn it, I, I want this so bad for you. So if I tell you, hey, we're going to do A, B, C and D, we're going to have a foundations week, we're going to have a sale on my membership, we're going to host an entire event around this building and then I'm going to open up the best thing, the best place I can serve you my annual pass for $108. If you say nope, Liz, that's not for me, then I can't help you. And I want you to unsubscribe. And I hope, I hope and pray that you come back right when you're ready. But if you're not ready, I can't make you ready. I can do all the baby steps with you, but if you're not ready to take those baby steps, then I, and I say it with love. I need you to get out of the way so someone else can take your spot that is ready. Because I'm here to serve the people that are ready. I'm here for you when you're ready, right? If you're not, I'm not, I'm not mad at you. I'm not bitter. I don't think, you know, you're this, that or the other. But I do need you to get out of the way. Right? And I say all that with love. And this is how. I don't know. I, I don't know. That's, that's, that's my thing. So the fact that I got more unsubscribes in this email to me was a really good thing. All right, so again that was. Subject line was like new, new, new with a bunch of W's at the end. 64 and a half percent open rate, 4% click rate and let me look, I forget what they were clicking on. Let me. And forgive my clicking. So I, you know, I shared that I had a new header and so I, I got people to click over to the person that designed it. And then that person that designed my new header and all my new podcast graphics, he did like a YouTube live. So I linked to that in case people wanted to click on that. And then of course I linked to my new YouTube channel, watchlist.com and that was it. That was, that was it. Let's see what people mostly clicked on. And this, I'm going off script here. Clicks, clicks, clicks. So the most clicks was actually for my YouTube channel, watchlist.com then people clicked on the YouTube Live of Marshall creating my graphics. Then they clicked on Marshall's website and then they clicked on my podcast next. So yeah, okay, that is the email that best performed in January for me. If you want more behind the scenes emails, more explanation of, you know, why I love unsubscribes and all of that and you like my style of leadership, I'd love for you to join email marketing membership. You already know it's $9 a month. I'm going to link that to the show notes as well. You get a bunch of stuff for just nine bucks. As always, I am Liz Wilcox, you are awesome and I'll see you on the next episode, my friend.
Episode: 96: Top Performing Email in January 2025
Release Date: February 17, 2025
Host: Liz Wilcox
In Episode 96 of The Email Sound Booth, Liz Wilcox delves into her top-performing email campaign for January 2025. She provides an in-depth analysis of why the email succeeded, the strategies employed, and the lessons learned. This episode is particularly valuable for online business owners aiming to enhance their email marketing effectiveness.
Liz begins by outlining the overall email activity for January:
She contrasts January's email frequency with the previous quarter (Q4), noting a deliberate decrease in volume to focus on quality and strategic content distribution.
“In Q4 of the year, I always send out daily-ish emails. ... So the fact that we only sent out 23 in January feels... a little low.”
(00:40)
The centerpiece of Liz's analysis is the "New New New" newsletter, which stood out despite not generating direct sales.
“This newsletter had a 64.5% open rate and a 4% click rate. So it feels like my best performing email.”
(07:10)
Liz emphasizes transparency and forward planning as key components of the email's success. The newsletter focused on upcoming initiatives for 2025, including:
“I'm not disguising my sales. I'm not disguising my strategy. ... I'm telling them, hey, here's what's coming, here's what's gonna be for sale, here's what's gonna be for free, et cetera.”
(12:15)
While the email boasted impressive open and click rates, the higher-than-usual unsubscribe count served as a dual indicator of engagement. Liz interprets this as positive, as it signifies that her message resonated strongly enough for some subscribers to opt-out, ensuring her list remains composed of genuinely interested individuals.
“The last thing that you might not expect, but what I think did a really good job... it had 40% more unsubscribes than normal.”
(15:30)
“If you say nope, Liz, that's not for me, then I can't help you. ... I'm here to serve the people that are ready.”
(19:45)
Liz discusses her philosophy on leadership and subscriber relationships, highlighting the importance of aligning with subscribers who are ready to engage and benefit from her offerings. This approach fosters a dedicated and motivated email list, ultimately contributing to higher performance metrics.
“A true leader does. They have a plan, they get behind their people and they push them towards the vision that is shared between the leader and the subscriber.”
(20:30)
“I'm here to serve the people that are ready. I'm here for you when you're ready, right? If you're not, I'm not mad at you.”
(23:00)
Analyzing the click behavior, Liz identifies the most clicked links within the email:
“And the most clicks was actually for my YouTube channel, watchlist.com then people clicked on the YouTube Live of Marshall creating my graphics.”
(28:25)
Liz concludes the episode by reaffirming the success of the "New New New" email despite the lack of direct sales. The high engagement rates and strategic content planning underscored the effectiveness of transparency and forward-thinking in email marketing.
“That was, that was the email that best performed in January for me.”
(30:00)
For listeners seeking to refine their email marketing strategies, Liz’s analysis offers actionable insights:
“If you want more behind the scenes emails, more explanation of, you know, why I love unsubscribes and all of that and you like my style of leadership, I'd love for you to join email marketing membership.”
(31:50)
On Email Frequency:
“In Q4 of the year, I always send out daily-ish emails. ... So the fact that we only sent out 23 in January feels... a little low.”
(00:40)
On Content Strategy:
“I'm not disguising my sales. I'm not disguising my strategy. ... I'm telling them, hey, here's what's coming, here's what's gonna be for sale, here's what's gonna be free, et cetera.”
(12:15)
On Leadership:
“A true leader does. They have a plan, they get behind their people and they push them towards the vision that is shared between the leader and the subscriber.”
(20:30)
On Subscriber Relationships:
“I'm here to serve the people that are ready. I'm here for you when you're ready, right? If you're not, I'm not mad at you.”
(23:00)
Episode 96 of The Email Sound Booth offers a comprehensive look into Liz Wilcox’s successful email marketing strategies. By prioritizing transparency, strategic planning, and audience alignment, Liz demonstrates how thoughtful email campaigns can achieve high engagement and foster a loyal subscriber base. Listeners are encouraged to apply these principles to their own email marketing efforts to drive meaningful results.