161. Welcome Sequence Secrets: The Key Element to Increasing Downloads on Autopilot with Magan Ward

Sara Whittaker 0:00

em grow their email list from: 1000

Magan Ward 2:11

As podcasters we all know the importance of promoting our show, we do all the things on social media and then sometimes hold our breath and cross our fingers when we hit publish on a new episode that our show will land into the air pods of our ideal customers and clients. hopeful that our downloads will increase again this week. But what you might not know is that you could be missing out on a key element that can bring in brand new listeners on autopilot every single day. And I'm not gatekeeping any of this today. So snag your notebook or open a Google Doc for this episode. My name is Megan Ward. I'm an email marketing expert and some of you may have heard me as a guest on this show back on Episode 84, where Sara and I talked about turning your listeners into email subscribers with out of the box lead magnets. If you missed it, it's a good one to run back and listen to. Since that episode aired, I launched my own podcast after having worked specifically with podcasters for years. It's the school of marketing for digital entrepreneurs podcast, and it is heavy on the email marketing lessons since I'm the official email marketing nerd in this corner of the internet, so I invite you to come and tune in. I also own the email template shop where you can find email marketing funnels and templates that are as close to done for you as you can get without that done for you price tag. But today, let's dive into the one key element that you could be missing out on when it comes to promoting and marketing your own show. And that is your welcome sequence. If you're brand new to email marketing, I'll break down what this is. Sometimes it is called a nurture sequence. But think about when you have signed up for someone's freebie. And then you have them show up in your inbox for a few days after you have signed up. Those a few days worth of emails is their welcome sequence that you are receiving. Often the welcome sequence delivers the freebie that you signed up for introduces you to that person that created the freebie and helps you to understand more about what you can learn from them by continuing to stay on their list. So how can you implement a welcome sequence that actually increases downloads, and helps you gain raving listeners and ultimately converts them to paying customers and clients? Let's create a scenario or to hear someone stumbles upon your own freebie because they somehow found you on Instagram and they followed along. They were curious about what you do, and they click the link in your bio and signed up for your freebie. It's happening more than you think. But let's say that this person had not yet gotten far enough into your content to realize that you also have a podcast. Or let's say that someone found you through a collaboration, whether that was a summit or a bundle event or as a podcast guest and now they've signed up for your free gift That way, it's possible that they still don't know about your podcast yet. So where are you going to send an email that says, here's your free thing? And also, I have a podcast Okay, by? No, no, you're not because you're a superstar and you know better. But we want to be strategic about this, we don't want to just toss a handful of episodes over an overwhelm them either. So if you do already have a welcome sequence, and you're not linking to or sharing about specific episodes, throughout that series of emails, I want you to go back to what you currently have. And think about a lesson or overall theme of each email in the welcome sequence. And then say, I recorded a special episodes specifically on this topic where I dive into XYZ, where I share even more details so that you can begin to implement this today, then link to the episode. But don't worry too much about monitoring those link clicks. If you're someone who watches those type of stats, because most people are going to go instead open their own podcast app on their phone and find that episode there. Another thing that you can do with your welcome sequence is also to segment your list the moment that those new subscribers come in, and then tweak what those emails say that they're going to receive from that point forward. For example, I have podcasters, digital course creators and service providers all entering my email list. So I'm actually in the process of updating my own welcome sequence to ask them right off the bat, what do they do? What do they want to learn more about? That way, I can send them not just specific content, but a specific welcome series of emails that is tailored to their needs, and then turn around and put a curated list of podcast episodes in those emails for them. The same thing could be true for a true crime podcaster. Let's say they've got people hopping onto their email list, but they know full well, that there are true crime podcast listeners that prefer to listen to all the love triangle drama crimes. So they can list out various types of episodes, and have that subscriber click what they are most interested in, then they can have an email fire off later that day, or the next day, which contains a list of five to 10 episodes that fall into that category. Now, as an educator, or someone who has products and episodes for teachers and educators, maybe you need to segment those individuals into early childhood, elementary or middle school educators. But I don't want you to just toss a handful of episodes their way and then disappear from their inbox, I want you to continue to remind them about your show, you can sprinkle out episodes through the entire welcome sequence or focus on just one episode per email. Now I'm gonna go a little bit deeper, I'm going to share my five step signature framework for how I put together my own welcome sequence that will help you to figure out when to send an email and what to put in those emails. Step one is your delivery email, you're going to want to send that immediately. This is where you send them instructions to download their freebie or link to log into your site or maybe a confirmation of their order, et cetera. These new subscribers are looking for that freebie, and they are not going to be reading much more. So I want you to keep this email short and sweet. deliver the goods and that's pretty much it. Step two is your brand awareness and connection email. This is going to help you build brand awareness and connection with your audience. I recommend sending it about one hour after your delivery email. But if you're not comfortable with sending two emails in one day, it's okay to schedule that for the next day after they have signed up. Now the purpose of the second email is to introduce new subscribers to your business and let them know what to expect in future emails. In this email, you can talk about what you do, why they should stay subscribed, you could say something like I've been in your shoes before, and I learned the hard lessons you don't have to. But this is where I want you to start segmenting those subscribers. In my case, this is where I would then turn and ask them to share more about them. I would ask if they are a podcaster, a course creator or a digital product creator, etc. And tell them that by clicking they will get a curated list of podcast episodes. In this situation. I could have the link they click redirect to a page with the episodes listed out or have a second email fire off with that information for them. So it's at their fingertips. Now on to step three in my five step signature framework. This will be your third email in the welcome sequence and it's going to introduce a problem a pain point or struggle that they are experiencing. I usually have my clients and students then position a resource or tool as the solution. But I want you Which position a podcast episode as their solution. In this case, it's still a free resource for them. But it's just an additional way to keep putting that podcast in front of them and increasing those downloads. Are you ready for step four, because we have arrived, this is your take action email. This force email should train your subscribers to take action. The goal of this email is to help your audience feel comfortable interacting with you, replying to your email with questions reaching out to you via DMS, whatever, you can simply ask about something they might still be struggling with. This is going to allow you to have a conversation with them and hopefully even have a podcast episode that speaks directly to that issue. Or even if you just get content ideas for future episodes from their responses. And now we're at the final emails. Step five, in this five step signature framework, the fifth email is a bit of a choose your own adventure thing, you can choose one of three paths, you can set up expectations and let them know when and how often you will show up in their inbox and share when your show drops new episodes what day of the week, they can expect those to arrive. Or you could begin to sell to them now if your offer digital products, courses or services, or you could keep your welcome sequence going just a little bit longer, but further nurturing that relationship with your subscribers. So that's what I mean by choose your own adventure. But whichever path you take, remember to thank them for being subscribed. include those calls to action. Okay, I'm gonna pause here because I've got a serious question. You are my teacher crew. And if any of you are Gilmore Girl fans, you already know where I'm going with this. There's an episode and I had to go look it up. It's season four, maybe episode 10. Now I'm starting to forget. But there's an episode where Lorelai is completely bewildered by the plural form of the noun cul de sac, which is in fact, coals de sac where the S goes toward the beginning and not at the end. So my question and I'm asking for you to come to me can find me on Instagram or email me is the plural of call to action, calls to action or call to actions. The first one feels more correct with my Gilmore Girls knowledge. But you're the teaching professionals, so teach me but we're gonna get back to business here, I want you to remember to include a call to action in that last email, and have them subscribed to your show. And speaking of, I invite you to tune into the school of marketing for digital entrepreneurs wherever you get your podcasts. And if you want to learn even more, need more help with your email marketing for your podcast and your business, make sure you go check out the email template shop. That's where you can find tons of resources and products that are as close to done for you. Without that done for you price tag. And for tuning into this episode, you can get 15% off your first or next purchase. By using the code Gilmore Girls 15. We're going to make sure that's in the show note that's going to make sure that I know you're truly listening. And it's also just fun. So I'm certain that everything is going to be linked in the show notes from Sara, including how to find me on Instagram, which is my favorite social platform. So make sure and let me know when you've tuned into this episode. I can't wait to hear your thoughts. And a big thank you to Sarah for letting me take over her show today and nerd out all about welcome sequences with you.

Sara Whittaker: 13:41

Thank you to Megan for taking over the podcast this week. There are so many good takeaways from this episode. It is time to start tweaking or maybe creating for the first time you're welcome sequences to help drive more traffic to your podcast. Don't forget to check out Megan's email template shop. Even if you're a little bit curious about what's in her shop, you've got to go take a look. It's filled with so many incredible templates that you can use as a podcaster. But also as a business owner in general. She has them split up into different collections. There's the podcaster collection, there's an educator collection, and lots of other collections as well. And she gave you that awesome code. Gilmore Girls 15 to get 15% off your purchase. I'll leave the link for her email template shop in the shownotes. Or you can just check the description for this episode and whatever app you're listening in on right now. And if you want to hear more from Meghan, go check out episode 84 where she came on to talk about turning your listeners into email subscribers with out of the box lead magnets. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode to keep this conversation going connect with me on Instagram at podcasting for educators. I'm always looking for an excuse to talk about podcasting. If you're looking for To support and launching, managing or growing your podcast, check out my online course the podcasting for educators prep school at podcasting for educators.com/prep school. I'll see you here next time.

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