What to Send When You Don’t Have a Launch
Welcome! We are continuing our series for the month of July on Email Marketing That Ministers and Converts. Today’s episode is titled What to Send When You Don’t Have a Launch. I will help remove the fear of what to send by giving you some practical content ideas. We’re also going to talk about the myth that emails are only for launches. Then finally I will talk about content buckets and some examples as well. So let’s dive into it.
Create Content Buckets
First of all, emails are not just for launches. I know people send a ton of emails around the launch of a new book or a new program. But the truth is you want to have an email newsletter or another type of email that you send on a regular basis to build a relationship that we talked about last week. What can you do in order to do this? You want to create what I call content buckets for non-launch seasons. There was a blog post that I did before I rebranded the podcast from the Virtual Assistant Advantage to the Christian Business Advantage. It would still be a very helpful episode for you to listen to. I have a friend who was called the Boss Lady in Sweatpants. She no longer has this business. However, in that episode she talked with me about content buckets. The thought behind content buckets is to figure out different types of themes you can rotate through.
For me, I talk about the types of things that we provide as services in my company, Alyssa Avant and Company. However, you could talk about those things that you are an expert in. Some of my content buckets are email marketing, social media marketing, content repurposing, and websites. Those are my main four. You’ll notice that we kind of rotate through those topics here on the blog as well as other topics that are related to that.
Elements to Feature
Other ideas you could include in the emails are
- Encouragements
- Testimonies
- Some stories with lessons learned
- A helpful resource or tool
Additional Ideas
Another idea is to include a community spotlight or reader question. I really love the idea of readers sending in questions. I have always loved reading; it’s one of the reasons my target market is authors. I’ve always been an avid reader and enjoyed books and have always wanted to know about the authors. I even wrote to authors as a little girl. Having the opportunity to ask authors a question about their book would be an amazing thing. So if you are an author, that’s a great idea. Sharing scripture plus a practical application is also a great way to connect. You could also share a quote or maybe some character development insight into how you develop the characters of your book. Speakers, you could talk about event prep or maybe a preview of the message that you’re giving at an upcoming event. For coaches, talk about client wins or mindset shifts. Create a simple rotation of these ideas.
Content Calendar
Once you have come up with some content, create a simple rotation or content calendar. I know that we’ve talked about this on other episodes and done training in this in the Christian Business Advantage Facebook group. Content calendars can save you so much time. What you’re essentially doing is taking a basic theme or idea and breaking it down into topics.
For example, in this blog series called Email Marketing That Ministers and Converts, I broke the topic down into four different episodes. In each episode I have a list of things I want to talk about. This helps me to create a content calendar that’s basically already done for me with little effort. Pick a theme or a topic and then you break it down.
You can also use content from social posts or podcasts to repurpose. To use the content from your podcast, break it down into quotes, then repurpose it on social media. Think about ways that you can work smarter, not harder. Remember, consistency builds connection even when you are not selling.
Bonus Tip
Ask your audience what they want to learn more about and use those replies for content. I have a Facebook group for Christian business owners called the Christian Business Advantage. If you’ve not joined, you are welcome to do so. One of the things I do a week or two prior to the start of a new month is take a poll or ask for feedback in the group. I might ask the question, “Which of the following would you want to learn more about or which of the following would you want to see on the podcast?” Something along those lines.
A week or two ago, while planning for the podcast theme for July, I put out a poll. I titled my poll, “Which of the following resonates with you the most?” My poll options were email marketing that ministers and converts, faith-based social strategy, or your website as your ministry hub. Fifty-five percent of people in my group said email marketing that ministers and converts. I chose this topic due to the poll response. I want to serve my audience with what they want or what they need rather than just putting something out there solely for the purpose of putting something out there. You want to serve and provide value to your audience by helping them meet the needs of their businesses. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog and I hope it has been beneficial!
