Your advertising campaign must leave a memorable impression on your reader. You want to plant a seed or an idea in your prospects mind that creates a lasting thought. This is your ultimate goal. Almost no one will sign up or order on their first contact with you. Your goal is to establish rapport, impart some knowledge and leave your reader wanting to know more! So, how do you create this lasting thought? By getting in front of your prospect on a regular basis until your idea is planted firmly in their brain. The most effective way to achieve this is through automated follow up messages.

The key to good follow ups is to remember the thought process involved on the part of the reader and what you are trying to achieve.

Headlines

Your headlines should get the readers ATTENTION!!

The Awareness Phase

You may send out a few emails before a reader even consciously "sees" your ad. They probably won’t respond right away but eventually they will respond to your name if for no other reason than the familiarity of seeing it repeatedly in front of them.

The Decision Phase

Now that the reader is aware of your emails, they must decide on an action. They can opt out, respond or do nothing. The reader must use decisive reasoning.

The most important factor in a person’s response is the emotional pull of the message. It could be based on impulse, fear, needs, wants, etc, but you must get them to react to your message! They may react negatively and opt out but some will react positively. When this happens, congratulations, you now have a lead! In some cases, you will have a sale!

So, what about the other people? The people who fail to make any decision right away. These are the people who have not yet formed a substantial opinion and they are your most critical prospects. The other readers have already decided to contact you or opted out of your messages. They have made their initial decision. The ones who are left have not yet formed a strong enough opinion to pull them one way or the other. Follow up is critical with this group!

Content of Follow Up Messages

So, what should your messages say? They should stress the benefits your client will receive by responding.

Your first message should introduce you and your business. The next few should be a shorter description focusing on the main highlights of your offer. Bullet points work well in these. Focusing on time also works well. Creating a sense of urgency in your messages usually gets a quicker response.

For those unresponsive prospects that you’ve been contacting the longest, ask them to fill out a survey as to why they haven’t contacted you for more information. Ask them the reason why they haven’t responded. What they didn’t like about the offer. What would have made them sign up. What you learn from these surveys can be invaluable in creating new messages. To get a good response, make sure you reward them for filling out your survey with a free report or something of value.

It may take a while for some people to respond so remember to be patient. Not now does not necessarily mean not ever!