The most popular question asked by new-ish bloggers and entrepreneurs is “How do I get more of my subscribers to buy my products?”.
I mean, you are awesome at getting subscribers on your email list, but once you have them, how do you turn them into sales?
Welcome to Fearless Affiliate.
My name is Irma and I help new bloggers to learn the ropes. There is a lot to take in that first year of blogging, from choosing a niche to changing your mindset from worker bee mentality to that of successful entrepreneur.
I like to focus on practical information and positive thinking, so if that sounds good to you please sign up for my weekly newsletter of tips and exclusive content for subscribers, and get this COPYWRITING CHECKLIST to help you understand better how many ways you can use copywriting in your online business.
This post may contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure is here.
The Art of Subtle Sales
Copywriting is a skill that new bloggers and entrepreneurs need to learn, to effectively teach their subscribers and future-buyers why they need a specific product.
Many new bloggers think that if they load up their content with a ton of links, the people reading or watching the content will click “just because’.
But this rarely happens.
For the most part, it is your job as the content creator to educate people on why they need your stuff.
Educate.
Which means you need to know what you are promoting.
How to get subscribers to buy is an art form.Click To TweetBeing subtle is key.
Leading your people down an educational path that shows them from freebie to low-cost offer to high-ticket offer, how you can help them.
You also have to understand where your people are in the customer journey, so that you don’t waste both of your time.
Another key point is that just because you have educated your peeps, does not mean they will buy right away.
A lot of people go back and forth multiple times before hitting the buy button, and if you are aware of this then you will write copy that educates in multiple different ways…for people at different stages of the journey.
And by that token, many people do not see all of your content all of the time.
Or they do not read every newsletter every week. So you really have no idea about what they know, or have paid attention to, about the many benefits of your promotional products.
How To Get Subscribers to Buy
Here are a few things you may not have thought of, to help you understand how to get more of your subscribers to check out your offers.
1.Make sure your subscribers are accustomed to receiving offers.
While you don’t need to hammer your list with offers day after day, they should be used to product recommendations on a regular basis.
If you simply give everything for free, your subscribers may be a little surprised when you throw a pitch at them.
That was how it was for me.
I took an email marketing course where I was encouraged to give away tons of stuff in a resource library (I no longer recommend having a resource library because you do not get useful data to help you help your people).
So I watched so many of my subscribers “unsubscribe” monthly when I started making offers. It was kind of a bummer, I admit.
But I am running a business while I am helping people, so there needs to be a balance.
If you give away everything, no one needs to buy from you.
But if you offer multiple ways to help people, from free to paid, whether your products or affiliate products, you are actually helping your people more.
Because you are giving your people choices, depending on what kind of help they need.
- Give a free example of how you can help and get people on your email list so you can help them at the next step.
- Offer the next step as a low cost offer.
- Then you can offer more detailed help at a higher price point.
Because it is not a good idea to give super advanced help to someone who is not really sure what they need right now. Help them walk through the problem by offering solutions for where they are at right now.
Plus, when you make regular offers, you help ensure you have more BUYERS on your list than people who only want free information.
2. Understand your subscribers.
This is an important one.
You need to get to know your subscribers and what they want to learn and buy. You gain this understanding by tracking your links in your emails, asking them questions and interacting with them.
Some product offers will bomb and you can learn a lot from that experience as well. Always work toward a better understanding, so you can target your offers better.
FYI, when you first start offering products, you can start with offering a product and putting the people who sign up on a waiting list.
This way, if no one signs up you have not wasted time creating something that no one wants.
And you can also survey your audience about why they did not buy; this helps you create better products that people really want.
3. If your readers come to you for help and advice, be helpful when you sell to them.
Talk about products you know, do your research and present the product in a way that you know will appeal to your subscribers.
Be sure to link out to other people’s helpful content (content that does not compete with yours) in your blog posts or talk about it in video.
And do not forget to link to your blog posts or videos in your newsletter, offering your readers extra info.
4. Be focused.
Don’t throw a bunch of articles with links and an ad into an email and expect it to get results.
You will always get better results by focusing on one topic, one product offer and one link at a time. You should be offering products that you think are a good fit for your audience, so you can pick one topic for your newsletter and offer a product or link to that product.
Next week, do a new topic and a new offer. FYI you can re-use your emails with these offers, just tweaking them for current relevance.
5. Clear call to action.
Don’t just throw your link into an email and hope it gets clicked
Even if it does get clicked, without a clear and compelling call to action, not much will get done.
- Tell your readers that you think they should buy a product.
- Share if it is a limited offer or why it’s important to do it quickly.
- Explain why this offer can help them and why NOW is the time to grab it
People are busy, with a lot to do and no time to do it. Assume that your future buyers need to be hand-held through every step, and then educate them on all the amazing properties of your offer.
Even if you walk your people through every step, it may not be the right time to buy right now. But it may be the right time next time, so do the leg work.
6. Segment your lists.
You’ve probably heard about being targeted before, but go the extra mile and see just how much better your results are.
If you have a general “weight loss” list, it’s hard to know exactly what that entire list might be interested in.
However, if you have a list of customers who have already purchased a post-menopausal product or sign up for a free post-menopause report, you know what kind of products to promote that portion of your list.
The biggest take away is targeting and knowing what your subscribers want. The more you know that and the better you can speak to their needs/desires, the more you’re going to sell to them.
Conclusion
Copywriting is one aspect of persuasive marketing and is a way of writing and storytelling that draws readers into your world. Use copywriting and storytelling to educate your readers to become subscribers who will buy from you.
As you practice your copywriting skills, keep in mind that you are promoting to real people, who have real problems. The best way to approach people is from a place of wanting to help. People react best to people who are kind and helpful, so you should always create content from this spot first.
Please share with others…sharing is caring! Let me know in the comments if these tips work for you! And be sure to sign up to my newsletter and grab my COPYWRITING CHECKLIST .
Until next time, happy blogging and follow me on Pinterest!
-Irma 🙂
