Email Courses: A Trendy Fad Soon To Pass?
Not too long ago I signed up for one of those “grow your email list” tools.
It looked pretty good, so I invested a couple of hours to get it set up, then let it run for a week—
And netted a grand total of 11 new email signups.
Blech.
I’m getting more and more cynical about “new” marketing tools and techniques.
Many times these techniques work GREAT when they first come on the scene, because they represent a novel “pattern” that people browsing the web haven’t encountered before.
A good example of this is the “scroll mat” or “welcome gate” style optin popups.
When those first came out, I was getting crazy optin rates—like 2-3X better than my “old school” popups.
The effect was short-lived though. Within a few months the scroll mat had fallen off, and I went back to my regular popups.
Reader Ant wonders if email courses are going this route:
I’m halfway through Jake Jorgensen’s email course and he’s doing exactly what you’ve suggested – I have a sneaky feeling he may have also bought your course!!
Will the email course bubble eventually burst at critical mass?!!
It’s a great question.
My time is short.
I don’t have a lot of time to screw around with tactics that have as much longevity as a week-old head of Romaine lettuce.
When I’m evaluating a marketing tool or approach, I apply this litmus test:
Does this “work” because it’s a new gimmick that people aren’t used to seeing yet?
Or is it based on something deeper?
With my email courses, there’s a specific “formula” that I follow:
5-7 days of educational content, followed by a 3-day discount offer to spur subscribers to action.
Marketers have been using a version of this format for decades.
Could it eventually wear out?
Maybe, but it’s already stood the test of time.
Beyond that specific formula, though, are concepts that are even more timeless:
Frequent followup. Entertaining your audience. Focusing on the customer’s problems and concerns.
And quickly building real, human relationships with your subscribers.
Those ideas are NOT gimmicky—far from it.
They worked 100 years ago, and they will still work 100 years from today.
So no, I’m not too concerned about email courses “wearing out”—because the underlying concepts are solid as a rock.
For a step-by-step breakdown of my approach to this, check out: