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Hello Reader,
We're preparing for a terrifying heat wave here in the Pacific Northwest—I'm talking 110ºF/43ºC! 🥵 Cross your fingers for rain and no fires out here!
In one of my strategy sessions this week, I shared with my client that I've turned off almost all of my nurture sequences for my lead magnets. To provide context, here's what happens (let's call this a funnel, for lack of a better word):
- Visitor finds a blog post via Google
- Visitor opts into a lead magnet (most of mine are a classic five page guide), which puts them on my mailing list
- Some magical techy stuff happens in the backend of ConvertKit where the new subscriber is tagged a few different ways, including "in sequence," so I know they're receiving a sequence right now
- They typically receive a five day nurture sequence to correspond with points in the guide they downloaded
- They DO NOT receive my weekly-plus emails until they've received the totality of the nurture sequence
This framework was something I established when I had a very very small email list, and it has served me very well! I teach this to clients and in our membership—it's doable, it forces you to create the foundations for a body of work you can reuse and repurpose. Seriously, if you don't have a plan for how to build and nurture your audience, borrow this tried and true template.
However, I had an epiphany that maybe the nurture sequence isn't necessary anymore at this point in my journey. I could be wrong—it happens. But, after a million thirteen years in business, right now, I'm not convinced that the nurture sequences are serving our company or our audience right now.
Here's why.
These sequences have a fairly high opt-out rate (about 30%), and don't have that much engagement in terms clicks or replies (my weekly-plus emails definitely have high rates of both).
I have a theory that my weekly (plus) emails ARE a nurture sequence on their own. They allow folks to get to know me, know our company, learn about our philosophy, etc. They do this just as well as any nurture sequence—at this point in time.
I could not have said the same a year ago.
My point here is not to tell you to eliminate your nurture sequence (assuming you have one), but instead it's to continue to evaluate your tactics to ensure they're in alignment with whatever you're building for yourself. I'm going to see how it goes turning off all but one (one is a short but useful sequence that has few unsubscribes) evergreen sequence and see what happens. Maybe I'm right and I don't need it right now. Maybe I'm wrong and my subscribers will be confused by my emails without getting to know me first.
We'll see! (And I'll report back.)
Warmly,
Sarah
Founder, Sarah Moon & Co
sarahmoon.net | hello@sarahmoon.net
P.S. Our membership is open again! Annual subscriptions are sold out, but you can still join as a monthly, no-commitment, member.