It’s important to know your audience and speak their language, literally and figuratively. You must understand what is interesting, important, and exciting to them, and go out of your way to speak to what’s truly on their mind.
 
1. Make it easy to connect
Have tools in place to make it easy for someone to book a call or meeting with you. Consider using an automated calendar booking tool like Calendly. There are many options to choose from, but what I find key, is setting aside specific days and times in my calendar to batch similar activities, e.g. introductory phone calls vs delivering coaching or consulting sessions.

You can set up automated reminders for yourself that also goes to the person who booked the call or meeting, which ensures meetings aren’t missed or can be rescheduled if a conflict arises.

An automatic thank you email after the meeting is a warm wrap-up to the meeting, giving you a little time to complete any promised responses or offers made during the meeting.

Pro-tip: Be sure to leave room in your calendar for preparation or follow-up before or after sessions as well. This can be set up as part of your calendar automation workflow.
 
2. Make a compelling invitation
This may be an easy sign-up for your blogs or newsletter. You may have a free offering, tool, or event that speaks to what your audience may be looking to overcome. This is called your lead magnet, so be sure it provides value and draws them closer to you and your business.

We include links in all our email signatures to book a meeting, attend an upcoming event or join our newsletter community.

You can also share invitations and offers directly to your email audience, via your website, social media feeds, or even more broadly via digital advertising.
 
3. Educate them
Once someone has accepted to be part of your community by agreeing to meet or participate with your offer, prepare a series of welcome emails to introduce yourself, your brand, your “why” and your offers.

It’s important for it to be a series, beginning with a short welcome email, followed by a series of easy to digest messages. As my colleague Kim Kiel shares in her podcast, think of it as a dinner party. A warm start is like offering a welcome refreshment. Follow that by an appetizer plater, before the main course. The surprise side dish is a way to have the recipient bring something to the meal. And finally, always leave them wanting more by ending with a sweet treat for dessert. Listen to Kim’s Feb 28 podcast for all her juicy tips and take the time to get this right!
 
4. Setting the right tone
Modern marketing tools allow us to delight our clients and keep our offers top-of-mind. To create the right tone takes careful planning. The ideal outcome is to automate as much as possible in your voice and brand, so when someone meets you in person or live at an online event or presentation, they feel familiar and comfortable – as if they already know you. Just like the songbirds who call to their mates and flocks, it’s important to find your distinct voice in the market and impress it into every touch point – that’s why it’s called branding!
 
5. Rinse and repeat
The key to truly leveraging your marketing automation tools is to listen to the feedback you receive. In the early stages there may be a few things to streamline or tweak, so be sure to test, and then test everything again. Our tip is to test it on yourself. Sign up and experience it personally while considering how your recipient may feel. One of our clients responded, “Based on this, I’d hire me!”

It’s music to my ears when during an introductory or discovery call people say they feel they know us already. They are genuinely delighted to discover speaking to me in person matches their impression from our initial welcome emails.

When participants willingly agree to be part of our community and accept our newsletters and special offers, only available to our valued followers – they become our flock.

This consistency and authenticity contribute to the powerful “know”, “like” and “trust” factor that shortens your sales cycle.
 
6. Review and update
Nothing is forever, so be sure to review and update any automations and workflows on a regular basis to ensure the content and the tone is aligned with your most current offerings, audience and initiatives.

Also consider if there have been changes in email protocols to be sure you are truly reaching your audience.

Look at what’s been successful and integrate it where you need to increase your impact.

Check your email stats monthly. Are emails bouncing? Do you need to update an address? Are people unsubscribing? Unsubscribing isn’t necessarily bad, as your content may no longer match with someone who’s been on your list for a while. No need to take it personally, let them go, and accept you aren’t and don’t need to be the best fit for everyone. It’s far more important to see who is actively engaged with your content. This is where you will want to focus your attention and energy.

Which emails are unopened? You may want to follow-up to see if your emails are going to spam or junk and request your email sender address be designated as a safe sender.

Are all images and links up to date? We ALWAYS check all links to be sure they are active and accurate.

Is everything, and we mean every little thing, on brand? Consistency is key, which avoids confusion. Confused people don’t buy. So, ensure your message, images, content, and offers are clear and consistent.

Let us know, which tip will you implement to increase awareness with your flock?
 
Reach out if you need assistance engaging and delighting your community.