DigitalMarketer

  • Get Started
    • Ultimate Guide to Digital Marketing
    • Marketing Skills Audit
    • Free DigitalMarketer Account
    • Content Marketing Resources
    • Email Marketing Resources
    • Paid Traffic Resources
  • Membership
    • Insider
    • Lab
    • Lab ELITE
    • HQ (For Managers & Teams)
    • Certified Partners
  • Products
    • On-Demand Workshops
    • Certifications & Master Classes
    • Playbooks
    • DigitalMarketer HQ Login
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
    • DigitalMarketer Podcast
    • Perpetual Traffic
  • DM Partners
    • Partners Directory
    • Become a Partner
  • Cart
  • Log In

What is an Email Funnel?

August 14, 2020 By DigitalMarketer

Share126
126 Shares

As a consumer—it would be nearly impossible to count the number of email funnels that have hit your inbox.

We can safely say, it’s been a lot. Businesses love email funnels because they swiftly move new subscribers toward their first purchase. Let’s take a look at the Customer Value Journey to get an idea of where your prospects are when they become subscribers.

The Customer Value Journey is the journey a prospect takes from finding out a business exists (Stage 1: Awareness) to becoming such a raving fan of it they’re actively promoting the business like a salesperson only they pay you (Stage 8: Promote). 📣

When we talk about email funnels, we’re talking about the shift of a prospect choosing to become a subscriber (Stage 3: Subscribe) to buying your first offer (Stage 4: Convert).

Email funnels are a big deal in the marketing world because they work… really, really well. People are still tuned into their inboxes, check out these statistics from OptinMonster:

  • 99% of email users check their email every day
  • 85% of the people you send an email to will receive your email
  • More than 75% of teenagers still use email

Yep, you don’t need to figure out how to renegade on TikTok anytime soon; emails can reach every demographic you’re interested in.

How Email Funnels Work

Email funnels turn subscribers into customers by using specific strategies that sell products or services. We’ll get into those strategies in a minute, but first, take a look at the return businesses are seeing on their email funnels:

  • For every $1 spent, email has an average ROI of $38
  • Segmented campaigns can reach a 760% increase in revenue
  • Compared to Facebook or Twitter, email is 40 times more effective at acquiring new customers

The number of emails you use in your funnel is going to depend on what you’re selling, but generally you’ll use a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 7. If your subscriber hasn’t converted by your seventh email about this offer—then you don’t want to keep bombarding them with it.

When you’re putting together your email funnel, you’re going to be highly focused on the copy you use. There are 4 emotional triggers to use in your email funnels:

  1. Gain: What does the subscriber gain by buying the product/service?
  2. Logic: Why does buying the product/service make total sense for them?
  3. Fear: What happens if they don’t buy the product/service?
  4. Scarcity: How long do they have to choose to buy this specific product/service?

Each email is going to follow a similar template:

  1. Introduction: Give a warm introduction to what you’re about to talk about (you wouldn’t walk up to somebody and start talking without at least saying a few introductory words first)
  2. Body: Use gain, logic, fear, and/or scarcity to show them why this offers matters to them NOW
  3. Close: Craft a clear call to action
  4. P.S. (Not always used): Add in extra gain, logic, fear, or scarcity

Here’s an example of an email funnel we ran for our Napkin Challenge. The first email uses logic and curiosity to drive the subscriber to want to create a marketing plan that gets them customers.

Subject Line: The napkin that cleaned up a $248k mess

Preview Text: A how-to guide for fixing a BIG problem

Touching on the fear business owners have over the complication of marketing these days, our second email was quick and to the point.

Subject Line: why is this so complicated?

Preview Text: Maybe marketing isn’t the problem.

And then our third email used everything we know about the pain points of our avatars (thanks to the Customer Avatar Worksheet) to show them what they would gain from taking part in The Napkin Challenge.


Subject Line: time to hit the reset button

Preview Text: There’s no “do over” button, just “do better”

If you want to look at more email funnels, take a look at your inbox. Now that you’re familiar with what an email funnel is, you’ll realize that you’ve gotten a lot of these emails in the past. Some may have worked well (you bought the product) and others not so well (either the funnel was off, or you weren’t their target avatar).

Email funnels are a BIG part of marketing strategies because they’re the platform that moves subscribers from Stage 3 of the Customer Value Journey to Stage 4, the stage where they become first-time customers of your business.

And that’s a big deal for every business. 🎉

Get Free Access to DigitalMarketer's Training Library

Share126
126 Shares
DigitalMarketer

DigitalMarketer

The lovely content team here at DigitalMarketer works hard to make sure you have the best blog posts to read. But some posts require a group effort, and we decided to stop the rock-paper-scissors tournaments that decided the byline so that we had more time to write. Besides, we all graduated from kindergarten: we can share.

Previous Post 6 Marketing Lessons from Shark Tank
Next Post A Traditional Marketing Success Story: How Oatly Dominated Plant Milks Without Using Social Media

Search the Blog

Popular Posts

  • 101 Best Email Subject Lines of 2020

  • What is Digital Marketing?

  • Launch a podcast

    How to Launch a Podcast, Drive it to the Top of the Charts, AND Keep it There in Just 4 Steps

  • Build a marketing team

    How to Build a Marketing Dream Team for Your Brand (Even if You Aren’t a Marketer)

  • The Ad Grid | Build and Scale Campaigns

    The Ad Grid: How to Build Traffic Campaigns that Convert Higher and Scale Faster

Stay In The Know

DigitalMarketer Insider Newsletter

Subscribe to the DM Insider Newsletter and get (at least) five timely, tactical marketing ideas delivered to your inbox every Monday morning.

By submitting this form you are agreeing to our Terms & Conditions.

Ready to scale your marketing agency?

FREE TRAINING:

Learn How To Generate $3,500/mo Retainer Clients and Scale Your Marketing Consulting Practice

LEARN MORE »

This FREE Training Is Limited, So Register Now!

    Topics

    • Ultimate Guide to Digital Marketing
    • Marketing Resources
    • Marketing Skills Audit
    • Marketing Tools
    • News

    Main Menu

    • Blog
    • Podcasts
    • Contact Us
    • Sign In
    • Join

    Learn More

    • Traffic & Conversion Summit
    • DigitalMarketer Insider
    • DigitalMarketer Lab
    • DigitalMarketer Lab ELITE
    • About Us
    • Careers

    LET US HELP YOU
    BECOME THE SMARTEST MARKETER IN THE ROOM

    • Home
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions
    • SUPPORT

    4330 Gaines Ranch Loop Suite 120 Austin, Texas 78735
    ©Copyright 2021 DigitalMarketer - All rights reserved