How to Structure Your Follow-Up Sequences

I was telling you last time about my early misadventures as a Google Ads consultant. I strongly suspected that the clients who left (and in certain cases, threw rocks), weren’t following up consistently with their leads.

I had always followed up using email in my own business. On my website I offered a lead magnet called ‘How to Waste ￡1000 on Google AdWords, in No Time Flat’. When people opted in I offered them a printed booklet on the thank-you page. (This was my earliest iteration of the ‘Lead Incubator’!) About half of the people who opted in requested the printed guide. Most of my best clients came from that group.

Additionally, when people opted in, I added people to a 14-part email sequence that told my story. (This was my earliest ‘Core Story’ email series.) My absolute best clients usually responded at the end or part way through that sequence.

The same follow-up structure still underpins my ‘Lead Incubator’ follow-up system today. Let me talk you through the Lead Incubator structure in more detail...

First, What’s The Lead Incubator?

The Lead Incubator is an automated marketing system for onboarding new potential clients as they enter your world. Email is still the main follow-up channel, but you’re also using mail and podcasting, too.

The full system looks like this (click to expand):

What Web Pages Will You Need?

The Lead Incubator begins at the point where people opt-in to your world. New contacts opt-in by one of two routes:

LP1: They opt-in for a specific “lead magnet” or giveaway. This form will usually exist on a page dedicated to that specific lead magnet, although it could be a form within a page section somewhere else on your website.

LF2: They opt-in to your email list without requesting a specific guide or giveaway.

When people complete either of these forms you send them to a thank-you page (TY1 on the diagram) which thanks them for opting in, and offers them a free book or booklet in exchange for joining your print mailing list. When people request your book you send them to a second thank you page, offering either a time-based offer or a paid-trial offer. (TY2A or TY2B on the diagram).

If your goal is to generate new 1-1 clients, normally you’ll offer a time-based offer as a precursor to closing a sale. Your time-based offer could be a free consultation, or a training offer such as a webinar.

If your service is a monthly subscription, you may wish to offer a paid trial so that people can sample your full membership for a month (or for some period) at a reduced rate.

What Email Sequences Will You Need?

Of course, most clients will not complete all of these steps at the first visit, so I recommend you create the following email sequences:

E01: Deliver the goods!

In this sequence you deliver the lead magnet they opted in for (if they opted in for a specific lead magnet). Explain what problem the lead magnet will solve, and encourage them to use it. The ‘Minimum Viable Product’ is to have 1 email in this sequence, although you could have two or three emails pointing to different aspects of your lead magnet.

E02: Orientation

Your orientation sequence is meant to welcome people into your world, orient them toward your best materials, and showcase the core pillars of your message. (The article you’re reading now also exists as email 3 in my orientation sequence.)

The Minimum Viable Product for this sequence is one orientation email, outlining who you are, what you stand for, and where your best resources can be found. Once you have contacts coming through your Lead Incubator I recommend building out all 5 emails. You can also then create a podcast version of each email.

At the end of E02 you should repeat your offer.

E03: Core Story Sequence

Your core story sequence contains 10 emails that share more of your personal story. Across the series you'll showcase your depth of understanding about the problem you solve, culminating in your ‘key insight’ and the outcome you provide.

Your personal story acts as a natural filtering mechanism. Ideal clients who share your values will engage with your emails, perhaps even replying to you directly. Nightmare clients will be put off by your stories and will unsubscribe. You should generate some unsubscribes from your core story sequence.

The Minimum Viable Product of your core story sequence is just 3 emails! (One from the beginning, middle, and end of your story.) Over time, you should build out the full ten emails.

Repeat your offer at the end of E03. You can link to page TY02A/TY02B, but make sure you pass any contact details you’ve already gathered into the form. Don’t ask for their name and email address if you already know it! (Your systems provider should be able to help with this.)

E04: Greatest Hits

This sequence is the best of your previous ongoing communications, scheduled automatically and at a higher frequency.

For instance, if you publish a fresh article every 2 weeks, in your Greatest Hits sequence readers may receive one or two articles a week until they are caught up.

If you publish a new article every week, then send two or three articles per week in Greatest Hits. Repeat your offer every 4 weeks or so.

E05: Ongoing Communications

Subscribers in this sequence have completed your automated ‘onboarding’ emails and now receive everything new you publish, fresh out of the pan. My minimum recommended frequency for this group is fortnightly. If you aren’t emailing your list at least every two weeks people will start to forget who you are.

A fortnightly publishing schedule is also doable even if marketing isn’t your sole responsibility at your company! (You have other things to do, right?)

Repeat your offer every 8 to 12 weeks. Periodically remove contacts who never open your fortnightly emails.

As you publish new content, feel free to add these into your greatest hits sequence. By publishing every two weeks you’ll quickly find yourself with a chunky greatest hits sequence, and enough raw material for a book...

---

For more details on the mail sequences, custom segmentation and retargeting points, register for my free webinar next week.