What is an indoctrination automated email series
An indoctrination campaign is a welcome campaign for your prospects – basically a welcome from you and your brand. They call it an indoctrination series as this series should indoctrinate your prospects into your way of life, your brand, your values and what you stand for.
Why set-up an indoctrination email automation series?
The purpose of this series is to introduce a new subscriber to your company, explaining what you stand for, why you’re different, what they can expect and generally create a feel-good experience about their decision to sign up. A subscriber will receive this series immediately after subscribing, and will only receive this automation once.
How to set-up an indoctrination email automation series
The goal of the welcome series is to overcome common reservations customers may have in making their first purchase. Use each email to “knock down” each of these objections. All eCommerce customers have these 2 concerns: Shipping Cost, and Trust.
Each brand will have additional concerns based on their product or customers. If the product is complicated, then that may be a sticking point, or if it’s expensive, this could be another, or if the customers are old, they may not have bought online at all before, so sharing a phone number or support avenues can help.
To overcome these concerns, each email should address one of these concerns.
For example:
- Share shipping and return policies with an FAQ email
- Showcase customer testimonials and reviews to overcome trust issues.
- Education about the product with photos
- Care instructions within photos or a link to a tutorial video
We recommend that you start with a foundation of 4 emails in this welcome automation. The 4 emails in this series are:
Email 1: Welcome
Your welcome email is the first email that your subscribers receive when they subscribe to your email list. This email should welcome them to being a part of your community, you can explain what they can expect to receive and explain how to redeem their sign up offer.
A welcome email is so important for a new subscriber or customer to connect with your brand on a deeper level. This email demonstrates that you care for your community, that you want to reach out and make them feel welcome and understand a little more about you. From a functional perspective you also want to communicate to the subscriber how to make their initial purchase using the welcome offer.
Email 2: Letter from the founder
This is the second email in the welcome / indoctrination automation series. The founder email is about the founder or owner of the business. This is the opportunity for founders or owners to introduce themselves and what you are about – why you are in the business, why you care. Additionally, having a founder / business owner video can be a powerful tool in connecting deeper with your audience.
The founder email is to encourage engagement and foster brand loyalty. Consumers today want to authentically connect with brands and owners that they can relate to and share common values.
Email 3: Why us?
This is the third email in the welcome / indoctrination series. The ‘why us’ email is to explain what sets your brand apart from your competitors, highlighting key features that reminds your prospects or customers why they chose you, why you are different and why they want to continue an ongoing relationship with your brand.
The ‘why us’ email is to help the prospect understand the brand’s unique benefits to initiate purchases.
Email 4: Follow us on social
The ‘follow us’ email is to encourage the subscriber to take micro-commitments by following your social media channels. This will provide another opportunity to share valuable content that they can connect to and further developing a relationship with your brand.
The goal of the ‘follow us’ email is to further engage the prospect by having them follow you on your social media channels.
Some other effective emails to replace the follow us on social we recommend either an FAQ email, or a “customer review” showcase email. These types of emails get customers to the site, and can knock-out some barriers to purchasing and removing reasons not to buy.
