for Your Indoctrination Series
A simple indoctrination series contains:
A welcome email
2-3 bonding emails
Optional survey
Optional low-pressure offer
In this guide, I share templates that you can use to craft your perfect emails. Keep in mind
that these are only a guide. You can and should test your structures and messaging to be
sure you’re engaging your audience.
Things to keep in mind:
1. Be conversational. Let people see the human behind the brand. Write like you talk.
2. Talk more about your reader than about yourself.
3. Your goal is to train your subscribers to open and read your emails, so write
something that’s worth reading.
4. Your next goal is to train your subscribers to click through to your site. Make sure
you add downloads and links that build anticipation and curiosity.
5. Create a natural flow of ideas and messages that make your subscribers feel good
about being part of your community.
Template: Welcome Email
I include two examples here:
A long welcome email (one that I’ve tested for my business), so you can see all the
elements that can be tested in your emails.
A short version, to give you an idea of how it may be adapted.
Follow the structure of the example that seems most appropriate for your brand and
subscribers. Or mix and match to create a unique blend.
Example: Long Welcome Email
Subject: Welcome! and a Few Extra Goodies
Kathryn Aragon here. I wanted to officially welcome you to the
community.
I’m looking forward to learning more about you and sharing
innovative solutions to help you stay on top of what’s working in
content marketing.
Keep reading to learn what you can expect from me, and then I have
a surprise for you.
Here's what you can expect…
First, you won’t get a ton of emails from me.
Over the next five days or so, you’ll get a daily email, but after that,
there’s no real schedule.
I publish new blog posts irregularly, usually every 3-6 weeks or when I
have something worth sharing. You’ll get an email after an article
goes live, alerting you that there’s something new for you to check
out.
I also create content outside the blog—special training, ebooks and
even physical books. As these become available, I’ll shoot you some
emails about them, so you know what’s available.
Periodically, I may also send emails about industry news, free
downloads or premium resources you need to know about.
To be clear, while I don’t want to flood your inbox, I do want you to
have the resources you need when you need them.
Sound fair? GOOD!
Here’s the surprise I told you about…
For the past few years, everyone’s been preaching the benefits of
content marketing, so there’s been a ton of information about the
need for content and how to create content.
The trouble is, what most marketers need are results. Especially with
something as time- and money-intensive as content marketing.
< Identify
yourself and
share a welcome
message.
< They won’t
read further if
you don’t give
them reason to.
Tell what to
expect in this
email.
< Tell them what
to expect as a
subscriber: how
many emails
they’ll get and
why.
So I help people communicate, connect, and convert. In other words, I
like to talk about content and conversion.
Also, I want to make sure I’m providing plenty of value, so I like to give
away better content for FREE than most people charge money for.
That’s just what I’m doing now…
Watch your email tomorrow because there’s a special gift coming
your way. The subject will be, “Your Gift, and Why I Don’t Do Business
Like Everyone Else.”
All the best,
Kathryn Aragon
P.S. Make sure you don’t miss anything! Take a few minutes right now
to whitelist my emails and connect in social media.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KathrynAragon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KathrynAragon.Author
P.P.S. If you have a second, I'd love to know: What can I do to
help you solve your biggest problem right now?
Just reply to this email or shoot me a quick email
at: Katie@KathrynAragon.com. I’ll be watching for your email!
< Here, I
mention the gift
and explain it
will come
tomorrow. The
goal: to create
anticipation.
< The boring
housekeeping
stuff goes here.
(You may copy
my whitelist
page if you like)
< This is to
encourage
engagement.
Template: Short Welcome
Subject: Welcome!
Welcome! And thanks for joining the community!
I’ll do my best to keep you updated on what’s trending in content marketing—without
flooding your inbox.
You’ll get blog alerts when posts go live—about every 2-6 weeks. And I’ll let you know when
I produce special training, ebooks, or physical books, so you don’t miss anything.
I’ve got more great stuff to share with you in the next few days, including a surprise
tomorrow. (So be watching your email!)
In the meantime, here’s some light reading you might enjoy.
Article 1
Article 2
Article 3
Until tomorrow,
All the best,
[Your Name]
P.S. Make sure you don’t miss anything! Take a few minutes right now to whitelist my
emails and connect in social media.
Twitter:
Facebook:
P.P.S. If you have a second, I'd love to know: What can I do to help you solve your
biggest problem right now?
Just reply to this email or shoot me a quick email at: email@YourBiz.com. I’ll be
watching for your email!
Template: Share Useful Information
If you want a shorter indoctrination series, this is a good email to use. It’s simple and gets
your subscribers used to exploring your site.
Subject: Some Light Reading While You’re Waiting
Thanks for signing up for my newsletter.
I wanted to share a few of my best posts while you wait for my next newsletter:
Post 1
Post 2
Post 3
Post 4
Post 5
Be watching for my email tomorrow. I’ve got more great stuff to share with you.
Until then,
Your Name
Template: Your Story + a Gift
In my second email, you can try telling a personal story to create liking and loyalty. But be
careful not to make it a long story. People are less likely to read a long email.
If you can tell a story that’s quick and concise, do that. Otherwise, consider these options:
Skip the story and share your values or a customer success story.
Upload the story to your website and give them a link to click through.
Put your story in an ebook and make it another gift.
NOTE: You can try different approaches to every element in your indoctrination series: the
stories you tell, the length of your emails, the emotion or values you try to convey.
Only through testing will you figure out what resonates with your subscribers and builds
community. Here’s how you do that:
1. Watch your open and clickthrough rates, so you know what’s working and what isn’t.
2. For the things that aren’t working, create a hypothesis for why they aren’t working
and what might work better.
3. Try your idea and test it
4. Watch the numbers to see if they improve or worsen.
5. Tweak what works and change what doesn’t.
Look on the next page for the story/values bonding email template.
Subject: Your Gift, as Promised
If you read yesterday’s email, you may have already figured out
that I don’t do business like most digital marketers…
I don’t blog every week.
I don’t email you every day to keep my name at the top of your
inbox.
I prefer to treat you like a friend, because that’s what you are.
Why the difference? Because I believe truly successful
businesses have balance: work/life balance as well as
investment/profit balance.
That’s actually why I love content marketing. It’s the smartest
growth hack I know, impacting every stage of the customer
journey and serving as the foundation for every funnel you
build.
Talk about powerful!
Seriously, if you master content marketing, you’ve mastered
something like 80% of marketing.
Which simplifies your work—so you can grow your business
and still have a life.
Which brings me to the surprise I promised you…
How to Get the Most from Gated Content
It’s a 35-page report that discusses how marketers approach
gated content (there’s no one way to do it) and what’s working
now.
Download it now. If you have any questions, hit reply to this
email and let me know.
Until tomorrow,
Kathryn
< Remind them of
yesterday’s email, so they
remember who you are.
< Your differentiators
< Tell them why you’re
different, so readers
understand how it
benefits them.
< Transition to your gift,
and explain what it is.
< Add an interesting P.S.
if you’d like. Maybe
create anticipation for
tomorrow’s email.
Template: Gift
If all you want to do is give a gift, this is a short, simple template to use.
Subject: Your Gift, Just for Subscribing
We're glad you've joined the community. And as our way of saying thanks, we
wanted to give you this ebook. There's no obligation and no opt-in. Just download
and enjoy.
[Link to the Download]
Enjoy!
Your Name
Your Signature Block
