Here’s a question I received recently from one of my blog readers.

“I know everyone says the money is in the list, but I’ve been building my list and I feel like my subscribers just aren’t paying attention. There is a lot of competition in my market and I can’t seem to figure out how to stand out.

Melanie”

This is certainly not an uncommon problem. People are so inundated with email in general, it’s tough to get attention in an overflowing email inbox. Now, there are plenty of things you can do to get more attention (ex. testing your subject lines, teasing readers about your next email, etc.), but I’ve grabbed an excerpt from the Email Marketing Reform School that goes right back to the beginning and might help.

Before you even start a list, it’s important not only to define your target market, but come up with what makes your list unique – often called USP (Unique Selling Position) in terms of your overall business.

AND NOTE: You should define this your target & uniqueness for each and every list because each list serves a different purpose, even if the target markets are similar. This is what helps you relate to your audience more specifically and what makes them feel like you understand them, offer them value and that they can’t get enough of you!

Here’s the excerpt from the Reform School:

“UEP (Unique Emailing Position): UEP is an acronym I made up for our purposes (you won’t find it in any copywriting or marketing guide that I know of) and it stands for Unique Emailing Position. I have chosen this name so that you can really try to imagine your USP in the terms of your email marketing.

In short, your UEP is what sets you apart from others in your market using email to reach their prospects and customers. Put another way, a UEP is some unique thing you offer to your readers that competition is not. It’s the reason your subscribers sign up to your list, stay subscribers, open and act upon your email.

Here are just a few examples of a UEP. Your UEP will likely be very different as these examples won’t necessarily be appropriate to all types of lists. These ideas is just to help you start thinking about your own UEP.

o Do you offer more in-depth information on specific topics?
o Do you provide the honest reviews other people are afraid to do?
o Is your list attractive because you provide easy-to-understand condensed information?
o Does your mailing list motivate people into taking action?
o Is your list a humorous look at your topic?
o Do you send more frequent up-to-the-minute information?
o Are you dedicated to answering your readers’ questions and engaging in dialogue with them (Mind your time on something like this and look at the tips in the “Asking” section a little later in this lesson)?
o Do you offer exclusive interviews to people of influence in your target market?

UEP (or USP) is a concept that is often difficult for people because every business and mailing list is different. You need to really sit down, brainstorm and figure out your UEP because if you don’t, it’s hard to stand out from the crowd and compete in your market.

Here is one of the most important questions you’ll ask yourself when formulating your UEP:

“Why would my subscriber sign up for my list, instead of someone else’s? Why would they continue to stay subscribed?”

Take a look at other mailing lists / newsletters in your target market. What are they doing that you can do even better? If you’re on any customer lists (if not, try to get on some), see how your competitors treat their customers via email.”

It’s a small starting point that can make a big difference in your email marketing. Once you have your UEP down, you can more effectively market for new subscribers and get your existing ones a whole lot more responsive.

By the way, Reform School starts Monday, so be sure to book your spot now.

4 Responses to “How Do I Get My Subscribers to Pay Attention?”