Sending the Right Email at the Right Time with AWeber

By Tom Tate September 19, 2017

There’s an old adage in marketing. It’s all about getting the right message to the right person at the right time.

With AWeber’s ability to trigger automated email sequences with tags and then create segmented audiences to send one-time broadcast emails, you can be even more relevant and successful in a subscriber’s inbox.

But wait a minute, automated sequences, tagging, segmentation … how does this actually work in practical examples? Wow, I’m so glad you asked. Let me break down a few common use cases. 😉

Using tags to send automated campaigns

One of the most practical applications of tagging subscribers is to trigger a contextual welcome campaign – a series of automated emails that are crafted to welcome your new subscribers and meet their needs.

You can easily do this in AWeber. Watch this video to learn how:

To do this, simply add a tag to your AWeber web form, or use one of our trusted integration partners that support tagging.

When your subscriber is added to your list, the appropriate tag will be added as well.

Then, create an automated sequence of emails using AWeber’s Campaigns. Set the campaign to trigger (or launch) when a subscriber has the applied tag, and this specific campaign will be delivered to your new subscriber.

Delivering segmented campaigns using tags

In many cases, a single welcome series will meet your audience’s needs, but there will be times when you want to send more targeted and personalized content to your new subscribers.

To learn how to do this in AWeber, watch this short video:

Here’s an example:

Let’s say you sell digital courses for people who want to write and publish their own books. You may have a course for individuals who are just getting started, and separate courses for those who have already written their book, or at least are a bit further along.

If you send tips for writing your first book to people who are already successfully published, you’ll lose relevancy. If you send advanced publishing tips to those who haven’t written their book yet, you’ll potentially overwhelm new subscribers.

To deliver the best value and promote the right products, this is the perfect opportunity to segment your audience.

Here’s how you can send targeted automated emails to your new subscribers using tags:

First, create a new sign up form that asks a question which allows subscribers to self-select based on their needs.

Using the example above, you might include a question “Can you tell me about yourself?”

Here you can include options that include your two subscriber personas.

Your audience can choose: “I’m just getting started with writing my first book,” or “I’ve already written my first book.”

When setting up this form, add a tag for beginner if the subscriber is just getting started, and a tag for advanced if the subscriber is further along. Many of our integrations that support tags can accommodate this functionality as well.

Using Campaigns, you’ll follow the same process outlined above, creating an automated welcome sequence to deliver emails to your new subscribers based on a tag. However, you’ll now create two distinct campaigns to be sent based on the two distinct tags we’ve set up.

Voila! The right messages to the right person, which can then promote the right products and services that will help you grow your business.

Stop blasting your subscribers by waiting until a campaign is over

Sending one-time broadcast emails to subscribers who are also in an automated sequence can be a very successful strategy. For example, if you send evergreen content every Thursday for 10 weeks, and a weekly newsletter on Mondays, you’ll have two opportunities to engage with your subscribers. As long as you set the expectation that your subscribers will hear from you twice a week, you’ll be good to go.

However, there may be times where you don’t want to send any broadcasts to subscribers who are currently in the middle of an automated campaign. Perhaps you are delivering a six-week email course, and don’t want to confuse your subscribers with other content.

Here’s how to use tags to prevent subscribers within a campaign from receiving your other broadcasts:

You’ll need a way to indicate that your subscriber has completed the campaign. At the end of the campaign, add an Apply Tag action.

Create a tag that is easy to remember, such as “completed-course.”

Next, on your Subscriber Management page, create a segment that includes tag is “completed-course.”

Give this segment a name, and save it.

This segment will grow as new subscribers are added to your list and complete the campaign. The segment itself will dynamically update; it’s not simply a snapshot of subscribers at the time that you create it.

When scheduling a broadcast, select the new segment, and you can be assured that only subscribers who have finished your campaign will receive the message.

This is a great way to send more strategically, and even offer relevant follow up promotions to subscribers who finished a course or series.

(Note: Only subscribers that have gone through the campaign received this final tag. Any existing subscribers on the list before the campaign was created would not have it, and therefore would not be included in the segment. You can manually or bulk apply the tag to your subscribers if you’d like to include them.)

Get started with targeted emails and segmentation

Log in to your AWeber account today to start implementing these strategies. Or, reach out to our award-winning customer solutions team if you have any questions!