Hi Mike,

The good news is that you're at least converting your traffic into subscribers. But certainly 3 sales on 500 subscribers is nowhere near what you need. 

In most cases when this happens there is something in your funnel that is turning people off. It could be the email copy, the blog copy, the general presentation, the tools and formatting you are using to deliver your messages, or even the music.

It's also possible that the targeting could be off and that your ads and squeeze page are doing a good job of connecting with an audience, but the music is not lining up with expectations. I don't mean on a quality level, so much as a branding level.

There are so many variables that it's really hard to diagnose without spending an hour going through everything. You could try posting emails and links here and I'd be happy to at least offer an opinion. I'd just ask that you post one thing at a time so that things don't become too overwhelming. In other words, the first email and a link. Then I offer feedback, then you post the next email and link, etc.

A couple of initial questions... 

Are you using Aweber?

What are the follow up email open rates?

Hey Mike,

Really sorry for the slow response. I had thought I responded and only just saw now that I didn't. My apologies.

The squeeze page looks really good. Not surprised it's converting well.

Those open rates are pretty low. Sp something seems a bit off there. Only 90 people made it to your LTO which makes the 3 sales not sound nearly as bad. But regardless, we calculate off of list size so that is still low.

The first email you posted is well written and clear, but I feel like it might be giving away too much info. The goal of the headline is always to get the open, the goal of the email is always to get the click, and the goal of the content they click on is to inspire an action. At east as a general rule. 

The email above tells me a bunch of info that is more about you than me and tells me exactly what to expect going forward. Don't get me wrong, I think it reads really well, but on a marketing level, it's possible this is the equivalent of sitting down on a first date and talking too much about yourself.

In script writing they often say "show me, don't tell me", and I think that may be what's needed here. If you are going to tell me about your band I think you might do better showing me in the context of a story. 

Same goes for the subject line. There is nothing wrong with it at all. But it's about you, and not about moving the story along, and me through it. That make sense?

And again, I want to stress... I don't see what you have as a glaring problem. Rather it's just my best guess so far as to why the engagement might be so low. 

I think you can drop this email altogether and take me to some content where I can engage/listen/comment/be moved/whatever.

That said, I'm still concerned by the low open rate. I'm not sure this is the only problem. Do you have the double opt in turned on or off?

Did you just turn it on, or did you start a duplicate list with it turned on. There is no way to reset the stats, even if you change the emails (last I checked), so in order to see what the change yields you need to start a new list, not just turn it on, The change in stats will be too slow otherwise.

I would personally drop the other email and go right into this second email. Another reaction that I personally have (totally just my opinion) is that you make a lot of statements about how the video is "amazing", and "how is it possible" to make something so good for the price, etc, and it triggers a little resistance from me. I know it's not your intention to come off as cocky or anything but it causes me to think "I'll be the judge of how amazing it is" rather than just thinking about how there might be a cool video/story on the other end of the click. That make sense? The story also seems to extend to another email, which makes me not want to bother tuning in if there is more to this story. But again, this is all just one person's impression. You need to decide for yourself if there is anything to this.

Instead I would personally focus on whatever experience watching the music video will inspire, and perhaps the fact that it was done on a shoe string budget (if that compliments your brand in some way).

I like the headline though. Perhaps why the open rate was just as good as email #1, when it should have dropped a bit. 

Another thing to consider is that maybe you are explaining a little too much in the emails instead of just creating curiosity and getting the click. I walk away from this thinking that there is a music video at the URL that you think is amazing, but which I'll have to read another email to fully realize. That's me being harsh to make a point, not trying to be critical at all.

I took a peek at the video and it's far more interesting then the email leads me to imagine. You've got these cartoon heads and there is choreographed dancing! I don't know what descriptors you use to describe the animated heads or the style, but I can easily imagine how a simple sentence or two would make me need to click to see what the heck you were talking about. You could even use an image graphic of the most outrageous moment in the video and paste it in the email so it looked like a youtube video that someone could click to watch, but when they click it takes them to the post. 

It's hard to imagine someone not clicking on the attached in an email:

A simple curiosity stirring headline and a few paragraphs of copy that entices them to click to find out what this crazy video is all about would probably be a more effective angle.

This making sense at all?

Just noticed that the text wrapped around the image. That was not my intent. Also, note that I made the video a bit smaller than you had it. I would go a little smaller than the width of each line.

Hey Mike,

My apologies for the slow response. It was my son's birthday this weekend and that took me a way from the computer for a few days.

I think everything your doing is on the right track. We all have different sensibilities and there is no right or wrong approach, only good and bad results, which we can't know until we test. To my mind, I think this new email doesn't provoke quite as much curiosity as the one I had drafted, but of course I drafted it so it spoke to my mind. This email is in your voice and therefore may end up being better. But it's hard to say until you run some traffic.

The only resistance that went up in my mind was that in your emails there tends to be a stronger assumption that I already care about your music. 

Certain comments like "The mask is coming off! I’ll need to go face to face with you if I’m going to reveal the secret meaning for these crazy masks," has a rock star air about it, which is hard to pull off and may cause some people to ask themselves if they care or not. Whereas the email draft I used as an example was more playful, and put yourself on the same level as the reader. Or at least that was the goal. A big part of copy writing is just avoiding setting off resistance. I'm really splitting hairs here and I don't think what you have is bad at all. Just offering one potential perspective you may have not considered because you're so close to your own project. Hope that feedback comes off as intended, and not critical.

You mentioned subject lines. I'm not seeing any new subject lines. Did I miss that?

Cool. To my eyes that's a lot better. It makes it much easier to relate to you. The only thing I would change is the image. I would use a video icon that is as extreme as possible, and shows you with the mask on. I'd try to make the reader go WTF is that? And just about need to click.

I'm a little lost on which email is which. Isn't email #1 the free download?

I love the new photo!

And yes, I would personally set it up so that the first email delivers the free track. Even if it's just a link to the download page you currently have. This trains your prospect to engage with your emails. I also think that sending them a music video immediately after they sign up is too soon and will cause some confusion. People might not realize that they are two different things. They see the download page and assume the email is just sending the same link, as that is standard. So they don't open it. Those that do get a little too much content right out of the gate. This could be a huge part of those low open rates.

Good luck. Reach out any time 🙂