THE EMAIL GROWTH SHOW EPISODE 162

Today, we’re tackling a topic that I know has been on a lot of minds lately: Why aren’t my emails making sales?

Now, let’s rewind for a moment. Remember 2020? During the pandemic, there was this incredible bubble where online sales soared. People were spending more time online, making quicker buying decisions, and diving into e-commerce like never before. Inboxes were overflowing, and for a while, it felt almost easy to make a sale.

But here we are in 2024, and things have changed. The world, the economy, and the way people shop have evolved. Consumers are more cautious now. They’re evaluating purchases differently, taking more time, and looking for brands they can genuinely trust. Inboxes are even busier, and the tactics that used to work aren’t delivering the same results. If you’ve been using the same strategies as before, you might find your emails struggling to make an impact.

So, today, I’m breaking down three big reasons why your emails might not be generating sales – and I’ll share what’s working now. Let’s dig into how you can adapt, improve your email strategy, and connect with today’s more selective, thoughtful buyers!

Click play to listen to the episode in full below:

Reason #1: Overly Generalised Messaging

Let’s start with one of the biggest mistakes I see: overly generalised messaging.

[The Way It Used to Work]
Back in the day, it was common to send broad, one-size-fits-all emails to your whole list. Just getting a weekly email out the door was often enough to maintain some engagement. You didn’t necessarily need to focus on tailoring content, as audiences were still pretty engaged with basic promos or general updates.

[What’s Working Now]
Today, we’re in the era of personalization. People expect content that speaks to them directly, and when it doesn’t, they’re more likely to scroll past. Here’s what’s working now: segmenting your list based on your subscribers’ interests and engagement. Start by identifying your core segments. For instance:

• New subscribers who might need a warm welcome sequence.
• Loyal customers who respond well to exclusive offers.
• Past buyers who may be ready for a new offer or upgrade.

Once you have these segments, you can create emails that speak to each group’s unique needs. So, instead of sending one generic “sale now” email, you’re sending specific messages that highlight why each segment might be interested in your offer. Tailored messaging has a higher chance of converting because it makes the subscriber feel like you understand what they’re looking for, rather than giving them a generic pitch.

Reason #2: Product-Focused Over Relationship-Centered Content

Next up, let’s talk about the focus of your emails.

[The Way It Used to Work]
In the past, people were receptive to direct, product-focused emails. These emails were straightforward, saying, ‘Hey, here’s our product, here’s a sale, go buy it.’ With less competition in the inbox, this style worked pretty well.

[What’s Working Now]
Now, emails that perform well are those that focus on building a relationship first. Think of it as a ‘value first, product second’ approach. If every email is about a product and nothing else, it’s easy for subscribers to tune out. Instead, try leading with content that educates, inspires, or entertains them.

For example, if you’re selling skincare products, share a story about how someone transformed their routine or experienced a benefit from a certain ingredient. Or maybe share a ‘how-to’ guide on achieving a skin goal before mentioning your product as a part of that solution.

Another approach is to share relatable anecdotes or tips—something that feels more personal. These kinds of emails foster a connection with your audience. So when you do present your offer, they’re more engaged and willing to consider it, having built that trust over time.

Reason #3: Single-Email Sales Attempts

Lastly, let’s talk about one of the more tactical reasons sales may be falling flat—relying on single-email sales attempts.

[The Way It Used to Work]
Once upon a time, a single ‘flash sale’ or ‘last chance’ email could spark a wave of purchases. Back then, people received fewer emails, so a single push might have worked just fine.

[What’s Working Now]
Today, we’re inundated with emails, and it takes more than a one-and-done email to move someone to buy. What works now is building a mini sales sequence, where you introduce the offer gradually and allow your subscribers to warm up to the idea. Here’s an example of a simple sequence you could use:

• Email 1: Start with educational content or a tease that hints at the problem your product or service solves. Get them interested without fully revealing the offer.
• Email 2: Follow up with a testimonial or success story. Show how someone else benefited from what you’re offering.
• Email 3: Now it’s time to introduce the offer with a sense of urgency or exclusivity, like a limited-time bonus or discount.

With a sequence like this, you’re not overwhelming them with a hard sell right away. Instead, you’re creating a journey that gives them time to see the value and trust in what you’re offering. It’s a softer but more strategic approach, and it allows you to highlight different aspects of your offer along the way.

So there you have it!

These are three of the biggest reasons why sales might not be coming in from your emails, and each one has a clear solution that aligns with the way email marketing works today. Remember, it’s all about adapting: from generalised to personalised messaging, from product-focused to relationship-centered content, and from single emails to strategic sequences.

I hope this helps you take a fresh look at your email strategy. And remember, don’t get discouraged if it takes a little time to see the results. Building these connections takes time but can make all the difference in creating loyal subscribers who eventually become buyers.

Thanks for tuning in, and I’ll see you in the next episode!

And if you’re ready to really dive into these strategies and grow your email list faster, grab my free Your Next 1000 Subscribers – Ultimate Collaborations Guide. It’s packed with actionable steps to get started with collaborations right away – click here to grab it today!

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Full Transcript:

Kylie Kelly [00:00:00]:
It’s not our job to push somebody to purchase. We are not here to make them ready, we’re here to sell to them when they are ready. Are you a female business owner frustrated with battling the algorithm and looking for growth strategies that don’t involve awkwardly pointing or dancing online or throwing cash at paid ads? Welcome to The Email Growth Show. I’m your host, Kylie Kelly, visibility and email marketing strategist. I grew my email list from 0 to almost 10,000 subscribers in less than 2 years, and the same is possible for you too. Are you ready to build your email list and start making more money in your online business? Let’s head into today’s episode. Welcome back to The Email Growth Show. Today we’re tackling a topic that I know has been on a lot of minds lately.

Kylie Kelly [00:00:51]:
Why aren’t my emails making sales? Now let’s rewind for a minute. Do you remember 2020? During the pandemic, there was this incredible bubble where online sales soared. People were spending more time online, making quicker buying decisions, and diving into ecommerce like never before. Inboxes were overflowing and for a while it felt almost easy to make a sale. But here we are at the end of 2024 and things have changed. The world, the economy, the way people shop has evolved. Consumers are more cautious now. They’re evaluating purchases differently, taking more time, and looking for brands they can genuinely build trust with.

Kylie Kelly [00:01:30]:
Inboxes are even busier and the tactics that used to work aren’t delivering the same results. If you’ve been using the same strategies as before, you might find your emails struggling to make an impact and to make sales. So today, I wanted to break down 3 big reasons why your emails might not be generating sales and I’ll share what’s working now. Let’s dig into how you can adapt, improve your email strategy, and connect with today’s more selective, thoughtful buyers. Let’s dig in. So reason number 1, overly generalized marketing. I see this all the time. This is one of the biggest mistakes that I see because the way that it used to work, back in the day it was common to send broad, one size fits all emails to your whole list.

Kylie Kelly [00:02:14]:
Just getting a weekly email out the door was often enough to maintain some engagement. You didn’t necessarily need to focus on tailoring content as audiences were still pretty engaged with basic promos or general updates. But today, we’re in the era of personalization. People expect content that speaks to them directly and when it doesn’t they’re more likely to scroll past. Here’s what’s working now. Segmenting your list based on your subscribers interests and engagement. Start by identifying your core segments. For example, perhaps it is new subscribers who might need a warm welcome sequence, maybe loyal customers who respond well to exclusive offers, or past buyers who may be ready for a new offer or an upgrade.

Kylie Kelly [00:02:57]:
Once you have these three segments, you can then create emails that speak to each group’s unique needs. Look. I get that this sounds like work. It is work. Right? But look. The way that I see it is that just like that saying choose your hard, you need to choose what to work on. Anything worth having takes work. So if this is what you decide to do, instead of sending 1 generic sales or now email, send specific messages that highlight why each segment might be interested in your offer.

Kylie Kelly [00:03:28]:
Tailored messaging has a higher chance of converting because it makes a subscriber feel like you understand what they’re actually fucking looking for, right, rather than just giving them some generic pitch. That once again might have worked a few years ago but isn’t working now. So that is mistake number 1, overly generalized messaging. So ask yourself, the emails that you’re sending, the messaging that you have on your sales pages, on your website, are you speaking to a specific person? Do you have your email list segmented so you can send a personalised content to them? And if you don’t, please make sure this is the first thing that you tackle for 2025. Now, reason number 2, we’re gonna talk about the focus of your emails. So in the past, people were receptive to direct product focused emails. So these emails were straightforward saying like, hey, here’s our product, here’s a sale, go buy it. Right? Doesn’t that sound easy? With less competition in the inbox back then, this style worked pretty damn well.

Kylie Kelly [00:04:27]:
However, now, emails that perform well are those that focus on building relationships first. You guys hear me talk about this all the time. Think of it as a value first, product second approach. So if every email is about a product and nothing else, it’s pretty easy for your subscribers to tune out. Instead, try leading with content that educates, that inspires, that entertains them. Tell a story, share some value, Give them a tip or a piece of advice. Show them what’s possible. That kind of content is going to make all of the difference.

Kylie Kelly [00:05:01]:
So, for example, if you’re selling, let’s say, skincare. Let’s say you have a face cream. Cream. Share a story about how someone transformed their routine or experienced a benefit from using that particular face cream or maybe share a how to guide on achieving a skin goal before mentioning the face cream as part of the solution. Another approach is to share relatable tips, something that feels more personal. These kinds of emails foster a connection with your audience. So when you do present your offer, that face cream, they’re more engaged and they’re willing to consider it because they know that it’s the next step and they’ve built that trust with you over time. So again, think about the focus of your emails.

Kylie Kelly [00:05:43]:
Are you focusing on your product pretty exclusively or can you shift that so it’s more relationship centered content? And then lastly, let’s talk about one of the more tactical reasons sales may be falling flat, relying on single email sales attempts. Now, again, once upon a time, a single flash sale or last chance email could spark a wave of purchases. Back then, people received fewer emails, so a single push might have worked just fine. Do you remember seeing those Instagram stories where it’s just a screenshot of all the notifications that sales were coming in? That was the 2020 bubble. Right? That was what happened in the years gone by. That is not happening as often now. Today, we’re inundated with emails and it takes more than a one and done email to move someone to buy. What works now is building a mini sales sequence where you introduce the offer gradually and allow your subscribers to warm up to the idea.

Kylie Kelly [00:06:37]:
So you could do a traditional open and close door launch, right, where you are sending a lot of emails. But even if you wanna do something that’s just a little bit simpler, this mini sales sequence is something to consider. So what does that look like? As an example, it could be something like this. Email 1 could start with educational content or tease the hints of the problem that your product or service solves. You’re going to get them interested without fully revealing the offer. Email number 2 would follow-up with a testimonial, a success story, a client journey, something that’s going to show how someone else has benefited from what you’re offering. And then email number 3 would be time to introduce the offer with a sense of urgency or exclusivity, like a limited time bonus, a discount, or perhaps the doors closing. So you always need to have something that moves your subscribers to take action, something that does create an to take action, something that does create an honest sense of urgency.

Kylie Kelly [00:07:36]:
You don’t always need to discount your offer to do this. So start brainstorming what could you be adding to create this sense of urgency to help your subscribers move to the solution that you’re offering. Right? What’s something that’s going to do subscribers move to the solution that you’re offering? Right? What’s something that’s going to do that for you? So when you have a sequence like this, this was only 3 emails, you’re not going to be overwhelming them with a hard sell right away. Instead, you’re creating a journey that gives them time to see the value and trust in what you’re offering. It’s a softer but more strategic approach and it allows you to highlight different aspects of your offer along the way. So I really want to encourage you, especially with Black Friday coming up soon, don’t just send blasts to your email list with an offer straight away. Start to think about what these emails could be leading up to Black Friday or leading up to the sale that you’re wanting to do. Can you start to entertain, educate, or inspire your list? It doesn’t have to be complicated.

Kylie Kelly [00:08:34]:
It could be a short personal story. It could be a quick little tip or hints at the problem. Just something that’s going to start to warm them up. And then the second email again is going to be a testimonial, a success story, a client journey. It can be your own journey if you haven’t sold it previously. Right? So the main thing here is just to show them how somebody else has benefited from what you’re offering and helps them envisage themselves in that person’s shoes. And then email number 3 is going to be introducing the offer with a sense of urgency or exclusivity. Right? So you can then follow that up with reminders, of course.

Kylie Kelly [00:09:10]:
So once you’ve given them the offer, you could then, of course, remind them that the limited time bonus is expiring or whatever you have decided to create that urgency. But just remember, this is not a one and done thing. These single email sales attempts are not going to work the way that they used to. So there you have it. These are 3 of the biggest reasons why sales might not be coming in from your emails, and each one is a clear solution that aligns with the way email marketing works today. Remember, it’s all about adapting from generalized to personalized messaging, from product focused to relationship centred content, and from single email blasts to more strategic sequences. I hope this helps you take a fresh look at your email strategy and remember, don’t get discouraged if it takes a little time to see results. Building these connections takes time but can make all the difference in creating loyal subscribers who eventually become buyers.

Kylie Kelly [00:10:09]:
One last thing that I wanted to encourage you with is to keep in mind that it’s not our job to push somebody to purchase, to force them to purchase, to convince them to purchase. It’s our job as a store owner, as a shop front, to show up every day, to restock the shelves, to open the door, to have the open sign out, to have a smile on our face and welcome people in as they are ready. Right? We are not here to make them ready. We’re here to sell to when they are ready. So if you are struggling with your sales, yes, take these things into consideration. Make some tweaks. Make some changes to your approach, to your strategy, to what you’re currently doing, but also keep the faith that this will work. Right? What we need to do is keep serving our audience, keep serving our list, and trust that when they are ready, as long as we are constantly making the offers, we have our doors wide open, ready to welcome them in, when they are ready, they will come into our shop.

Kylie Kelly [00:11:06]:
They will purchase. Whether it takes 3 months or 3 years, we just don’t know. But it is not our job to worry about that. It is our job to show up every day, to continue to make the offers, to keep the faith that it’s happening, and trust that it will happen in due course. Thank you again for tuning in, my loves. I can’t wait to see you in the next episode. And as always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m here to help you as much as I possibly can.

Kylie Kelly [00:11:32]:
Alright. Big love from me. I’m cheering you on and I will see you soon. Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of The Email Growth Show. I hope you found valuable insights into the next steps you can take to grow your email list and boost your business without relying on social media or paid ads. If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to rate and review the show and share it with others. Your feedback helps me reach more female entrepreneurs just like you, who are ready to say goodbye to social media and leverage email marketing to grow their business and make a bigger impact. Thank you so much for listening, and I’ll see you in the next episode.