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The audience: we target people interested in Y Combinator, 500 Startups, Startup Weekend, and much more. The result: an audience of 50,000 people 🙂
The placement: we’re not expecting people to pay. We only want emails for a drip sales campaign. So we target only the mobile news feed. That’s where we get the lowest cost-per-conversion.
Cost-per-lead: $2
2. Design a High-Converting Landing Page
The next step is to create a landing page that explains the benefits well.
Because we’re only looking to collect an email and the benefits are clear, we don’t design a long landing page. We stick to a one-fold design.
And rather than use a background picture of an events, we stick with a picture of Los Angeles because it converts up to 3 times higher. Notice how the copy places an emphasis on exclusivity with “underground,” and where they’ll get the tickets “your email.”
These words help increase the conversion rate by upwards of fifty percent.
Why?
People want to believe their special while knowing where they’ll receive the benefit.
We’re almost ready to drive traffic.
But first we need a thank-you page to complete the entire landing page experience.
3. Make it Exclusive
When visitors hit the thank-you page, they can’t get the benefit right away. This adds value to the membership by making it more exclusive.
And then we make it clear that we’ll notify them when a spot opens up.
The main difference?
We use a picture of a startup event hosted at the Nasdaq to add credibility.
Keep in mind, we haven’t used a picture of startup event until they hit the thank-you page.
4. Deliver Emails Straight from Gmail
If you’re receiving less than a hundred leads a day, then send your follow-up emails right from your Gmail to increase your deliverability rate.
To do this, I sync Autopilot with Mailshake using Zapier.
When I have a new a lead, they get added to my Autopilot mailing list. Rather than send the immediate follow-up emails from there, I have it “zap” the contact information right into a Mailshake campaign.
By sending through Mailshake, it triggers emails in my Gmail account. As a result, the emails the lead receive look more organic.
The best part: I can send reply emails.
This means I can send replies to previous emails to create a thread. As a result, this increases the click-through, open, and reply rate. Magic!
5. Create Follow-Up Emails
Once someone becomes a lead, I send out three emails to them in the next week.
Each of these emails outline the benefits and make the membership sound exclusive.
Immediate Email
This email goes out right away.
The secret: We don’t give them access.
We play up the exclusivity.
Subject: Hey {{first_name}} you’re Invited to BAMF Insiders
“Hey there {{first_name}}
I’m Josh the CEO at BAMF Media.
We got your request for an invite to Los Angeles’s BAMF Insiders and think you’d enjoy the experience.
We’re opening up 50 spots in Los Angeles – first come, first serve.
What is UpOut Insiders exactly? It’s the best way to explore LA’s startup scene without the touristy vibe.
- Each month, we curate a list of LA startup events for you
- You choose your favorite two
- Instantly receive complimentary tickets to each in your inbox
Be warned: If you’re not at least a little entrepreneurs, Los Angeles’s Insiders may not be for you.
It’s only for people who want to try new things, and meet new people.
We’ve sent Los Angeles startup adventurers to meet the founders and execs from Quora, Snap, YouTube, VC firms, and more.
You can think of us as your own personal and exclusive startup club that will give you the nudge to try something new.
Interested? Be on the lookout for another email from me TOMORROW morning containing a special link to claim one of the Los Angeles Insiders spots.
Have an awesome day :)!
Josh
CEO
BAMF Media
P.S.
Space is limited and our spots tend to fill up quickly, so please be on the lookout tomorrow to ensure you don’t miss out!”
Second Email
In this email, our goal is to get the reader to click through on “Join Insiders FREE”
This will take them to a landing page that “warms” them up before they enter their payment information.
Subject: Hey {{first_name}} your BAMF Insiders invitation [inside]
“Hey there {{first_name}}
My name is Josh and I’m the CEO here at BAMF Media.
We received your request to join Los Angeles’s Insiders and think you’d enjoy the experience.
We’re opening up 50 spots in Los Angeles – first come, first serve.
What is BAMF Insiders exactly? It’s the best way to explore Los Angeles’s underground & secret events.
- Each month, we curate a list of LA startup events for you
- You choose your favorite two
- Instantly receive complimentary tickets to each in your inbox.
WARNING: If you’re not at least a little adventurous, Los Angeles Insiders may not be for you.
It’s only for people who want to try new things, and meet new people.
To ensure LA Insiders is a good fit for both of us, we’re giving you a 30-day membership – completely FREE.
Here’s How To Join BAMF Insiders For FREE:
Use the code “growthhacking”
after you click the link below to get a full month of Insiders for FREE.
Think of it like a test drive – but one where you get to go to some really cool startup events.
During this month, you get to claim at least a pair of tickets worth between $50 to $300 to events to see the founders and execs of many top Los Angeles companies.
…plus you have the chance to get another set of bonus tickets as well!
If you love your experiences at Los Angeles’s best startup events and want to continue with Insiders, dues are only $29 per month.
If not, no worries, you are welcome to cancel at any time hassle-free.
Click the link below now to try Insiders free for a full 30 days.
Join Insiders FREE
If you have any additional questions you can email me back.
In the meantime, have a great week!
Cheers,
Josh
CEO, BAMF Media
P.S.
There is absolutely no risk to join. You get a full 30 days of Insiders for FREE, but to make sure we can give our members first class service, we can only accept a limited number of new members at this time. Don’t miss your spot.”
Wednesday
For this email, we keep it simple by making it a reply email. This way it looks more organic.
The body copy:
“Hey!
Did you see my email yesterday?”
6. Add Extra Love Mid-Funnel
For a higher conversion rate, you can send LinkedIn connection requests to new leads.
How?
Use a free Chrome extension like Full Contact or Clearbit.
Next pay a virtual assistant to comb through your sent emails to connect with the leads at scale.
I recommend sending them this LinkedIn personal invite:
“Hey {{first name}},
I noticed you were interested in our exclusive LA startup community.
We’d love to have you join. ”
7. Design a Benefits Page
Once they click through to the landing page from the email, this is what they see.
You’ll notice there’s social validation EVERYWHERE.
You can’t escape it.
Plus, we outline the benefits one more time.
On this page, they’ll click “Join Insiders.”
8. Design the Payment’s Page
“Join Insiders” takes them to a payment page.
On this payment page, they review the membership benefits on the right (if on desktop). And because many were not expecting to pay even though we outlined that fact in the email copy, we add details on why they need to input their credit card information.
Notice how we make the process sound easy with the headline “…in 3 Easy Steps”.
We also include logos and testimonials to provide more social validation.
Another benefit we provide is that we accept Stripe AND PayPal.
By only accepting one, we turn off many would-be customers.
The integration only takes a little coding – so worth it.
And boom! There you have it.
Implement Today
I used Unbounce to create most of the landing pages.
I then outsourced the payment page for a couple hundred dollars.
If you copy these steps, it will take you less than a day to create the funnel and drive new leads.
If you want to build a hyper-local membership community, then there’s no excuse not to do it.
Are you ready to take the reins?]]>
