Email challenges are a great way to quickly grow your email list.  In my last blog I shared why you should be running a free challenge for your business.  Now I’m going to share how to create your free email challenge…

Setting up and running a free challenge does take some work to plan and set up, but if you create something evergreen, you can use it as many times as you want in the future.

What are you going to promote?

Before you even decide on what topic you want to choose for your challenge, think about what you want to be promoting at the end.  It needs to be something relevant.  Something that you would naturally want to sign up for or buy after you’ve completed the free challenge.

So, with the example from Helen Pritchard’s LinkedIn challenge I shared in my last blog, she gave a glimpse of the results she could help you achieve with LinkedIn.  She then offered the chance to join her Mastermind where she could help you take it to the next level.

Now it’s time to choose your subject

It needs to be something that will help your ideal client, something that will get them excited and want to be involved.  Or something they are really struggling with and desperately need some help.  Again, think about the end result and what you want to be promoting once the challenge is over.

Start to map it out

Next, you want to map out the challenge.  Ideally, you want to keep the challenge between 5-7 days to keep your audience engaged but also to give them a chance to start to see results.  This is where you need to break down the challenge into chunks, giving them a small task each day towards achieving the end result.

Create a landing page

It doesn’t need to be anything long or fancy, but it does need to grab the attention of your audience.

  • Use an image they can relate to
  • Have a catchy title to spark their interest
  • Using an enticing tagline to attract them to read more
  • Talk about their pain points and how you could help them
  • Talk about results- by signing up to this challenge you will achieve x, y and z
  • And of course, somewhere for them to enter their details to sign up

Set up an automated sequence

Once they’ve signed up for the free challenge, they need to be added into an automated sequence.

  • Start off with a thank you for signing up and explanation as to how the challenge is going to work.
  • A day or two before the challenge is due to start, touch base just to remind them you will be starting soon and reminding them of what they can expect.
  • Next it’s the challenge content. Separating the challenge out into small manageable, daily tasks between 5-7 days, delivered at the same time at the start of each day.  This gives them the opportunity to complete it around their day and makes them more likely to get involved.
  • The promotion. At the end of the challenge you send them a thank you for joining in, recapping on any key points from the challenge.  This is then your chance to invite them to continue their journey in signing up/buying what you’ve got on offer.  Using a limited time offer normally works better than just an open-ended invite as people sense an urgency that they need to take action.

Engagement

From my own experience, using Facebook groups and asking for participants to post once they’ve completed their daily challenge works well.  It’s natural to see others doing something that will either bring out the competitive side in you, or give you the confidence that if that person can do it, then so can I.  But it’s also important that while you are running the challenge, you are engaging with them too.  Asking them how they are getting on, even sharing some extra tips and tricks to help them see results.

If you’re interested in running your own free challenge but would like some support in getting it off the ground, then why not get in touch.  This is one of my favourite tasks to do so I would love to hear from you and how I could help you get your challenge up and running.  Email info@njrvirtualpa.co.uk, click here to send me a message or to book your free consultation now.