Some lucky person just signed up to get your awesome freebie and join your email list. High five! You’re really doing this online business thing.

Now the person who just shared their email with you is going to check their email to get their resource. It’s the moment of truth… what will their first impression be? Will they be blown away by you or will they wonder what all the fuss was about? 

The answer depends a lot on your delivery email. Are you sending them the standard, boring “here’s your thing” email, or are you going to hook them with an email that’s crafted to get them to open your next email?

Since you’re here reading about email marketing, I’m guessing that you want to make a good first impression with your subscribers. You want them to feel welcome and know that you’re the right person to help them. So how do you do that? Well, you start by sending an email that I call the CATCH email.

The CATCH email is all about making a good first impression and building the know, like, and trust factor from the first interaction. So, let’s break down the goals of the CATCH email and what you should include in it.

The Two Goals Of Your CATCH Email

This first email isn’t a promo email. They don’t know you yet, so they’re probably not ready to buy. This first email is all about building connections and establishing your credibility.

If you want to connect with your subscribers, you’ve gotta let them get to know you. Now I’m not saying you need to share everything but you don’t want to pretend to be someone you’re not.

That means you need to sound like yourself in your emails. How do you normally talk? What words do you use? Are you funny or more serious? Do you speak formally or use lots of slang?

Now if you sign up for my list, you’ll quickly discover that I’m pretty informal and irreverent. I don’t like long paragraphs, and I’m not afraid to tell it like it is.

If you want to see my CATCH email in action, click here to get it. You’ll also get FREE access to my off-the-charts online marketing program called BADA$$ Online Marketing University that will help you learn how to build and market your online business.

In addition to building connections, you want your CATCH email to help establish your credibility. That means you need to show them that you understand their struggles and that you’re qualified to help them.

Breaking Down The CATCH Email

Now that we know what the CATCH email should do, let’s break down the different parts. You’ve probably already guessed that CATCH is my framework and each letter stands for something.

C—Congratulate their decision

A—Acknowledge their frustration

T—Tell me about you

C—Credibility boost

H—Hook

Congratulate: The first step is to congratulate them for their smart decision to grab your awesome freebie. You can simply write, “Congrats on grabbing your FREE copy of [name of your freebie]!” Nothing like starting the relationship with something positive…

Acknowledge: After you congratulate your new subscriber, you want to acknowledge the frustration that caused them to grab your resource. This will help set you apart from the noise and show people that you actually get it.

The fact that you get them AND that you’ve shared a free resource to help them get unstuck will help build your credibility and establish your expertise. In addition, by recognizing and acknowledging the problem they’re facing (that other people aren’t solving) you position yourself as the go-to person for this problem and set yourself apart from your competition.

Here’s a basic formula you can use for this:

1. Point out something that seems like an obvious truth
2. Use a thought-reversal pattern related to the obvious truth
3. Pivot to good news to transition to the next section

Tells me: In this next section, you want to encourage your new subscriber. The fact that they downloaded your freebie shows that they’re serious about solving their problem. They are an action taker, and their willingness to take action makes them likely to succeed.

Credibility boost: Notice that you haven’t been talking about yourself at all in this email? Well, that’s intentional… cause this email is about your new subscriber—not you.

But before you let them go, you want to explain why you’re the perfect person to help them on their journey. Please don’t list out your resume here. No one wants to read that boring ish. Instead, this is a good place to show your voice and share your credentials in a way that builds connection.

Hook: If subscribers will always get the same email next, add a hook that piques their curiosity and creates an open loop so they’ll be excited to open your next email. You can make this line match your voice so your new subscriber gets a sense of what to expect from you.

Technical Details…

You’ve probably already realized that your CATCH email is specific to each freebie. But if you have multiple related freeibes, you can sometimes use a single CATCH email and just change the name of the freebie in the email.

If you want to use a single CATCH email for multiple freebies, you can use tags and automations in your email service provider to ensure that people who download multiple freebies don’t get the same CATCH email multiple times.

Your CATCH Email

Now that you’re seen what my CATCH email looks like, it’s your turn to write your own. I’d love to see what you come up with so be sure to share it with me.

If you’d like to get step-by-step training on how to effectively leverage email marketing in your online business, you should join my FREE program BADA$$ Online Marketing University. You’ll learn how your CATCH email fits into your overall marketing strategy.