Expert Spotlight: Jason Henderson – Hosted by Mikael Dia

Jason Henderson is an Email Marketing Master with 22 Years of Internet Marketing Expertise, Billions of Emails Delivered, Over 500 Million Email Split Tests

Do you build a list and send emails as part of your sales funnel or digital marketing strategy?

If you don’t… what rock are you living under?

If you do (and you should), this interview with Jason Henderson is a must watch.

Like Frank Kern, Jason is one of the OGs of internet marketing. He has over 22 years of experience (he started in 1996!), has sent billions of emails (not an exaggeration), and he’s split tested over 500 million emails and created almost $700M in revenue.

You read that right… $700,000,000 in revenue.

This guy knows his shit.

I blow guys out of the water just because they’re basically like robots, everybody is doing the same thing.
Jason Henderson

Getting Started in Email Marketing

Jason went to his first MarketingSherpa event in 1995. He continued to go for the next 12 years in a row to speak to and learn from the top deliverability experts and email optimization specialists, long before everyone had an email address and email marketing was as prevalent as it is today.

Jason stands out because he’s different. He is hyper focused on the one-on-one aspects of the conversation he’s initiating with his audience.

In 1996, I was told ‘it’s like having a one-on-one conversation. That’s it.’ I learned a ton from just following that advice.
Jason Henderson

While almost everyone is sending more conversational, long-form sales emails – a lot of which follow the same template, no matter what audience they’re talking to – he takes his content to the next level by approaching each email he writes as a one-on-one conversation with his ideal client.

And he never robotically sends the same type of marketing emails over and over again. He looks at the data and takes the time to figure out what works best.

Jason’s goal? He wants each and every person who receives one of his emails to feel like he is talking to them directly.

If you’re going to be successful, your target needs to feel like you are speaking to them directly.
Jason Henderson

Email Marketing Tip: Structuring Your Sales Emails

I do a lot of email marketing, so I took this opportunity to pick Jason’s brain about why his campaigns are so successful when so many others are not.

His biggest criticism of a lot of the email campaigns he sees is that people are writing all of their emails using a single formula without split testing and without meeting the customer where they’re at.

Send the right message, to the right person, at the right time.
Jason Henderson

When thinking about your email campaigns, ask yourself:

Are you talking to the whole crowd or just your target prospect?
Are you addressing emails to “hey guys” or “all of you?” or being more personal?
Are you using the same formula every time?
Were you sold on one “perfect solution” for your emails that you’re using without testing to see if it’s relevant to your ideal customer?

If you said yes to any of the above, then you’re probably missing out on connecting with your customer on an individual basis, which means you’re missing out on sales.

[On the best email copy] You’re talking to a friend, across from you at a diner. You’re having a meal. That’s what I’m talking about.
Jason Henderson

Split Test, Split Test, Split Test

Jason is a master of the email split test and, I have to say, this part of the interview is total gold.

I recommend watching it yourself, or at least downloading the One Page at the end of this post, because these email marketing tips are awesome.

And I don’t just say this because I’ve built an entire marketing funnel mapping and tracking company around the idea that clear, accurate data is king over at Funnelytics!

The tl;dr about split testing your emails:

Stop using the same formula for every email. Test and see what works.
Fight your confirmation bias. People have been using small samples and poor split testing methods/data tracking to determine things that have become industry standards, like the idea that text-only messages are superior. They’re only superior if your audience says they’re superior in a well managed split test.
Isolate your variables when you split test. If you test a text-only email against an email with images but use completely different copy, you are not actually split testing anything.
Test story-based emails against short or urgency emails (and vice versa).
Don’t try to sell something while also using open loops or trying to build anticipation for the next email in the sequence. Your email needs a clear goal.
Think about what your emails are training people to do. For example: if you use an image that has a play button on it that links to a free video tip and it really engages your audience, you will train them to expect something for free at the other end of that link. If you then turn that link into a paid product, you might find your audience reacts poorly.
Test to see what email rate (daily, weekly, monthly) works for your audience, don’t just assume you know based on your personal preferences.
Clear, accurate data is king!

You’ve been deceived into thinking that every single email should be this long, story-based email. It’s not like their words are bad but in every other section there’s all this crap that they don’t even need.
Your emails can’t be too long, they can only be too boring.
Jason Henderson

My interview with Jason has way more great material in it than I can cover in a single post, but the basics are above. If you have a little time to invest in your business, I highly recommend you watch the whole thing right here… and download the One Page synopsis below!