Part of why we switch from live launching to autopilot is to spend less time in our businesses and more time working on our businesses. But, once you’re set up, there are a still a few things you want to monitor to increase sales on autopilot.
This doesn’t mean you’re in the weeds every day. It means you have systems in place that ensure things continue to run smoothly—and allow you to continue scaling your business.
Here’s are the three must-monitor metrics that will increase your sales on autopilot.
Open Rates and Click-through Rates
Your email subject line and email body copy offer prime opportunities to test new messaging.
The more people who open your emails, the more people who see your message, the more people who click through. If the ultimate action you want someone to take is make a purchase, you can’t get them to do that without having strong subject lines that make your audience think, “I have to open this email!”
For example, let’s say you have 5,000 people on your list. If 18% are opening your emails, that’s 900 people. But if you can bump that open rate up to 21% (which is totally doable!), that’s 1,050 people—an extra 150 people.
Watch these numbers and test your messaging. If you A/B test a subject line, for example, let the test run until you have significant amount of data. If one subject line is out performing the other, but only 10 people have gone through the test, then you don’t have a significant amount of data to make a decision yet.
Video View Percentage
You want to get as many people watching your Lightbulb Video (LBV) as possible. And, if people aren’t watching your LBV—or there are key areas of drop-off—you want to address this.
When you look at these numbers, bear in mind that people may be splitting up watching the full video. For example, if you have 100 original viewers, 200 total views, and a 50% completion rate per total view, then you actually have a 100% completion rate. You need to look at original viewers and total views and do a little extra math to get the true completion rate.
As with your other data, you want to draw hypotheses from a sizable data set. If you have 100 original views, this may be enough to look at opportunities for improvement. But if you have 25 views, you likely don’t have enough information and could end up making edits to your video that aren’t actually beneficial.
Sales & Subscriber Numbers
Monitoring your sales and subscriber numbers is essential to making sure your Circuit is performing as well as it can and should. Specifically: what percentage of sales are you seeing from new subscribers?
Remember: People make purchases when they’re most excited. And people are most excited when they first encounter you and your offer. After that, motivation and excitement start to wane.
Looking at the percentage of sales coming from new subscribers will help you evaluate if your messaging is hitting the mark. This will be the bulk of your purchases. Will there be people who purchase in their regular enrollment and even second and third enrollments? Sure. But those purchases will make up a small percentage of purchases.
So, if new subscribers aren’t buying, then you know you need to go in and troubleshoot. This doesn’t mean making big sweeping changes, but testing your subject lines, testing email copy, and adjusting your LBV as needed to see how these changes improve your conversion rates.
Typically, a 2% to 5% conversion rate is considered good. Of course, you’ll have to evaluate what makes sense for you and your offer.
You want to monitor these numbers weekly and monthly. The monthly numbers, while also critical to making sure things are on track, can also tell you if there are any trends in your business. For example, do sales naturally dip every December around the holidays? These trends will help you make more informed decisions throughout the year.
Armed with the data from your metrics, continually look for ways to test and improve your Circuit. Even the smallest messaging tweak or color swap may have a big impact on your numbers—and ultimately your bottom line.
Watch More
In this episode of the Energize Your Online Business podcast, you’ll discover five different email tests that will boost engagement and improve conversions.
Your Turn!
What metrics do you regularly monitor and how do you use that information to increase sales on autopilot? Share in the comments!