A million reasons why you should grow and nurture your email list
Make list building part of your social media strategy
If you’re spending time growing your social media platforms as part of your business strategy but you’re not nurturing your clients and website visitors with email marketing, you’re missing out big time. And so are your clients.
Your social media strategy likely goes something like this:
· Grow your social following
· Develop relationships and build trust with your community
· Increase engagement
· Drive traffic to your website
· Increase sales
· And repeat
But how are you rewarding those customers, clients or visitors once you get them to your website? If it’s with crickets, it’s time to have a word with yourself about that.
Whether they’re buyers or browsers, if they’ve clicked over from your socials to your website, they’re hot for what you’ve got. So make your efforts on social go further by wooing them with an invite into your inner circle – your email list. AKA, the OG of social strategy.
Newsletters were caring for communities with relationship-building content long before Facebook and Instagram got all up in our faces. While they work in a different way, they’re a great channel to share exclusive content and ask for opinions and feedback from your valued gang.
Here are some common myths about email marketing that we’re going to unpack and turn on their head
1. I’ve heard email marketing is dead
2. I don’t like being pushy
3. I only have a small list
4. I don’t have any content to share
5. I don’t have time
Email marketing is dead
Except that it’s not. It’s very much alive and running barefoot along the beach, driving traffic and sales for those that use it creatively.
The average engagement rate of 1.6% for organic content on Instagram in 2019. Compare that with the average open rate for ConvertKit in their last delivery report for December 2019 was which was 29.6%, you know those kinds of numbers on your social channels is as rare as twin unicorns.
I don’t like being pushy
That’s totally understandable. But think of it like this: your client or customer gave you their email address and they expect you to use it. That’s a really powerful and clear call to action from your people and they’re waiting for you to get back to them.
Think of it like dating. You’ve done the flirting at the Instagram Bar, you’ve told them stories and anecdotes, they’ve shared a few cheeky secrets with you too and now they’ve handed you their number because they want to know more.
And then you don’t call.
But guess who did call them? That other one from the Instagram bar, the one with the shiny hair and killer shoes. And now they’re not just flirting, they’re getting cosy on the regular and your date’s attention is no longer on you.
Despite what your own inbox full of too-many-unread-salesy-emails-that-you-should-unsubscribe-from might tell you, there are so many ways to cherish your community through email marketing that doesn’t involve desperate sales tactics.
Email marketing doesn’t need to be pushy. And it really shouldn’t be. Let it be about fostering a community by offering value and creating connection.
I only have a small list
Do you remember when you started your social media account and had just a handful of followers? Did that stop you connecting with them while implementing strategies to grow your following?
Here’s the good thing about your email list – the numbers aren’t public like they are on your social media platforms. No one knows if you’re sending emails out to a list of 50 or 5000, they just know you’ve cared enough to send one.
I don’t have anything to share
Yes you do. Hop onto your socials and check your insights – what’s resonating? Can you expand on that popular post and turn it into a value-packed blog? Do you have a new product or service you’re working on that you can share a little secret about and even ask your audience for their opinion on? Can you create an offer that’s exclusive to your email subscribers? What have you seen on your wanders across the internet that you think your gang will love? Do you have a playlist on Spotify that’s getting you through the working week that you can invite your readers to listen to? Even better – ask someone from your list to curate it.
Your email is an intimate way to reach out and connect, and the ideas for how to do that are limitless. Reward those on your list for giving you their email address with the VIP treatment through exclusive content and offers that they can’t get on your other channels
TIP: Sign up for emails from your favourite people and file away any that struck a chord with you to lean on for inspiration.
I don’t have time
Emails can be as simple and quick as you want them to be. If you commit to sending one a month, that’s about an hour of your time you need to work on it. That’s just 15 minutes a week. Equivalent to the time you’d spend crafting one Insta post.
Break it up into 15 minutes like this:
Week 1: Decide what you want to talk about this month and write down some bullet points
Week 2: Write out the copy
Week 3: Proofread your copy and add in any images and links you’re using
Week 4: Make sure your list is up to date and send a test to yourself to check your email is working as it should. All good? Press send.
It’s that simple. I know, right?
But what’s in it for me?
Here’s what you’ll gain from sending a newsletter or offer to your list.
Traffic to your website.
Traffic from people who have already done business with you.
People who have shown an interest in you and given you their email address.
People who are waiting for you to get in touch.
Traffic from hot leads who are ready to buy.
Solid. Gold. Traffic.
And one final thing to remember- Your website and email list are owned by you. No one can take them away from you. Your social channels however, are rented. And if you make a wrong move, you can lose access to your account quicker than you can say ‘I’ve been hacked’, like this business owner whose entire business relied on her Instagram account.
Ready to start your email list?
Most email marketing platforms have a free starter plan. However if you’re a service based business or a content creator, you may want to skip ahead and start with ConvertKit which is the preferred tool for those in your industry. You can use our link to get your first 100 emails for free
Need to make your content work harder and go further? Here are ten ideas to get you started