Email Marketing Made Easy
The theme for the month of September has been streamlining your online presence. Last week we talked about social media made simpler and how it does not have to be overwhelming and how to set healthy boundaries so that social media doesn’t become an idol. Today we’re going to focus on email marketing, which is one of the most effective yet overlooked tools. We are going to talk about why emails still matter and what to send to your list, setting up an opt-in and growing your list, as well as easy automations that save you time.
The Benefits of Email Marketing
Email is one of my favorite tools for growing your online presence and for staying connected to your audience. Email is a lot like your website. You own your email list. Unlike social media, it’s not owned by someone else, and the algorithms for email don’t change. Social media can be very frustrating. The algorithm will change and you’ll get used to doing things a certain way, then you won’t get as much traffic on your social posts because they changed the algorithm. They’re constantly changing.
When it comes to email, you have direct access to your audience. There’s no middleman. You have the ability to build trust and long-term relationships because people check their email daily. Email also has a higher conversion rate than social media. People are more likely to buy from emails than they are from social media.
Your list is an asset in your business that grows in value over time. We tend to grow our email list over time and that becomes more and more valuable. Also, as you send emails to people and you grow that relationship, the emails that you send become more valuable because that person gets to know and trust you more and do business with you.
What to Send to Your Email List
I know one of the things that people struggle with from having authors, speakers, and coaches as clients over the years is that they struggle with what to send to their email list. These are some things that you can send to your email list.
- You can send newsletters, which include regular updates, helpful resources, and personal notes.
- You can send encouragement and value emails that include tips, scripture, and blog or podcast recaps.
- Of course, it is important that you send promotional emails. Those are for launches, book sales, and coaching offers. The rule of thumb is to give more than you ask. Serve first and then sell second.
Setting Up an Opt-In and Growing Your List
First and foremost, you have to create a simple, free resource or lead magnet. That can be a checklist, guide, challenge, or mini course. There are so many different options for simple lead magnets. That particular piece—you begin to promote that everywhere. On your website, on your social media, when you speak, when you’re on someone’s podcast. You want to keep the signup process super simple. Less is more. You want a simple form. It can be a popup on your website. It can be a landing page. Basically all they have to give you is their name and their email address, and they will get your free resource.
It’s important to remember that your opt-in should solve a specific problem for your audience. Think about the biggest problem that your audience has, and then you will help them to solve that, or the biggest need that they have, and you will meet that need. For example, maybe they need to potty train their child and you will give them this fantastic resource about potty training your child in a weekend, or they need to cut carbs in their diet and you’re going to give them a fantastic resource of low-carb recipes. I’m just throwing out examples as they come to mind, but that’s how you decide what will be your lead magnet, and that’s what you need to do in order to set up an opt-in and a list.
You will need an email service provider. My favorite is ActiveCampaign. There are also others such as Mailer Lite and Kit, which was formerly ConvertKit.
Automating Your Email List
Finally, let’s talk about some easy automations that will save you time. If you don’t want to have to be writing emails constantly—I know a lot of us worry about what to send out in emails—you want to set up, and this is something you set up once and it works for you over and over again as new people add to your list, and that is a welcome sequence.
A welcome sequence is automatic emails that introduce you. They deliver your opt-in, and they nurture a relationship. I do have a toolkit. It is a guide with worksheets and email templates for you to DIY your nurture sequence. I also offer this as a service in my email marketing service on my website at Alyssa Avant and Company. Welcome sequences you can do once and as I said, they will pay off again and again.
Another thing that can automate this process for you is creating a regular newsletter template so you reuse the structure or the template each week and that will save you brain space. Also, I want to preface that by saying you don’t have to do a newsletter weekly. You can do a newsletter monthly. Do what you can be consistent with.
Again, some tools that will save you time are email marketing tools such as ConvertKit, ActiveCampaign, or MailerLite, and that automation that they offer equals connection on autopilot without the stress. No matter when they sign up, they’re going to get these automated emails and you will not have to worry about sending lots of emails on a regular basis. You will just send your regularly scheduled newsletters, sprinkle in your promotional-type emails and you will be good to go.
